Memories
Events
Pull for the library! - 1980 Campaign for Library Expansion
1980 Campaign for Library Expansion
Pull for the Library!
After expecting a library expansion millage referendum to be on the ballot "any time now" since 1976, the measure was finally put before voters in the Orange County, Florida, district served by the...
Events
Orlando Public Library Dedication 1966
Dedication of the Orlando Public Library - Sunday, August 7, 1966
The Orlando Public Library at Ten North Rosalind was dedicated on Sunday afternoon, August 7, 1966. Mayor Robert S. Carr cut the ribbon and presented the building to the people...
Organizations
Library Scrapbook - January 1945 to January 1949
Library Scrapbook - January 1945 to January 1949
A fragile scrapbook with treasures from January 1945 to January 1949 was recently found and scanned to preserve its contents. Newspaper clippings, flyers, brochures, and photographs paint a vivid picture of the...
Organizations
Annual Reports - From Albertson Public Library to OCLS - 1923 to 1979
Above: Cover of the 1960-1961 Annual Report with an actual library card attached.
Annual Reports
The annual reports for the Albertson Public Library run the gamut from simple small reports produced in the 1930s during the financial crisis, to more elaborate ...
Organizations
Albertson Public Library - Books and Beyond
ABOVE: "A Woman's War Record" donated by Captain Charles Albertson.
When the Albertson Public Library opened to the public in November 1923, most of the books in the collection were gifts from individuals and organizations. A number of books were also...
Organizations
Albertson Public Library - Financial Crisis
Financial Crisis
Correspondence, financial statements, newspaper clippings and annual reports indicate that the library encountered financial difficulties after the stock market crash in October 1929.
In a letter dated June 5, 1929, Librarian Olive Brumbau...
Organizations
Albertson Public Library - In the beginning 1921-1931
Offer Made and Agreement Signed
On November 10, 1921, Captain Charles L. Albertson, a winter resident of Orlando and a retired Police Inspector from Waverly, New York, met with the Orlando City Commissioners and a committee from the Chamber of Commerce to...
Organizations
Albertson Public Library - Furnishings 1923
The Library Bureau
Library Bureau catalog pages, blue prints, orders, and correspondence provide an interesting look at the process of choosing the furnishings for the new library.
Captain Albertson appears to have made the first contact with the Library B...
Organizations
Albertson Public Library - Monthly Reports 1923-1931
Above: Photograph of the 1923 Albertson Public Library.
Monthly Reports November 1923 - December 1931
The Albertson Public Library staff first welcomed Orange County residents to their new library on November 8, 1923.
Beginning that month, a monthly repor...
Topics
Celebrating Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary
A collection of memorable stories and images shared with the Orange County Library System that celebrate Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary.
[caption id="attachment_28061" align="aligncenter" width="420"] Lloyd Bridges filming at Epcot 1983. Submitted b...
Organizations
Oral History Interview with Library Director & CEO Mary Anne Hodel
All of the things in our society that are changing so very rapidly. How do we harness ourselves to those trends, and provide services that customers in our community would want, and need, and benefit from? That’s very critical that the...
Topics
Father Pinder Speaks
ABOVE photograph: Father Pinder and Walter Hawkins at the Dr. Jerry B. Callahan Exhibit at the Dedication Ceremony on February 20, 2013. The Reverend Canon Nelson Wardell Pinder (Father Pinder), Rector Emeritus of The Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist...
Places
History of Orlando's African American Libraries
Plaque Commemorating the Booker T. Washington Library
On December 30, 2001, the Orange County Library System and the Shiloh Baptist Church celebrated the history of the former Booker T. Washington Library with the placement of a commemorative bronze plaque at...
Topics
Eddie T. Jackson
Above: Librarian Eddie T. Jackson - Story time at the Booker T. Washington Branch Library circa 1927
Eddie Natalie Byrd Thomas Cromartie Jackson
Eddie Jackson was born Eddie Natalie Byrd Thomas on March 25th, 1902, in Tampa, Florida. Her mother, Woodie Julia...
Topics
History of the Orange County Library System
Sorosis Club of Orlando
The beginnings of the current Orange County Library System can be traced to the circulating library collection of the Sorosis Club of Orlando. The collection was initially housed on the second floor of the old Armory building...
Organizations
OCLS Extension Department 1966 - 1983
ABOVE: Arnold Sobel at the Northgate Library in 1983.
OCLS Extension Department Scrapbook
Photos of Extension Department and the library Annex from 1966 to 1983, were collected and carefully and lovingly arranged in a scrapbook to preserve the memories of ...
Events
Albertson Library Staff Party - December 1963
Former staff at the Albertson Public Library were invited to a staff Christmas party on December 14, 1963. The date is significant because in September 1964, the Albertson library was demolished to make way for the new Orlando Public Library....
Organizations
Guide to Orlando's Afro American Heritage
Central Florida Society of Afro American Heritage
The Central Florida Society of Afro American Heritage was formed in 1986 to preserve the heritage of the African American community in Orlando. The Florida Division of Corporations lists Deborah Murphy as pres...
People
Patrice Florence-Walker Retires from OCLS after 33 years!
Patrice Florence-Walker, manager of the Eatonville Branch retired in January 2020, after working more than 33 years at the Orange County Library System!
Patrice started her career in 1986 in the Young Adult Department at the Main library in downtown Orlando....
Places
Albertson Public Library Blueprints
On February 21, 1922, the city of Orlando held a bond election for funds to build a public library and other municipal improvements. The vote was 155 against and 446 in favor!
PLANS APPROVED - BIDS SOUGHT
The May 13, 1922, Orlando...
People
Gregg Gronlund Retires After 29 Years with the Orange County Library System!
Gregg Gronlund began his nearly thirty-year career at the Orange County Library System in 1991 at the Southwest Branch in the Dr. Phillips area, back in the "good old days" of card catalogs and pay phones. Between 1991 and his...
Events
Time Lapse of the Demolition of the Murrell Building
Demolition of the Murrell Building
Disappointed by the growth of office spaces and high rises in Orlando, Eugenia Sefnik and Lynn Long formed the Orlando Land Trust in 2015. They had previously gone to the City of Orlando to talk about...
Events
Pale Waves at The Social
Pale Waves at the Social
Pale Waves is an indie rock/dream pop group from Manchester, England.
The band formed in 2014 when Heather Baron-Gracie and Ciara Doran met while studying at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute. They released a couple...
Events
Gogol Bordello at the Beacham
Gogol Bordello is a popular "gypsy punk" group, as they call themselves, with members coming from many different parts of the world, although their sound is most influenced by the folk music of Eastern Europe and punk.
They played at the...
People
Yesterday's News Today with Tom Webb
Yesterday's News Today with Tom Webb
Yesterday's News Today with Tom Webb, from WORL Radio
These recordings by Tom Webb were donated to the Friends of the Orlando Public Library's Oral History Committee.
LISTEN 27:17
Part One
[audio mp3="https://orl...
People
Joseph Wittenstein
Joseph Wittenstein
Joseph Wittenstein presents a Jewish History of Orange County, 1875 to 1925, and early Jewish settlers in Orlando.
Joseph Wittenstein reads from his Chronology of the Early Jewish Settlers in the Orange County Area from 1875 to about 192...
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