Osceola Library System
Encyclopedia
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
system located in the Kissimmee, Florida
Kissimmee, Florida
Kissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 59,682. It is the county seat of Osceola County...
area of Central Florida
Central Florida
Central Florida is a regional designation for the area surrounding Orlando in east central Florida, United States. The area represents the third largest population concentration in Florida, after the South Florida and Tampa Bay regions, respectively....
. The main branch is the Hart Memorial Central Library in historic downtown Kissimmee. The system itself has four large branch locations in Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Buenaventura Lakes, and Poinciana; two smaller branches in West Osceola (Celebration), and Kenansville; and one annex library in Narcoossee.
The Osceola Library System was named FLA's Library of the Year for 2007 for Innovation in Customer Service.
Short history
Prior to 1989 the system had a cooperative arrangement with the Orange County Library SystemOrange County Library System
The Orange County Library System is a public library system located in the Orlando area of Central Florida. OCLS has headquarters in the Orlando Public Library in Downtown Orlando. The System is made up of 15 total locations, one main library and 14 branch locations...
to provide library service for Osceola County residents. On April 1, 1989 the system began operations as an independent entity offering county-wide library service. Originally consisting of three small branches and a total book collection of approximately 70,000 volumes, explosive growth was experienced over the ensuing years.
Since operations began in 1989, the collection has increased to over 343,000 books and a combined audio/video collection of over 13,000. Located in the heart of one of the world's favorite tourist destinations, it has seen library visits increase to almost 500,000 a year with a circulation of over 625,000 resources.
In April 2007, Osceola Library System was named Library of the Year 2007 for Innovation in Customer Service by the Florida Library Association. The Library was recognized for the implementation of a new customer friendly service model that removed desks and the stereotypical image of the librarian, and replaced them with smaller checkout pods, approachable staff, and more interactive areas for children, families, and teens.
Services
Each full-service library has reference librarians, public Internet access computers, a wide range of in-library online databases, fiction and non-fiction books, magazines and newspapers, audio-visual resources featuring DVDs, books on CD and music, as well as adult, teen, and children's programming.The library often hosts community events and the reference department participates in Ask-a-Librarian.
Osceola Library System is among the first wave of libraries embracing the concept of Web 2.0
Web 2.0
The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...
. The Library website incorporates blogs, rss feeds and e-notification features, MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and message boards for teens, Flickr
Flickr
Flickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
photo albums, and other forms of social networking.
Branches
- Hart Memorial Central Library - Kissimmee, FloridaKissimmee, FloridaKissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 59,682. It is the county seat of Osceola County...
- Veterans Memorial Library, St. Cloud Branch - St. Cloud, FloridaSt. Cloud, FloridaSt. Cloud is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. The population was 35,183 at the 2010 census. St. Cloud is closely associated with the adjacent city of Kissimmee and its proximity to Orlando area theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, and Seaworld.St...
- Buenaventura Branch Library - Buenaventura Lakes, FloridaBuenaventura Lakes, FloridaBuenaventura Lakes is a census-designated place in northern Osceola County, Florida, United States, near Kissimmee. Its population was 26,079 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
- Poinciana Branch Library - Poinciana, FloridaPoinciana, FloridaPoinciana is a census-designated place in Osceola and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Florida. It lies southwest of Kissimmee and about east of Haines City...
- West Osceola Branch Library - Celebration, FloridaCelebration, FloridaCelebration is a census-designated place and a master-planned community in Osceola County, Florida, United States, located near Walt Disney World Resort and originally developed by The Walt Disney Company...
- Kenansville Branch Library - Kenansville, FloridaKenansville, FloridaKenansville, Florida, USA, is an unincorporated community with a population of just under 1000, a large number of which are over the age of 50, located at the junction of Osceola County Road 523 and U.S. Highway 441 in Osceola County, Florida, just 12 miles north of Yeehaw Junction and 27 miles...
- Narcoossee Library Annex
See also
- Kissimmee, FloridaKissimmee, FloridaKissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 59,682. It is the county seat of Osceola County...
- Osceola County, FloridaOsceola County, FloridaOsceola County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 172,493. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 244,045, making it the 17th fastest-growing county in the United States. Its county seat is Kissimmee.- History :Osceola County was...
- St. Cloud, FloridaSt. Cloud, FloridaSt. Cloud is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. The population was 35,183 at the 2010 census. St. Cloud is closely associated with the adjacent city of Kissimmee and its proximity to Orlando area theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort, and Seaworld.St...
- Buenaventura Lakes, FloridaBuenaventura Lakes, FloridaBuenaventura Lakes is a census-designated place in northern Osceola County, Florida, United States, near Kissimmee. Its population was 26,079 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
- Celebration, FloridaCelebration, FloridaCelebration is a census-designated place and a master-planned community in Osceola County, Florida, United States, located near Walt Disney World Resort and originally developed by The Walt Disney Company...
- Poinciana, FloridaPoinciana, FloridaPoinciana is a census-designated place in Osceola and Polk counties in the U.S. state of Florida. It lies southwest of Kissimmee and about east of Haines City...
- List of Libraries