DOCUMENT RESUME ED 422 005 IR 057 129 AUTHOR Jasper, Catherine; McCook, Kathleen de la Pena TITLE The Florida Library History Project. INSTITUTION University of South Florida, Tampa. PUB DATE 1998-08-00 NOTE 483p. PUB TYPE Historical Materials (060) EDRS PRICE MF02/PC20 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Information Technology; Library Collections; *Library Development; Library Personnel; *Library Services; Library Statistics; Library Surveys; *Public Libraries; State Programs IDENTIFIERS *Florida; *Library History ABSTRACT The Florida Library History Project (FLHP) began in January 1998. Letters requesting histories were sent to all public libraries in Florida with follow-up letters sent after an initial response was received from the libraries. E-mail messages were sent out to FL-LIB listservs encouraging participation in the project. A poster session was presented by Catherine Jasper at the 1998 Florida Library Association (FLA) Annual Conference, an event that marked FLA's 75th anniversary. At the end of this funding period, 89 library systems and organizations had provided histories. These have been compiled and are reproduced in this volume as submitted by participating libraries. Highlights include library founding, collections, services, budgets and expenditures, personnel, funding, survey results, technology, and developments. (AEF) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *************************************************.******************************* The Florida Library History Project A Project of the University of South Florida, School of Library and Information Science, Research Group and The University of South Florida, Tampa Campus Library, Special Collections Department August 1998 Catherine Jasper Project Coordinator Kathleen de la Peiia McCook U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement Project Advisor EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS CENTER (ERIC) MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTEDBY O This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. K. McCook O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. oPoints of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES official OERI position or policy. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).'' Introduction 1 Alachua County Library 2 Brevard County Library System 32 CAPE CANAVERAL LIBRARY 37 CENTRAL BREVARD LIBRARY AND REFERENCE CENTER (COCOA) 38 COCOA BEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY 40 EAU GALLIE PUBLIC LIBRARY (MELBOURNE) 41 FRANKLIN T. DEGROODT MEMORIAL LIBRARY (PALM BAY) 44 MEADOWLANE COMMUNITY LIBRARY (MELBOURNE) 44 MELBOURNE PUBLIC LIBRARY 46 MERRITT ISLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY 46 NORTH BREVARD PUBLIC LIBRARY (TITUSVILLE) 48 PALM BAY PUBLIC LIBRARY 49 PORT ST. JOHN PUBLIC LIBRARY (COCOA) 51 SATELLITE BEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY 52 SOUTH MAINLAND... MICCO (BAREFOOT BAY) 53 STONE COMMUNITY LIBRARY (MELBOURNE) 55 ADULT LITERACY 55 BOOKS BY MAIL 57 CENTRALIZED TECHNICAL PROCESSING 59 COMPUTER ROOM 59 RECORDS MANAGEMENT 60 SUBREGIONAL TALKING BOOKS LIBRARY 61 Broward County Library 64 Bureau of Braille and Talking Book Library Services 69 The Charlotte Glades Library System (Charlotte and Glades Counties) 71 3 ENGLEWOOD CHARLOTTE PUBLIC LIBRARY 71 MURDOCK PUBLIC LIBRARY 71 PORT CHARLOTTE PUBLIC LIBRARY 72 PUNTA GORDA PUBLIC LIBRARY 73 Citrus County Library System 75 Clay County Public Library System 76 Clearwater Public Library 78 Dunedin Public Library 89 Emily Taber Public Library (Macdenny, Baker County) 97 Fort Meade Public Library 101 Fort Myers Beach Public Library 107 Fort Walton Beach Library 111 Gulf Beaches Public Library (Madeira Beach, Pinellas County) 113 Helen B. Hoffman Plantation Library (Plantation, Broward County) 115 Hernando County Public Library System 117 Lake Alfred Public Library 120 Lake County Library System 122 LAKE COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM HISTORY 122 COOPER MEMORIAL LIBRARY (CLERMONT) 123 FRUITLAND PARK LIBRARY 124 LADY LAKE PUBLIC LIBRARY 125 TAVARES PUBLIC LIBRARY 126 4 UMATILLA PUBLIC LIBRARY 126 W. T. BLAND PUBLIC LIBRARY (MOUNT DORA) 127 Lakeland Public Library 128 Largo Library 150 Latt Maxey Memorial Library (Frostproof, Polk County) 153 LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library 156 Lighthouse Point Library History 159 Lynn Haven Public Library 166 The Maitland Public Library 167 Manatee County Public Library System 180 Martin County Library System 189 Mary Esther Public Library 192 Miami-Dade Public Library System 194 New Port Richey Public Library 197 New River Public Library Cooperative (Baker, Bradford, and Union Counties) 200 North Miami Public Library 201 Northwest Regional Library System (Bay, Gulf, and Liberty Counties) 204 Oldsmar Public Library 209 Orange County Library System 226 Osceola County Library System 229 Palm Beach County Library System 232 Palm Harbor Library 291 Palm Springs Public Library 308 Panhandle Public Library Cooperative System (Calhoun, Holmes, and Washington Counties) 314 Pasco County Library System 315 Pinellas Park Public Library 316 Pinellas Public Library Cooperative, Inc. 317 Polk County Library Cooperative 327 Putnam County Library System 329 Safety Harbor Library 336 Sarasota County Library System 354 SELBY PUBLIC LIBRARY 1907 355 ELSIE QUIRK PUBLIC LIBRARY 1962- 355 BOOKMOBILE 1962 356 VENICE PUBLIC LIBRARY 1965 356 GULF GATE LIBRARY 1973- 357 NORTH PORT PUBLIC LIBRARY 1975- 358 FRANCES T. BOURNE JACANDA PUBLIC LIBRARY 1994- 358 Seminole Community Library 360 Seminole County Public Library System 363 Seminole Tribal Library System 372 St. Johns County Public Library System 374 MAIN LIBRARY 374 BARTRAM TRAIL BRANCH LIBRARY 374 PONTE VEDRA BEACH BRANCH LIBRARY 375 St. Lucie County Library System 376 St. Pete Beach Public Library 381 Suwannee River Regional Library 386 Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System 402 Tarpon Springs Public Library 408 Three Rivers Regional Library System (Dixie, Gilchrist, and Lafayette Counties) 410 Tingley Memorial Library (Bradenton Beach, Manatee County) 411 Union County Public Library 414 Volusia County Public Library 416 Wakulla County Public Library 429 Walton-DeFuniak Springs Library 433 West Florida Regional Library (Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties) 435 Wilderness Coast Public Libraries (Franklin, Jefferson, and Wakulla Counties) 439 Winter Park Public Library 441 Zephyrhills Library 469 7 1 Introduction The Florida Library History Project (FLHP) was funded by the University of South Florida (USF), School of Library and Information Science from January-July 1998. Catherine Jasper was the Project Coordinator, and Kathleen de la Peria McCook served as the Project Advisor. Charlie Parker of the Florida State Library served as liaison to the State Library. The USF, Tampa Campus Library provided funds to archive histories and to post library histories on a webpage at http://www.lib.usEedu/specoll/guide/f/flibhist/guide.html. Tom Kemp, Head of the Special Collections Department, oversaw this part of the project. Richard Bernardy acted as webmaster. Letters requesting histories were sent to all public libraries in Florida in January 1998. (Copy in Appendix.) Follow-up letters were sent after an initial response was received from the libraries. E-mail messages were sent out to FL-LIB listservs encouraging participation in the project. A poster session was presented by Catherine Jasper at the 1998 Florida Library Association (FLA) Annual Conference, an event that marked FLA's 75th anniversary. A flyer was developed (copy in Appendix) and mailed making one more request for participation. At the end of the funding period, eighty-nine library systems and organizations had provided histories. These have been compiled and are reproduced in this volume as submitted by participating libraries. It is hoped that additional libraries may submit their histories to the USF, Tampa Campus Library for archiving and webpage mounting in the future. At the close date of the grant the final project consisting of the histories of seventy-one public libraries is submitted to the State Library in honor of the FLA's 75th anniversary. We appreciate the assistance of the many people whose help made this project a success. 3 2 Alachua County Library 1903The Twentieth Century Club, forerunner of the Gainesville Women's Club, was organized as a literary club, established a library and issued a public call June 2, 1903 for donations of books and money. 1905 On January 22, 1905 Nora Norton announced the establishment of the Gainesville Circulating Library, a private subscription library located in the office of the Gainesville Sewing Machine Company. Charges were $5.00 for a year's access to the collection or $1.50 to join for a year and 2 cents a day fee for each book borrowed. On March 28, 1905 the Twentieth Century Club announced the opening of its library with nearly 200 donated books in the Miller Law Exchange. It was also a subscription library, charging $2.00 per year for membership. 1906On January 8, 1906 the Gainesville Public Library opened its doors on West Liberty Street; its hours were 2:00-5:00 pm Monday through Saturday. Still a subscription Library, costing $2.00 a year to join, the Twentieth Century Club had donated its collection to the newly formed Library Association. The collection also included the library of the East Florida Seminary and totalled nearly 800 volumes. In March Mr. C. W. Chase purchased Miss Nora Norton's circulating