Orange County Library System history

November 11, 1921, Front Page, Evening Reporter Star

On February 21, 1922, the City held a bond election for certain municipal improvements, including a public library building.

Orlando's first library, the Albertson Public Library, was founded in 1923.

The library opened in June 1924 in what had been the rectory of St John's Episcopal Church at 107 South Terry Street.

The History Center is located in the restored 1927 courthouse at Magnolia Avenue and Central Boulevard in the heart of downtown Orlando.

Albertson Public Library at the corner of Central Blvd. and Rosalind Avenue circa 1930.

The above painting by James Stoll shows the area surrounding the Albertson Public Library in 1945.

25th Silver Anniversary, November 1948 The 1948 booklet created in 1948 with a review of the library’s history through 1948.

In early 1949, the Orange County Chamber of Commerce presented a proposal for a bookmobile to the board of the Albertson Public Library.

In February 1954, the library Board of Directors published the “Proposed Building Expansion Program,” stating that the Albertson Library was inadequate to serve the present and future population of the city of Orlando.

In the “Statement of Clara Wendel, Director, Albertson Public Library,” created around 1958, the need for a “new main library building in Orlando and two conveniently located branch library buildings” was explained in detail.

Library Committee of the Orlando Jaycees published a report in 1959 on library conditions, stating the the Albertson Public Library was no longer able to meet the needs of its staff or the community.

Preparation for the long awaited and badly needed new Main library began three years later in 1962 when Orlando voters approved funds for construction and the city acquired additional land adjacent to the original site at Rosalind and Central.

In 1964, the library moved to temporary headquarters at 905 North Orange Avenue, the Albertson building was demolished, and construction began.

Renovation of the 1966 building began immediately, thereafter.

Postcard (front) - Orlando Public Library circa 1970

Orlando Public Library – Marking 50 Years of Library Service Library History booklet created in 1973 for the 50th Anniversary of the Orlando Public Library.

In 1974, just eight years after the opening of the new library, it became evident that much more space was needed.

In 1978, the Library secured from the Orlando City Council a commitment for the whole block to the west of the existing site.

The library receives its funding through a special Library taxing district formed in 1980.

The expansion opened to the public April 8, 1985.

A Grand Opening Celebration for the expansion and renovation took place April 6, 1986.

Craig Wilkins, from Questline, circa 1990's.

Sally Fry, Ann Gistarb, Judy Mucci, John Martin in 1991

Eleanor Gentry, Kathryn Robinson, and John Martin at the Orlando Public Library 1992.

The City of Orlando owned the building until 1994 when the Church purchased it.

Early days of Questline in 1995, TicTacToe Monitor system.

Cover of Staff Association Cookbook - 1998

With deep roots in Orange County, the History Center opened in 2000 and is operated by Orange County and the nonprofit Historical Society of Central Florida, Inc.

The Orange County Library System and the Shiloh Baptist Church celebrated the history of the former Booker T. Washington Library on December 30, 2001.

On Staff Day 2003, 39 employees came together to help create the video, taking turns operating the camera, providing narration, and coordinating the audio.

The Orlando Public Library housed the Orange County Bar Association law collection until 4 January 2006.

On April 16, 2012, Orange County Library System received the largest single private gift in its history when benefactor Kendrick B. Melrose donated $1 million in memory of his mother, Dorothy Lumley Melrose.