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Once Upon a Time in Florida: Capturing Our State’s Rich History on the Page
This post is brought to you by our community partners at the Orange County Regional History Center. “Generation after generation, Florida has been a collection of cultures, thoughts, and ambitions brought by people from around the world,” writes the executive director of Florida Humanities, Nashid Madyun, in the foreword to a new book, Once Upon…
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From the Director, January 2024
When Alice Walker published her story “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston” for Ms. Magazine in 1975, the author we currently consider to be a prominent voice of the Harlem Renaissance and one of the most brilliant authors in Black literature was all but forgotten. Walker describes the day she first walked into the Eatonville…
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Meet You There
As you’ve read in Books & Beyond over the past year, Orange County Library System is committed to breaking down barriers to access, so everyone can take part in what our libraries have to offer. That commitment extends far beyond library walls. In 2024, our goal is to plant deeper roots in the community by…
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From the Director, December 2023
When we kicked off our 100 Year Celebration on January 7, we promised you that a few good things were on the way: mobile services, programs in the community so people who can’t get to a library can still take advantage of what we have to offer, and a commitment to elevating community conversations with fun and…
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Looking Ahead to Our Bright Future
You’ve heard us say it all year long: At OCLS, we’re proud of what we accomplished in the past, and we’re looking forward to a bright future for our library system. Over the past year, we’ve focused on sharing our story and showing you how the past 100 years have shaped us. As we wind…
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Questions and Answers – Orlando Ballet’s The Nutcracker
Founded in 1974, Orlando Ballet is Central Florida’s only fully residential professional ballet company. On top of producing world class stage productions, they also promote dance education and training through the Orlando Ballet School and Orlando Ballet II. As part the ballet’s 50th anniversary, artistic director Jorden Morris and a world-renowned creative team spent three years reimagining this from-scratch, Broadway-caliber…
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The History of Orange County Library System: The Melrose Center
On April 16, 2012, Orange County Library System received the largest single private gift in its history when benefactor Kendrick B. Melrose donated $1 million in memory of his mother, Dorothy Lumley Melrose. The family lived in Orlando during Kendrick’s childhood, and he cited his mother’s strong support of libraries and keen interest in emerging…
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From the Director, November 2023
This year, we’ve focused a lot on what our library system can do to be more supportive of our community. We want to be involved and engaged with those doing good things around us. So, when we learned that Orange County was open to having us participate in the annual Mayor’s Holiday Toy Drive, a…
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The History of Orange County Library System: Mary Anne Hodel & the New Millennium
In December of 2001, Orange County Library System was poised at the edge of the 21st century. The retiring director, Dorothy Field, had accomplished a remarkable amount to prepare the library system for the new millennium, including opening three new branches and ensuring public computers with internet access were available to all library users. But…
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From the Director, October 2023
In 2021, we were looking for a unique way to mark an interesting occasion: the 100th anniversary of a huge book donation by Captain Charles Albertson to the city of Orlando, which helped accelerate the progress the city was making toward the establishment of our first public library system. We thought it would be fun…
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