The Hart Memorial Central Library is a member of the

Osceola Library System The Osceola Library System is a public library system serving Osceola County, Florida, Osceola County in Central Florida. The main branch is the Hart Memorial Central Library in historic downtown Kissimmee, Florida, Kissimmee. The system has large ...

. It is the headquarters of the Osceola Library system. Located on Dakin Avenue in downtown

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a principal city of the Greater Orlando, O ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the two-story library is home to the Ray Shanks Law Library and a specialized Genealogy Collection."Hart Memorial Central Library"
''Osceola Library System''

History

In 1910, Kissimmee's first public library was built at North Stewart Avenue on land donated by Mrs. Catherine S. Hart, who was the widow of the tenth governor of Florida, Ossian B. Hart. Her home was used as a post office, bookstore, and then finally a library. The local chapter of the

American Woman's League The American Woman's League (succeeded by American Woman's Republic) was created by the magazine publisher Edward Gardner Lewis in 1907. In part, it was a maneuver to lower postal rates by appealing to educational and social opportunities that ...

donated books and furniture. The Stewart Avenue building was demolished in 1986 to make room for the city communications center. In 1968, the Hart Memorial Library moved to its current four-thousand-square-foot building at the corner of Broadway and Dakin Avenue. In 2004, the building was renovated after back-to-back hurricanes caused over a million dollars' worth of structural damage.Robison, Ji
"Historic Osceola County: An Illustrated History"
, 2009

Special Collections

* Ray Shanks Law Library and Genealogy

References

External links

* {{authority control Public libraries in Florida Buildings and structures in Kissimmee, Florida 1910 establishments in Florida Libraries established in 1910