The Hart Memorial Central Library is a member of the Osceola Library System. 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, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, 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 Ossian Bingley Hart (January 17, 1821 – March 18, 1874) was the tenth Governor of the U.S. state of Florida, and the first governor of Florida who was born in the state. Born in Jacksonville to Isaiah Hart, one of the city's founders, he was ...

. 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 was created by the magazine publisher Edward Gardner Lewis in 1907. In part, it was a maneuver to lower History of United States postage rates, postal rates by appealing to educational and social opportunities that would ...

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