The St. Lucie County Library System, based in St. Lucie County, Florida, has branches in the cities of Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie.
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The St. Lucie County Library System, based in St. Lucie County, Florida, has branches in the cities of Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie.
The residents of Fort Pierce created and began maintaining a reading room in 1903 to loan out books donated by churches and other civic organizations. In 1913, the Women's Club residence was built and the organization volunteered to house and manage the "reading room." [1]
The St. Lucie County Library System began when the St. Lucie County Library Association was established in 1946 with a bequeath of the late P. P. Cobb, a prominent citizen of Fort Pierce. With only $1,000 from Cobb, the Library Association started working towards the building of a proper library. Under the supervision of the head of the Finance Committee, future Governor of Florida Dan McCarty, the association raised $15,000 by door-to-door petitions. Also, the city of Fort Pierce donated two lots located on Second Street and Atlantic Avenue, which were sold to the News Tribune for $8,250, raising the total amount in the treasury to $23,000. [1]
Using the money raised by the Library Association, on May 1, 1954, the Fort Pierce branch of the St. Lucie County Library System opened with its own librarian, the first county-supported library in the state of Florida. [1] Its original collection was made up of 1,000 books from the old reading room and another 2,000 loaned from the State Library of Florida. [2] More books and furniture were donated by surrounding churches, civic organizations, and local residents.
In 1958, the St. Lucie County Library Association entered into a deal with the Okeechobee County Commission to form a regional library system. Each county had only one library and the one in Fort Pierce was designated as the headquarters. The St. Lucie-Okeechobee Regional Library System was dissolved in 1977 with each library's service obligation resorted to its own county, and the St. Lucie Library System was incorporated into the St. Lucie County government. [2]
During the 2004 hurricane season, the Fort Pierce library sustained damage from two broken windows due to gale-force winds which allowed water to get inside the building. [3]
On June 18, 2013, the Board approved the contract for sale and purchase of a building located at 2950 Rosser Boulevard, Port St. Lucie, Florida for the use of a future Southwest Library facility. The building, previously a City of Port St. Lucie Police Substation, will require major renovations in order to function as a County Library. [4] Staffing and operating the library are expected to cost $571,000 when the facility opens in fiscal year 2015 or 2016. [5]
The St. Lucie County Public Library System consists of six branch libraries and the Pruitt Campus Library, a joint-use facility operated in cooperation with Indian River State College. In 2012, the libraries had a total patron visit count, both physically and virtually, of 813,915. Also, in 2012, the library system had a total of 141,795 registered borrowers. [6] In 2019, the libraries had a total of 732,872 In-Person visits and 385,295 Online Visits. In 2019, the total of 181,899 registered borrowers. [7]
The branches are:
Facilities: Sq. Footage
Fort Pierce Branch: 23,000
Hurston Branch: 9,500
Lakewood Park Branch: 10,000
Morningside Branch: 19,000
Port St. Lucie Branch: 4,400
Paula A. Lewis Branch: 21,000
Pruitt Campus Library: 25,000
Total: 111,900
Fiscal Year 2012 Statistical and Financial Summaries: [6]
The St. Lucie County Library System had a total circulation of 719,823 in 2012. [6]
Fiscal Year 2019 Statistical and Financial Summaries: [7]
The St. Lucie County Library System had a total circulation of 829,552 in 2019.
Martin County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,431. Its county seat is Stuart. Martin County is in the Port St. Lucie, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Okeechobee County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,644. The county seat is Okeechobee.
Osceola County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 388,656. Its county seat is Kissimmee. Osceola County is included in the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Fla. Metropolitan Statistical Area.
St. Lucie County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 329,226. The county's seat is Fort Pierce, while the largest city is Port St. Lucie, making up 62% of the county's population. St. Lucie County is the principal county of the Port St. Lucie, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous county in Washington, behind King County, and the 60th-most populous in the United States. The county seat and largest city is Tacoma. Formed out of Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the legislature of Oregon Territory, it was named for U.S. President Franklin Pierce. Pierce County is in the Seattle metropolitan area.
Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City. Per the 2020 census, the population was 47,297.
Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most populous municipality in the county and the seventh-most populous city in Florida with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 census. It is located 125 miles (201 km) southeast of Orlando and 113 miles (182 km) north of Miami. It is a principal city in the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes St. Lucie and Martin counties, and as of 2021 had an estimated population of 502,521. Port St. Lucie is also a principal city in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Port St. Lucie Combined Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 6,841,100 as of 2021.
Indian River State College (IRSC) is a public college with a main campus in Fort Pierce, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and serves the counties of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie on the Treasure Coast region of Florida.
The Treasure Coast is a region in the southeast of the U.S. state of Florida. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and comprises Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties. The region, whose name refers to the Spanish Treasure Fleet that was lost in a 1715 hurricane, evidently emerged from residents' desire to distinguish themselves from the Gold Coast to the south.
The Okeechobee Waterway or Okeechobee Canal is a relatively shallow artificial waterway in the United States, stretching across Florida from Fort Myers on the west coast to Stuart on Florida's east coast. The waterway can support tows such as barges or private vessels up to 50 feet wide x 250 feet long which draw less than 10 feet, as parts of the system, especially the locks may have low water depths of just ten feet. The system of channels runs through Lake Okeechobee and consists of the Caloosahatchee River to the west of the lake and the St. Lucie Canal east of the lake.
Stretching 148 miles (238 km) across the Florida peninsula, State Road 70 spans five Florida counties and straddles the northern boundaries of two more. Its western terminus is at US 41 south of Bradenton ; its eastern terminus is an intersection of Virginia Avenue and South Fourth Street in Fort Pierce.
State Road 607 is a state highway that extends 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from its southern terminus to the Indian River County line. A north–south road in northern St. Lucie County and southern Indian River County, it is locally known as Emerson Avenue throughout its route.
State Road 615, locally known as 25th Street, is a 6.2-mile-long (10.0 km) north–south commuter road serving St. Lucie County, Florida. Its northern terminus is an intersection with U.S. Route 1 northeast of the St. Lucie County Airport in St. Lucie Village. SR 615 continues south along 25th Street, intersecting with Okeechobee Road and Virginia Avenue before the state road designation ends at its intersection with Edwards Road. County Road 615 (CR 615) begins here and extends 10.1 miles (16.3 km) south to Port St. Lucie. At Midway Road, the road changes names from 25th Street to St. James Drive. After winding its way through northern Port St. Lucie, St. James Drive ends at an intersection with Airoso Boulevard, with the CR 615 designation continuing south along Airoso Boulevard. After intersections with Prima Vista Boulevard and Crosstown Parkway, CR 615 and Airoso Blvd. finally reaches its southern terminus with Port St. Lucie Blvd., where Port St. Lucie's City Hall is located.
WPXP-TV is a television station licensed to Lake Worth, Florida, United States, serving the West Palm Beach area as an affiliate of Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station maintains offices on Banyan Boulevard in West Palm Beach, while its transmitter is located near Greenacres, Florida.
Florida's 18th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress, located in the Florida Heartland. In the 2020 redistricting cycle, the district was created as a new district, which includes the inland counties of DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee, as well as most of Polk County and some of Immokalee in Collier County. The previous 18th district, located in the Treasure Coast, was instead renamed the 21st district.
The Zora Neale Hurston House is a historic house at 1734 Avenue L in Fort Pierce, Florida. Built in 1957, it was the home of author Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) from then until her death. On December 4, 1991, it was designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
John Carroll High School, located in Fort Pierce, Florida, is a co-ed Catholic high school serving nearly 400 students in grades 9-12.
St. Lucie Public Schools, previously known as St. Lucie County Public Schools, is the branding for St. Lucie County School District, which is the school district that manages schools in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. Whereas, the total staff in the district consists of over 6,500 teachers and 2,300 administration staff.