HOT TOPICS | LIBRARY DROP BOX
LAKE NONA
NEEDS A
LIBRARY BY ASHLEY CISNEROS MEJIA
Home to world-class colleges and universities and Medical City the community made international news for being selected one of the only Verizon 5G innovation hubs in the country as well as the location for Lilium vertical-landing and vertical take-off air taxis. With all this exciting innovation, one essential asset is missing — a public library. Even in our digital-dominated age, libraries serve as cornerstones of communities. At local branches, patrons can access computers, software, printers, and Wi-Fi; take classes in a plethora of subjects; and attend educational and entertaining events. Library customers can participate in book clubs, access career resources, rent affordable study and conference rooms, and more. While residents in Lake Nona can use their library cards to download audiobooks, access education apps,
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and take classes online, getting to an actual branch is not always convenient. The closest branch locations — the Southeast Branch off Semoran Boulevard and the South Creek Branch near Hunters Creek — each can take 30 minutes or more to reach from Lake Nona. “I have young children and we have not been to a library since we moved to Lake Nona a year ago. When you’re a busy working mom, you need a library that is convenient and local,” said Lake Nona resident Jenn Miller. “We used to make weekly library visits, and also frequent story times and other library events. We met many new friends there and it fostered a wonderful community spirit. Kids love looking at books and picking them out, and we are missing the experience we feel is vital to encouraging a love of learning. Finally, the community is lacking clean, air conditioned meeting spaces for small groups and events, which offer enrichment and new opportunities for all.” Fellow resident Sara Griswold Winckler agrees. “Having a library in Lake Nona would be beneficial to the babies and toddlers in the area. It's difficult to find children's activities in this area, and my toddler enjoyed story times and different children's library events pre-COVID,” Griswold Winckler said. “She loves going into
Cristian Mejia, a Lake Nona preschooler, holds up one of his book selections during a recent trip to the OCLS Southeast Branch off Semoran Boulevard.
the branch and picking out her own books and DVDs. We don't get to go often because it's a bit of a hike for us. We would go more often if it was closer to us.” Yet, the absence of a library in the Lake Nona area is not for a lack of trying, nor is it a new issue. For many years, the OCLS staff, Board of Trustees, elected officials, the Lake Nona Regional Chamber of Commerce, organizations, and individual residents have had conversations to try to make a Lake Nona branch a reality. One of the biggest issues is the cost of land in the area. Though the OCLS does not have an official price point, the highest price it has paid in the past is approximately $19 per square foot, and it found commercial options in Lake Nona to be closer to $45 per square foot. According to the OCLS, Tavistock Development Company offered a small piece of land at market value. The size of the parcel would require the OCLS to build a two-story branch in order to accommodate the same level of service as its other branches, and its policy is to only operate single-story branches to keep the cost down.
ASHLEY CISNEROS MEJIA
A
local resident movement has been ignited recently to advocate for a branch of the Orange County Library System (OCLS) to be built in the Lake Nona area. Regarded as the fastest-growing area within the City of Orlando, Lake Nona is booming with construction projects and new developments, even as a global pandemic has raged on.
