Friends of the Library Association – Organized March 1949

In the beginning

The 1973 history of the Friends of the Library (above) records the beginnings of the group.

Due to the enthusiastic efforts of Zonta Club, the Friends of the Library of Orlando came into being in 1949. The Winter Park-Orlando Zonta Club sponsored the organization under the leadership of the late Miss Joy Hawley, President, and Mrs. Eve Bacon, Chairman of the Library Committee.

Dr. Marshall Dendy, then minister of the First Presbyterian Church, presided as chairman of the organizational meeting on the evening of February 28, 1949. Over two hundred people attended and elected as their first officers: Mrs. Ruth McCullough Maguire, President; Judge Victor Hutchins, Vice President; Mrs. Elayne Williams, Secretary; and Mr. D. P. Sias, Treasurer.

Mrs. Ruth Gilbert Smith, chairman of the Public Relations Committee, edited the first Friends Newsletter that came out in April 1949. Miss Mary Wherrette, a talented artist, illustrated the newsletter for years… President Ruth Maguire sent out this message in the first newsletter: “The first Board of the Friends of the Library pledges its efforts toward promoting the friendship which the Zonta Club has solicited. It plans to move slowly and carefully, but to progress steadily.”

In the news

ABOVE: L-R Dr. Marshall C. Dendy, Clara Wendell.

The first organizational meeting, reported in the February 27th edition of the Sunday Sentinel Star, was held on February 28, 1949 at the Albertson Public Library.

A newspaper clipping, published in the Orlando Morning Sentinel on March 3, 1949, announced the election of Mrs. Ruth McCullough Maguire as president of the newly organized Friends of the Library Association, sponsored by the Winter Park – Orlando Zonta Club.

The Orange County Bookmobile

In 1949, the Sorosis Club spearheaded a drive to raise $6,000 to purchase a bookmobile to serve outlying residents. Members of Sorosis and Friends of the Library, many of whom were Sorosis members, sponsored a local bill in the State Legislature in the spring of 1949 authorizing the County Commissioners to appropriate $10,000 needed to operate the bookmobile. With the passing of the bill, the bookmobile began serving the people of Orange County on December 1, 1949.

In 1953, the Friends of the Library, always seeking ways to improve the library’s services to residents, initiated a delivery service for shut ins.

In 1956, a small bookmobile dubbed the “Traveling Branch” was donated to the library from an anonymous member of the Friends of the Library. The 1957 Annual Report touted it as the most important single new service added for the year, making eight neighborhoods stops around the city.

Listening Station for the Orlando Public Library

In 1966, members of the Friends of the Library contributed money to purchase a six-person listening station to the new Orlando Public Library on Rosalind Street. Patrons could listen to the radio, records or tapes. The list of the contributors was included in the Dedication brochure given to guests on August 7, 1966.

Ye Olde Book Sale

ABOVE: “Ye Olde Book Sale” at the Winter Park Mall, circa 1972, from 50th Anniversary of the Orlando Public Library.

In 1971, the Friends of the Library held their first “Ye Olde Book Sale” at the Colonial Plaza shopping center on Colonial Drive at Bumby Avenue. The remaining book sales were held at the Winter Park Mall located on the east side of Highway 17-92, just south of Lee Road (now the Winter Park Village). The annual book sales were extremely popular, netting the library $30,000 from the sales in 1972 and 1973!

The library continues this tradition everyday, selling donated and withdrawn books in branch locations and at the bookstore on the 3rd floor of the Orlando Public Library. In addition, donated titles are also sold on Thriftbooks.com and on Ebay! The Friends of the Library continue to use funds for the benefit of the library in the form of equipment, programs and special events.

50th Anniversary of Orlando’s Public Library

A brief history of the Friends of the Library is included in the 1973 Orange County Library System’s 50th Anniversary booklet. The Friends published “A Short History of the Friends of the Orlando Public Library,” in 1973, as well. The booklet lists all the officers of the club from the inception on February 28, 1949, through May 21, 1973.

Search Orlando Memory for more posts on the Friends of the Library and the Friends of the Library Newsletter.

Peruse additional photos and documents below under attachments.

For more information on how you can become a member of the Friends of the Library or about the bookstore, visit https://oclsfriends.info/