Altamonte Springs City Library

The original library was based on a book collection donated by Anne Cline, a retired schoolteacher and Altamonte Springs community leader.^[3] Cline, as President of the Altamonte Springs Civic Club, saw the potential to create a community library in 1959.^[3] At the time, the closest public library was in Winter Park. Unfortunately, Cline died before her plans could be completed.^[3] However, the members of the Altamonte Springs Civic Club and friends of Cline formed the Altamonte Springs Library Association in June 1959.^[3] They elected Dorothy Fuller as president of the Library Association with Betty French as secretary.^[3]

Dorothy Fuller found an empty cottage on the grounds of the community center where the Civics Club held their meetings. The cottage, owned by the Bundy family, became known as Grandma Bundy's Cottage. Several members of the community donated their time and funds to clear the land surrounding the cottage, painting the cottage, and landscaping.^[3]

Anne's Cline collection was matched by a donation of sixty-five boxes (1,000 books) from Rollins College.^[3] The remaining summer, fall, and winter months of 1959 were spent cataloging and preparing the donated books for the shelves. Community volunteers worked under the direction of Betty French, who served at the first volunteer-librarian. On January 31, 1960, an Open House and Tea was held for the public.^[3] Four days later, the library officially opened and for the first three years, the library grew through book donations.^[3] The Association raised money through fundraising events and through a generous donation on July 10, 1961, the Association bought the Bundy Cottage. The original Cottage was closed in 1977 and was demolished in 1985.^[4]

The second stage of development occurred in 1968 when the Altamonte Springs Library Association, in an effort to reach the greater community, changed its name to the South Seminole Community Library Association.^[3] A new 2,880 square building was dedicated on December 13, 1970, at their present address 281 N. Maitland Avenue.^[3] The ceremonial ribbon cutting was observed by the former first president of the library association, Dorothy Fuller and the president at the time, Mrs. Cockley.^[3] The facility cost $60,000 and although the Association attempted to pay off the mortgage, in 1977 the city offered to assume the management of the library and its operating expenses.^[3] This included the remaining $10,000 mortgage, which was signed over to the city by Sadelle Pate, President, and Florence Coursen, Secretary, of the South Seminole Community Library Association.^[3]

The South Seminole Community Library continued to be staffed by volunteers with Florence Coursen, the only paid full-time employee. Coursen, who stepped in after Betty French in 1962, still remembered the four-room cottage that housed the original library.^[5]

South Seminole Community Library, which in the early 1970s was one of three community libraries in Seminole County, resisted the county's proposal to become part of the county-wide library system. In 1974, George Hearn, library association president, stated to journalists that “we built it with our own hands and our own sweat and blood and we’ll hold on to it.”^[5]