Media Kit

In the early 1920s, the Sorosis of Orlando Woman’s Club maintained a library for Orlando. This collection was initially on the second floor of the Old Armory Building on Court Street, then moved to the Knox building at the intersection of Pine and Court Street.  

Captain Charles L. Albertson, a retired New York City Police Inspector and a winter resident of Orlando, had for many years been collecting books at his home in Waverly, New York. In November 1920, Albertson offered his collection to the City of Orlando, dependent on the following conditions: a suitable building should be furnished to house it, the library should be known as the Albertson Public Library, Albertson should be Advisory Superintendent of the Library throughout his lifetime, and Orlando should suitably maintain the library. On May 11, 1920, Orlando citizens voted that they wanted a public library. 

The library grew quickly, opening new branches and expanding services. The library’s first bookmobile was donated by the Sorosis Club in 1949. That same year, the library’s all-volunteer support group, Friends of the Orange County Library System, was founded to support the library and raise funds for library resources not included in the library’s budget.  

By the 1960s, the population of Orlando had grown to the point where Albertson Public Library lacked the space to provide suitable library service. Following a bond-issue election, construction of a new facility was approved. Selected to design the new building was renowned Harvard Five architect, John M. Johansen, who called his Brutalist design a “composition in monolithic concrete.” The Orlando Public Library building was dedicated on August 7, 1966.  

Orange County Library Board of Trustees was created by the voters of the Orange County Library District upon approval of the Orange County Library District Act, at Referendum on September 9, 1980. The Board is appointed by the Orange County Library District Governing Board which is composed of the Board of County Commissioners of Orange County, Florida and one member appointed by the City Council of the City of Orlando, Florida.   

In the 1980s, the building was once again expanded, and today it takes up 290,000 square feet and an entire city block in downtown Orlando. The rest of the system has grown, too – as of 2025, Orange County Library System operates 15 locations, with two more under construction in the growing communities of Lake Nona and Horizon West, and employs more than 450 staff members.