Looking at our Libraries: County library system celebrates its 59th year

In last month’s column, I concentrated on telling you about the library programs scheduled through the end of this year. In doing so, I missed mentioning an important September date, worthy of attention: the 59th anniversary of our library.

Yes, on Sept. 3, 1957, at the Collier County Commission’s board meeting in Everglades City, the county seat back then, they voted to create the Collier County Free Public Library.

Collier’s libraries really began with the Naples Woman’s Club which was formed in 1932. Their first clubhouse was at 518 Eleventh Avenue South, a home donated by Mrs. E. W. Crayton and Mrs. W. L. Clark. As a service to the community, a small book room was set up. The county’s population was growing then, from 2,883 residents in 1930 to 5,102 in 1940, then 6,488 in 1950 and 15,753 by 1960.

To give you an idea of the kind of action the little library book room got, an article in the October 16, 1953, Collier County News said that 89 people used the library during the previous month and that 141 books were loaned.

In January 1957, with the support of the Naples Woman’s Club, Judge E. A. Wildermut, Attorney Ben Parks, Jr., Collier County News Editor Michael Chance and others met to loosely form what is now known as the Friends of the Library of Collier County. The “Friends” began to work toward the creation of a Collier County Free Public Library, getting the support of the Naples Chamber of Commerce.

Then came the big day of approval, Sept. 3, 1957. The Collier County Free Public Library was to have a central station at Naples, collection stations at other points in the county and a traveling bookmobile to connect them. It would cost $15,000 a year from the county budget, augmented by $10,000 a year for four years in federal aid.  The first Collier County librarian, June Haschka, was hired in 1958. On July 14, 1959, the Woman’s Club donated their 7,000 volume book collection to the new library. A few years later, the library left its home at the Naples Woman’s Club and relocated to a much larger building on the corner of Third Street and Broad Avenue.

In 1963, Naples resident Mrs. Ferdinand Lee purchased a full block of land extending from First Avenue South to Central Avenue between Sixth and Seventh streets for $95,000. She then donated the land to the Friends, stipulating that it would remain in possession of the Friends and used for library purposes. The county holds a 99-year lease on the land for $1 per year.

After several years of fundraising, a building was opened on that site as the Headquarters Library on February 13, 1966. (The structure on Orange Blossom Drive, opened in 2002, is now the headquarters.) The Collier County Public Library System has grown over the years and today, it encompasses three large regional libraries and seven smaller branches stretching more than 181,082 square feet.

I occasionally think about the history of our library (and Collier County), marveling. To discover on www.census.gov that the 2010 population was 320,520 and the 2015 estimated number is listed as 357,305 is amazing. Our library will accommodate the growth and changing needs of the community.

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Carla Grieve is the District Two representative on the county’s Library Advisory Board.