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Lake Worth City Library

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The Lake Worth Library exists distinct from the Palm Beach County Library System. It is run by the city government of Lake Worth as opposed to the County-run Library System, although the two do share some services and sources of funding. It is classified as a single-use library building for the purposes of receiving grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.[1]

The Library's location places it directly across from the Lake Worth Cultural Center, and near Lucerne Avenue, the City's main road.[2]

Lake Worth Public Library
Lake Worth Public Library
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ArchitectLua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
LocationLake Worth, FL
Collection
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Access and use
Circulation83,790
Population served35,110
Other information
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References: https://librarytechnology.org/library/4322

History[edit]

In 1912 a group of Lake Worth women formed the Lake Worth Library Association and organized a book drive to establish a library in the community.  The library was housed in different buildings including City Hall, the community center and fire department until the 1930s when funds were raised - using private donations, not tax dollars - for a new library, which took almost 13 years to build. The building where the Lake Worth Public Library still resides was completed in August 1941 and is one of the oldest libraries in Palm Beach County.[3]

In the spring of 1965, the League of Women Voters of the West Palm Beach area appeared before the Board of County Commissioners stating that increased library services were needed because one-third of the population of the county was unserved.

The Board of County Commissioners decided to appoint a fifteen-member committee to study the issue. Leslie Thompson of Lake worth was one of the appointed board members. Meetings were held at all of the municipal libraries including Lake Worth.

Information was gathered from several Florida counties which had established county library service, a relatively new concept at that time. It was determined that there was a great need for improved and expanded library service in Palm Beach County. In May 1968 a special act creating the special taxing district had passed the legislature and although Lake Worth met the minimum standards, the library chose not to join.[4]

Membership[edit]

The Library offers library cards for free to any residents of the city of Lake Worth with identification and proof of address. Library card are also offered for residents of most of the nearby cities and unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County. For non-residents temporary library cards can be obtained according to a fee schedule.

Collection[edit]

While the Lake Worth Library is smaller in size than many of the local County Library branches, it still devotes several rooms to stacks of books and audiovisual materials for checkout. The Library maintains a subscription to the County newspaper The Palm Beach Post in archives from 1989 to the present available to library card holders. The Library also maintains a collection of the local newspaper, The Lake Worth Herald in microfiche from 1912 – 1920, and in hard copy from 1940 to the present.

The Library specializes in the preservation of the city's local records, including burial records in the local cemeteries, an archive of city records, and its own special collection of local publications.[5]

The library has a collection of historical items including: a commemorative Jack Ruby plaque featuring an engraved bullet fired from the same snub-nosed .38-caliber Colt Cobra used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald; paintings by Reginald Sherman Winston, an acclaimed painter and muralist who became a city resident in 1922; wood carvings from a local shoemaker; two Arabic scripts; and a bullet fired by a police officer in 1942 in the library’s men’s room. It was the period when Florida was under threat from German air or U-Boat attack that coastal cities were given orders to turn off or black out all lights. The policeman was instructed by his commanding officer to shoot out the lights after the librarian forgot to switch them off.[6]

Services[edit]

The Library offers regular Storytimes and other Children's Services. It also hosts book discussion clubs, and hosts basic computer literacy courses for adults. Free access to Library computers with WI-Fi access is given for limited times per patron. The Library maintains access to genealogy databases to be made available for patrons doing genealogy research in a similar manner to the Palm Beach County Library System. The Library maintains a home page with a Polaris-style online search-able catalog, hosted on the City of Lake Worth's official website.

Since 2015 the Friends of the Lake Worth Library volunteer group has been involved in the creation and maintenance of Little Free Library book boxes in and around Lake Worth. Through this program the City Library has been cooperating with other Library Systems and private donors to maintain free book distribution boxes throughout central Palm Beach County.[7]

References[edit]

  1. "Lake Worth Public Library". Florida Department of State Division of Library and Information Service. Florida Department of State. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  2. "Worth Florida, The Art of Living". City of Lake Worth Official Site. Lake Worth City Government. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  3. Engoren, Jan. "Lake Worth's 'quirky' library celebrates 75 years". Sun Sentinel Online. Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  4. "Palm Beach County Library System - Part 1". digital.lib.usf.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  5. "Lake Worth City Library". City of Lake Worth. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  6. "How bullet fired from gun killing Lee Harvey Oswald got to Lake Worth". mypalmbeachpost. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  7. Thompson, Kevin. "Little free libraries will soon be popping up in Lake Worth". Palm Beach Post Online. Cox Media Group. Retrieved 22 November 2017.


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