New Library in Winter Park

Blueprint for the Future

The city of Winter Park welcomes its newest edition to the community with a 42 million dollar state of the art library on Orlando Ave. Opening this month, the library will showcase both new and improved services. The library maintains its purpose as a clean and safe environment for any kind of studying, reading, creativity and collaboration–but let’s take a deeper dive into the definition-changing enhancements. 

All Things New

A little over 7 years in the making and in an effort to increase community engagement, architect Sir David Adjaye and local firm Hunter Brady created the ultimate turn of the century library. Here’s some things you can look forward to when planning your next visit!

• A new computer lab with the most current equipment and on site assistance with operating them 
• Multiple new “social” areas with open floor plans, designated age appropriacy
• Open business area for meetings and collaborative practices 
• A performative space for open lectures & live events 
• 8 new study rooms

Room for Improvement

Alongside all of the very new aspects of the library, there’s a few things you can expect to be updated in the building as well. What’s awesome about this reboot project is that it wasn’t being done to exclude any person, this is an upgrade that will hopefully bring in a larger spectrum of ages and influences. By upgrading the old spaces, you give those who are patronizing the library more than others, something really brilliant and exciting to look forward to. While doing this, it’s giving those who may not always find a reason to use the library, more incentive, more curiosity to what this place can do for them.

Here’s a few upgrades WP Library has included in the process:

• Borrowing System – You will be able to check out and “borrow” more items now, including bicycles, tablets and laptops, and instruments 
• Makerspace- The open makerspace will now have a 3D printer and a state of the art creative space for audio and video recordings 
• Story Room – The story room was already functioning in the library but has been made bigger, about 30% larger to increase max amount of guests

Opening Day

Today is the opening day for the new library! Not only is this extremely exciting, but this truly is a gaze into the future! Libraries were beginning to look like a thing of the past, we’ve seen it! Libraries closing, children in communities losing a safe place to study and hangout when they are not at school or home, job loss, plenty of really dark things. This here is a gleaming reminder of how you certainly can teach old dogs new tricks, this library will stand honorably asd an institute of education and learning but also influence up and coming generations to implement and explore new ideas and to truly just go for it!