Lake Nona Needs a Library

BY ASHLEY CISNEROS MEJIA

Alocal 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.

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, 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 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.

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.

A statement posted on the OCLS website states that adding a floor would require additional staff to tend to those floors, and doing so significantly increases both construction costs, and operating costs now and into the future.

“We have a general list of things we look for that includes a parcel in a highly visible area that can accommodate a one-story building of about 20,000 square feet. The parcel would also need to support about 150 parking spaces and ideally it would be on a bus route,” said Mary Anne Hodel, OCLS director and CEO. “There was only one specific parcel discussed in 2017 located between Tavistock Lakes Boulevard and Laureate Boulevard, which didn’t work due to size and lack of space for adequate parking. Our discussions over this parcel never made it to the point of discussing costs and expenses.”

As a large landowner in southeast Orange County, Tavistock says it supports a library in the Lake Nona area and remains committed to continuing conversations with the OCLS.

“Ultimately, OCLS and their Board of Trustees determine new branch locations. As a taxpayer-funded entity, OCLS also establishes and approves how public dollars are spent and the criteria by which new library sites are assessed, which includes population, growth rates, accessibility, and visibility,” said Jessi Blakley, Tavistock vice president of strategic communications. “It is our understanding that based on these OCLS criteria, Lake Nona is second on their list for potential expansion locations, behind Horizons West. When OCLS is ready to advance plans, we would continue to welcome their interest and be supportive.”

As the library’s budget can only support the construction of one branch at a time, its leadership is moving forward with plans to build a branch in the Horizon West area on a readily available parcel of land owned jointly by the City of Orlando and Orange County.

While the OCLS continues to search for the right parcel or partnership in Lake Nona, it has announced that it will install a return drop box at the Valencia College Lake Nona campus to give residents of the community a more convenient way to return library materials that they either have delivered to their home via the free MAYL service or check out from other locations. The drop box is expected to be installed sometime in summer 2021.

In addition to speaking with Tavistock, the OCLS has also been in communication with the City of Orlando about possibly collaborating on a library incorporated in an upcoming government community center off Dowden Road. City officials have been working with the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) to solidify a plan to develop the land. OCLS has not yet received information regarding the cost of adding a library to the government center.

“We have plans for a government center that will bring some of our services such as permitting and a police substation to the area,” said Laura F. Carroll, real estate agent and appraiser in the City of Orlando’s Real Estate Division. “We were aware that residents had expressed the need for a library and asked if OCLS would like to join us in the venture. While we cannot control where the OCLS opens their next branch, we are working hard to come to an agreement that will allow them to be our partner in the project.”

A third area of potential opportunity for a library is at Valencia College Lake Nona. The college has expansion plans for a second building on its campus and an idea was proposed to have a public library incorporated into the new building. Leadership at this campus, the fastest-growing campus within Valencia’s system, worked with Rep. Rene "Coach P" Plasencia (District 50) at his last legislative session to try to secure funding from the Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) and Debt Service Trust Fund. Unfortunately, Valencia College did not receive the money needed for its expansion plans at the Lake Nona campus in 2020.

As this fund serves all pre-K to 12 schools in all 67 counties, the 28 members of the Florida College System (formerly known as community colleges), the 12 members of the State University System, the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Division of Blind Services, and Public Broadcasting for the state, receiving funds is highly competitive. The projects on the PECO list are ranked by need and time waiting and the projects or schools at the top get the funding first. Recently re-elected Rep. Plasencia said that he will pursue the funds again during the 2021 legislative session.

In the meantime, residents are continuing to demonstrate their support for a library by attending the OCLS board meetings and communicating with Tavistock and elected officials. To express your support for a library in the Lake Nona area, please sign and share the resident petition at: www.change.org/nonalibrary l

OCLS leadership shared this rendering of a new library drop box to be installed near the Valencia College Lake Nona campus during a recent virtual board meeting. It should be installed around summer 2021.