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From the Director, March 2026
A Month of Music, Film, Medieval Merriment and LEGO Creativity at Your Library Learning and creativity come alive in many forms and this month, your library strikes every chord with an inspiring blend of music, film, art and a family-friendly week of medieval pageantry. The submission window is open now through May 15 for our
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Q&A with Author Dhonielle Clayton
Meet the Author: Dhonielle ClaytonEatonville Branch • Friday, January 30 • 10:30 a.m.Dive into the art of storytelling with Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles series and co-author of Blackout at the ZORA! Festival Education Day in historic Eatonville. Recommended for ages 13–18. Dhonielle Clayton is a New York Times bestselling
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Orlando Game Jam and Gaming Expo Returns February 19-22
Orlando Public Library’s Melrose Center is eagerly preparing for the 2026 Orlando Game Jam and Gaming Expo, coming February 19-22 with bigger cash prizes, a new secret theme and exciting networking opportunities. We’re looking forward to hosting talented and passionate game designers and developers for this year’s events and would like to extend our sincere
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Stories of More Woe
William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, it could be said, has got it all. The play is deceptively simple; boy meets girl, they fall in love, and a series of unfortunate events involving their families’ long-standing blood feud leads to boy and girl’s tragic deaths. It’s easy to see why it so often appears on high school English curricula. It’s got everything teens love: relatable protagonists, parents who don’t understand,
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From the Director, January 2025
Your Library Offers Unlimited Value in the New Year Welcome to a new year with your library! January is a time to look ahead and plan for a successful year, and your OCLS library card can help you do just that – often in surprising, money-saving ways. If you’re paying for newspapers, magazines, audiobooks or
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Q&A with Author Nicholas Sparks
Nicholas Sparks is one of the world’s most beloved authors, and we are honored to welcome him as our next Lillian Louise Pharr Signature Author Series featured author. Sparks’ books, including titles such as The Notebook, A Walk to Remember and Nights in Rodanthe, have sold over 105 million copies in more than 50 languages worldwide. His…
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From the Director, December 2025
The Best Books You May Have Missed in 2025 December is a great time to relax with a book, and book clubs, blogs, celebrities and newspapers are releasing their Best Books lists for 2025 – a fun way to find your next book. I love discovering new authors and I find as much time as
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Best Books of 2025: Adult
As chairs of the Adult Book List committee, we are excited to share with you how the committee was formed, how the books were reviewed, and how the list you can now find in the December Books & Beyond newsletter was created. Several librarians from across the whole system met together in person in the
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Best Books of 2025: Youth
This year marked an exciting first for our library: the creation of our Best Books list for babies, children, and young adults! Two of us had the privilege of leading this new committee, and with a wonderful team of librarians, we set out to find the most remarkable (and often overlooked) books of the year.
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Shapes & Forms: A Guide to Contemporary Indigenous Literature
The history of Indigenous literature is a lineage that runs deep throughout the American continent. From tales shared through oral traditions to modern poetry and prose, these narratives have often sought to illuminate the lived experiences of contemporary Indigenous reality while covering themes of heritage, nature, community, and preservation. For this Native American History Month,
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