{"id":231863,"date":"2026-04-14T22:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/231863\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T22:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T22:02:22","slug":"orange-countys-library-is-booming-growing-and-wants-your-ideas-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/231863\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange County\u2019s library is booming, growing and wants your ideas \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want evidence of just how busy the public library is these days, consider this: Last year, the Orange County Library System<\/a> delivered 442,000 books to the homes of readers \u2014 for free.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Amazon-era service without the Amazon prices.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also just a sliver of the library\u2019s annual action. Another 7 million books, magazines, DVDs and other resources were checked out in-person and online.<\/p>\n

And people still want more. For instance, the library has 100 electronic and audio editions of the popular book, \u201cThe Correspondent,\u201d by Virginia Evans. Yet this week there were still 878 people waiting for the e-version and 1,233 waiting for the audio one.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to think of many governmental services that are more in-demand.<\/p>\n

Suffice it to say: The library business is booming. \u201cWe\u2019re having some of the best numbers we\u2019ve ever had,\u201d said CEO Steve Powell.<\/p>\n

But the library is about to boom even more. The main campus is embarking upon an $18 million renovation, and the entire system is looking to expand its offerings.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where you come in. Through April 30, the library is asking residents what they want in their library system.\u00a0You can take the survey at www.surveyhero.com\/c\/OCLS<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you want more books on health and well-being? More meeting spaces? More games, computer stations or labs where you can create 3-D art or lay down tracks in a state-of-the-art sound-recording studio? The library wants to know.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re asking: What does this system need to look like to serve a population of 1.4 million people,\u201d Powell said. \u201cAre we delivering the services they want and need?\u201d<\/p>\n

Before you answer, you might want to know about all the services the library currently offers. I bet most of you don\u2019t know the full gamut. I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

As I toured the library\u2019s main campus in downtown Orlando Monday afternoon, it struck me that the five-story complex was like a small city full of distinct communities.<\/p>\n

The first floor has a large section for children and families in one direction, a stage for community events in the other and passport services<\/a> and a rotating art exhibit showcasing local artists in the middle.<\/p>\n

The second floor is jammed full of technology with a 3-D printing lab, sound recording studios and even flight and driving simulators to help aspiring pilots and drivers get a free start on their training.<\/p>\n

Up on the fourth floor is an extensive collection of books about Disney, the company that put Orlando on the map, as well as books about the history and roots of Central Florida long before Mickey came to town.<\/p>\n

\"OneOne of the more popular collections is the Walt Disney collection, which has a large assortment of books about the company and characters that put Orlando on the map. (Scott Maxwell)<\/p>\n

Scattered throughout the 290,000 square-foot complex are computer stations where people who lack internet or laptops at home can access the tool that virtually everyone needs to get by in a 21st-century world. Erin Sullivan, the library\u2019s chief marketing officer, said people often line up outside the library before it opens just to use them.<\/p>\n

The library system, though, offers more than just tools to help those who are struggling. It offers people, specifically five social workers who can connect Central Floridians with the services they need.<\/p>\n

The idea of placing social workers in libraries has been around for a while, but came on strong nationally<\/a> after the pandemic when more people were struggling.<\/p>\n

Powell said that makes sense, since his team often encounters people in need. Some are homeless. Others are families that just don\u2019t know where to turn for advice on things like mental health or safer housing. Library staffers and researchers obviously aren\u2019t experts in all that. So they started employing people who are. That\u2019s a service to society at large, meeting the needs of people where they are. \u201cWe fill a gap,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n

Still, the majority of the people who use the library aren\u2019t desperate for help. They simply crave resources, camaraderie and value. For instance, while a Kindle subscription can run $12 a month, access to the Libby platform<\/a> the system uses is free.<\/p>\n

And the gatherings staged at the branches around the county are wide-ranging \u2014 from veterans meetings<\/a> at the Chickasaw branch and a chess club<\/a> in Winter Garden to acrylic painting<\/a> in Eatonville and family board games<\/a> Saturdays at the southeast branch, north of the airport.<\/p>\n

All told, the county\u2019s library system has 15 branches with two more on the way in Lake Nona and Horizons West.<\/p>\n

Obviously, a lot of people already use the services the library has to offer. (It kind of broke my brain to learn there\u2019s still such a demand for DVDs that the system checks out 400-500 of them every day.)<\/p>\n

But Powell says he and his team are open to new ideas, saying: \u201cWe want to know how well we\u2019re serving them and what else they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe library also has a rotating art exhibit that features local artists on the first floor. (Scott Maxwell)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you want evidence of just how busy the public library is these days, consider this: Last year,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[483,114,266,482,12151,139,141,140,24162,109,76410],"class_list":{"0":"post-231863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-commentary","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-opinion","12":"tag-opinion-columnists","13":"tag-orlando","14":"tag-orlando-headlines","15":"tag-orlando-news","16":"tag-scott-maxwell","17":"tag-social","18":"tag-social-opinion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}