ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Orange County Commission discussed how to pay for its 15 library branches, with two more on the way, at a public hearing Tuesday evening to set the tentative property millage rate that pays for the library system.
The proposal county commissioners are considering would raise the budget by 14%, from $175 million this year to $200 million next year.
Property taxes fund the Orange County Library System, which has its own millage rate, separate from other county government departments.
County commissioners will hold a second public hearing at 5:01 p.m. Sept. 29, when they are expected to finalize the millage rate and the library budget.
“There’s just a lot going on when you have 15 facilities and two new ones coming, and we’ve also got a book mobile being delivered shortly,” said Steve Powell, the Orange County Library System director and chief executive officer. “There’s just a lot of operational costs there.”
Air conditioning projects that used to cost $350,000 now cost $1 million, and expenses continue to rise, Powell said.
A proposed 43% increase in the system’s capital projects budget to $67.8 million would pay for renovations to the downtown branch and help pay for new libraries at Lake Nona and Horizon West, he said.
The downtown Orlando Public Library, which is part of the Orange County Library System, is undergoing renovations. (Spectrum News/Keith Landry)
District 5 Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad said the libraries offer a variety of services, and they are available for free when Orange County residents, even children, get a library card by applying online or visiting any library branch.
“They provide services, from family services that occur there to education services, programming for communities,” she said.
The libraries offer more than just physical books, Powell said. People check out 2-1/2 times more electronic books, videos and audio items each month compared to the number of physical books, he said. The downtown branch features a teen books section, flight simulators, a video production room with a green screen, a recording studio with instruments, laser cutters and 3D printers. The budget also includes $12.2 million to pay for future technology improvements, Powell said.
Video production equipment is one of the services offered in the downtown Orlando library. (Spectrum News/Keith Landry)
Filmmaker Ana Gorayeb used the equipment at Orange County’s downtown Orlando library branch to edit a video from her recent trip to Japan.
“It’s amazing. I don’t have a pretty good computer at home,” she said. “So I come here to the Melrose Center, I sit at this Mac, plug in all my things and I’ve been editing for two hours now.”
The services are worth investing in, Gorayeb said.
“I love libraries. I think it’s something families should be using more often,” she added.
The new libraries at Lake Nona and Horizon should be open in the next few months, Powell said.