A new Winter Park library would channel 21st century
On March 16, Winter Park citizens have the opportunity to approve a bond issue that will bring a new library to the city. Some citizens are asking why a new library is necessary.
As an Orange County School Board member, I have dealt firsthand with the changing nature of libraries as we plan and build new schools. No longer known as libraries — we call them media centers — the extensive physical changes reflect the way learning has evolved based on the impacts of 21st-century technology and the demands of the 21st-century marketplace.
And it is all about technology. Modern libraries are now resource centers with physical aspects that enable technology to bring a new world of learning experiences and opportunities to patrons, both young and old.
No longer can a library simply provide shelves of books. And stationary tables and chairs can no longer provide the setting for the type of collaboration that today’s business world wants to see instilled in the employees of the future.
Furniture needs to be mobile so that users can move around to areas that provide patrons with comfortable and userfriendly work stations. (Look at the success of Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, and how our modern airports provide for passengers to stay connected while waiting for planes.) The library space needs to be flexible and adaptable to multiple uses, including tutoring and group activities.
The infrastructure of a strategically constructed new library will provide the additional, and more flexible, space that technology demands, and that our community needs and deserves. And none of the traditional resources will have to be sacrificed to make room for the needed improvements.
The pace with which technology has changed our world is amazing. Today our smartphones are handheld computers. But just 16 years ago, our cellphones didn’t even include the ability to access the Internet. The 2007-08 introduction of smartphones changed the way we accessed information.
Now, during the next school year at Winter Park High School, instead of heavy textbooks in their backpacks, students will carry laptops for learning provided by the school district.
As a high-school student in Winter Park many years ago, I spent my time at the library in a building that is now part of All Saints Church, across from the Woman’s Club. Our current library, built in the late 1970s, brought a wealth of resources and opportunity to a new generation. That generation now has children of its own, and it is time to give that gift again.
The 21st century is upon us. Join with me, and vote to approve a 21st-century library for Winter Park.
The pace with which technology has changed our world is
amazing.