The St. Petersburg Library System is a free public library system for residents of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, located in Pinellas County. The St. Petersburg Library System is part of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative and consists of 7 branch locations. [1]
The city received its first library, the St. Petersburg Public Library (now the Mirror Lake Community Library) in 1915 through a grant awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. This was one of only 10 libraries in Florida to receive Carnegie funding. The $17,500 Carnegie grant was approved and matched by the city and the Mirror Lake site chosen on July 17, 1914. It was opened on December 1, 1915. The Mirror Lake Branch is also significant to the city's architectural history for being one of the earliest Beaux Arts style buildings designed in this area. [2] In 1951 a modern addition was added onto the original Carnegie building, and again in 1991. [3]
Andrew Carnegie intended for the library he funded in downtown St. Petersburg to be racially integrated when it opened in 1915, but the city refused black residents access to the library. In 1944, the city began allowing blacks into only the basement of the Carnegie library. Mrs. S.M. Carter, wife of a pastor, formed an interracial committee and lobbied the city for funds to open a black library. [4] In 1947 the James W. Johnson Library branch opened as the city's first library for the African American community, as they were previously not allowed at the Mirror Lake Library. [5] The James Weldon Johnson Community Library was relocated from its original location in the Gas Plant district due to the city's urban redevelopment project (which displaced many black residents). In 1981, the Johnson Community Library reopened in the Enoch Davis Center where it was located until 2002, when the current location was built. The Johnson Community Library is currently located next door to the Enoch Davis Center. [6]
The city finished building the Main Library in 1964 to serve as a central midtown location. [3] In 2009, the Main Library underwent a $1.2 million interior renovation, which included the addition of 67 new computers. [7] The North Community Library was constructed in 1973 after the city acquired the land. [8] The South Community Library, previously independently housed in the Boyd Hill Nature Center, became part of the city's system in 2002 along with the Johnson Branch, with both libraries receiving new facilities between 13,500 feet and 14,700 feet. [9]
The West Community Library at St. Petersburg College, a joint-use facility that serves both public patrons and SPC students, opened in 2005, replacing the Azalea branch. [10] The Childs Park Community Library is the newest addition to the St. Petersburg Library System, which opened in 2009, located inside the Childs Park YMCA [11]
In 2018, Mayor Rick Kriseman proposed that the Main Library be renamed after President Barack Obama. [12] This change was approved by the city council, and will come with $6 million in renovations set to begin in 2021 and be funded via the "Penny for Pinellas" tax. [13] [12]
In addition to borrowing books, DVDs, CDs, and other items, patrons have many other resources and services available through the St. Petersburg Library System and Pinellas Public Library Cooperative. Each branch location offers free Wi-Fi and desktop computers for patron use, as well as printing, faxing, and copying services for a fee and free scanning. [1] The St. Petersburg Library System also offers Wi-Fi hotspots for checkout. Patrons can download and stream digital resources, such as ebooks, audiobooks, and movies, using cloudLibrary, Hoopla, OverDrive, Inc., RBdigital, and Tumblebooks. [1] The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative has also paired up with local museums to provide museum passes that are available for checkout by patrons and their families for free. [15]
Research databases are available to patrons both through the library website and on the desktop computers at each branch. Databases include ProCitizen (both in English and Spanish), Florida Electronic Library, Gale Databases, Ancestry.com, LinkedIn Learning, AtoZdatabases, and an archive of the Tampa Bay Times. [1] The St. Petersburg Library System is a Federal Depository Library. Government documents are available to patrons at the James Weldon Johnson Community Library. [16]
Each branch offers programs for children, teens, and adults, including computer classes, health insurance information sessions, job search assistance, book clubs, and story times. An updated schedule of programs and events, as well as contact information, is available on the library system's website.
Other services include the Pinellas Talking Book Library, Ask a Librarian, Interlibrary loans, Libraries Unshelved, Microfilm/Microfiche, and Obituary Research. [1]
Hillsborough County is located in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,459,762, making it the fourth-most populous county in Florida and the most populous county outside the Miami metropolitan area. A 2021 estimate has the population of Hillsborough County at 1,512,070 people with a yearly growth rate of 1.34%, which itself is greater than the populations of 12 states according to their 2019 population estimates. Its county seat and largest city is Tampa. Hillsborough County is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Pinellas County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107, which makes it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most densely populated county in Florida, with 3,491 residents per square mile. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clearwater is the county seat. St. Petersburg is the largest city in the county, as well as the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat.
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the state that is not a county seat. It is the second-most populous city in the Tampa Bay area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Florida with a population of around 2.8 million.
Clearwater is a city and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa and north of St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 117,292. It is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay area.
Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area and is the fifth largest city in Pinellas County. The population was 36,068 as of the 2020 census.
Gulfport is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordering St. Petersburg, South Pasadena, and Boca Ciega Bay. The population of Gulfport was 11,783 at the 2020 census. Gulfport is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan statistical area.
Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,485, up from 77,648 in 2010.
Pinellas Park is a city located in central Pinellas County, United States. The population was 53,093 at the 2020 census. The city is the fourth largest city in Pinellas County. The City of Pinellas Park was incorporated in 1914. It is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area.
St. Pete Beach is a coastal city in Pinellas County, Florida. Known as a tourist destination, St. Pete Beach was formed from the towns of Pass-a-Grille, Belle Vista, St. Petersburg Beach, and unincorporated Pinellas County. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 8,879 at the 2020 census.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 17th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
This is a timeline of history of the city of Largo, Florida, United States.
The Mirror Lake Community Library is a Carnegie library built in 1915 in Beaux-Arts style. It was one of ten Florida Carnegie libraries to receive grants awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1901 to 1917. Steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie provided funding for more than 3,000 Carnegie libraries in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The library is significant to the city's history as the first permanent home of the public library system and embodies the transformation of the city in the second decade of the twentieth century from a pioneer village to a city with viable cultural institutions.
Frank Allston Davis was a publishing executive who founded the F. A. Davis Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After moving to the Tampa Bay Area, he introduced electricity to St. Petersburg, Florida, and founded the city of Pinellas Park.
The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. state of Florida.
The Largo Public Library is a public library located in Largo, Florida, United States. Located next to Largo Central Park, it serves a community of over 75,000 residents.
The Tampa–Hillsborough County Public Library System (THPL) is a public library system based in Hillsborough County, Florida. THPL is part of two larger library networks, the Tampa Bay Library Consortium, and the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative which includes Temple Terrace Public Library in Temple Terrace, Florida, and Bruton Memorial Library in Plant City, Florida. There are 33 branches of the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative. Services provided by the THPL include internet access, public meeting room spaces, interlibrary loans, a Bookmobile, a Cybermobile for Spanish speakers, technology classes, adult literacy programs, and downloadable eBooks. Drive-thru windows for returns and hold pick-ups are located at the Jimmie B. Keel and the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Libraries. In 2017, THPL introduced the new HAAL Pass, which gives access to certain library resources to all students in the Hillsborough County Public Schools System. Students use their student ID number to use different online databases, borrow up to three physical items and read eBooks. The Tampa–Hillsborough County Public Library System is also a part of Hillsborough County government. On January 1, 2018, the library cooperative became one of the largest in the country to go fine free. Overdue fees for borrowed materials were eliminated with the implementation of the "Just Bring It Back" initiative. In 2019 the cooperative received the FLA Library of the Year Award. Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library was recognized for its community focused initiatives as it "reorganized its staffing model and eliminated overdue fines, yielding $1 million in savings while increasing access to library resources and expanding opportunities for community engagement through unique, scalable programs."
The Orange Belt Railway was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad established in 1885 by Russian exile Peter Demens in Florida. It was one of the longest narrow gauge railroads in the United States at the time of its completion in 1888, with a mainline 152 miles (245 km) in length between Sanford and St. Petersburg. It carried citrus, vegetables, and passengers; and it interchanged with two standard gauge lines: the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway at Lake Monroe, and the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad at Lacoochee.
The James Weldon Johnson Community Library is a public library located in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is a branch of the St. Petersburg Library System, which services a large area in southern Pinellas County, Florida.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of St. Petersburg in Pinellas County, Florida, United States.
The Clearwater Public Library System (CPLS) is a public library system with five branches that provides service to the citizens of Clearwater, Florida and Pinellas County. The library system was founded in 1911. It is a member of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative.