Land O' Lakes Public Library has long history of community involvement. (Lakeland Times, 3/30/2012)
Excerpt: The Land O' Lakes Public Library began in the 1920s when the Women's Club began a lending library with donated books from community members.
"Officially, the town established a library in 1942. Between the 20s and '42, people had access to books, based on what was donated," Geib said.
When spring of '42 came, the library took up the 16-foot by 16-foot room in the basement of the town hall. When the library was open during the day, books and shelving had to be pulled out into the hallway for extra space.
In early 1989, a new library board was appointed. With a growing population, options for additional library space were discussed, including purchasing an existing building in town and renovating it; buying, renovating and moving the Gateway Ski Chalet on Hwy. 45 to town, or build a new building for the library.
"They checked out all the possibilities, logistics and the cost. It wasn't until September '89 that they began to formulate what became the library," Geib said.
From the beginning, the community fully supported the new library building project.
Nagel Lumber Company donated all the timber and wood for a 30-foot by 64-foot building. With the idea of making the construction of the new library a meaningful community effort, the lumber donation was under the condition that the Land O' Lakes community offer as much labor and time as possible.
The community pulled through with flying colors.
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