Letter from the Department of State

A Culture of Reading

Florida embraces literary and libraries.

By The Honorable Laurel M. Lee

At the Florida Department of State, we recognize the transformative power of the written word. That’s why we are proud to serve as a resource for Florida’s public libraries and other institutions that promote a culture of reading. As we celebrate the 2021 Florida Book Awards authors and our love of books, I want to remind Floridians of the great services and resources that libraries provide for all members of our communities.

As Secretary of State, one of my responsibilities is to advocate for the 551 public libraries across Florida. The Division of Library and Information Services (DLIS), led by State Librarian Amy Johnson (find her interview on p. 30), plays a significant role in their development and operation.

Libraries are community cornerstones that have become more essential over the years. We initiated the Florida Libraries As… campaign to ensure Florida libraries are recognized for all the vital roles they fulfill in their communities.

As gateways to technology, libraries have been reimagined as workforce development centers, learning centers, disaster response centers, small business incubators, community memory repositories and spaces for intellectual and personal enrichment. They serve as the setting for many civic services that include voter registration, early voting, citizenship classes and e-government access points.

Today’s libraries are more than repositories for books and information. They are centers for community engagement. At DLIS, we are connection creators that assist and encourage libraries to build partnerships with local entities. Local partnerships have resulted in enriching educational experiences and have made the library a more welcoming space for all.

While we help public libraries serve their communities, we also directly serve the informational needs of all Floridians and Florida visitors through the State Library and the State Archives of Florida. Located in Tallahassee, the State Library and State Archives of Florida hold more than 700,000 books and close to 50,000 cubic feet of historical documents.

With assistance from our helpful staff, people from state lawmakers to documentary researchers use the State Library and State Archives collections to request information, conduct research or access documents that can’t be found anywhere else.

Many of these items can be seen up close only in Tallahassee, but every day our digitized collection grows larger. You can see our most popular collections of manuscripts, documents, photographs and maps from anywhere in the world by visiting FloridaMemory.org. You can learn more about the State Library and the State Archives collections at info. florida.gov.

Last December, we partnered with the Florida Department of Corrections and the Florida Department of Children and Families to hold the very first holiday book drive to benefit the libraries in Florida’s correctional facilities throughout the state and the library at the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee.

Between December 2021 and February 2022, the State Library collected 5,300 reading materials. These pre-loved books are going to expand access to education and will provide an additional enrichment activity as part of the rehabilitation process.

Books can open the world for a young person or help someone else see the world in a new light. That’s why the Florida Department of State remains fully committed to supporting our public libraries so that the materials, services and programs our libraries provide will continue to change Floridians’ lives for the better. For more information about the Division of Library and Information Services and Florida’s amazing public libraries, please visit dos.myflorida.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: As of press time, Laurel Lee resigned as Secretary of State. To acknowledge her support of the humanities and service to our state, we are publishing her last column, which she contributed to FORUM during her tenure.