St Johns County Public Library System

St. Johns County Public Library System serves St. Augustine and the surrounding areas of St. Johns County, Florida. The library system has six branches and two bookmobiles.

St Johns County Public Library System
LocationSt Augustine, Florida
Websitewww.sjcpls.org

History

In 1874, St. Augustine opened the library in Florida as a "subscription library". The library was called the St. Augustine Free Public Library, located at 12 Aviles Street[1] in downtown St. Augustine, Florida, now known as the Segui-Kirby Smith House. It currently serves as a research library for the Saint Augustine Historical Society.[2] Patrons gave money to help buy books for the library, and there was no charge to check out items.[3]  

In 1895-96 the state of Florida library system reported the following statistics of note: Libraries reporting (13) [5 general, 2 schools, 5 colleges, 1 law], Number of Volumes for patrons available (43,506), Free libraries in the state (3).  In 1895-96 only one free library in Florida having 3,000 volumes or more was reported (4,500) and was the Free Public Library in St. Augustine. The Name of the Librarian on record was John C. Wilson, president and the library reported that (1000) books had been issued during the year for home use.[4]

Branches

The library systems six branches are: Anastasia Island, Bartram Trail, Hastings, Main (St. Augustine), Ponte Vedra, Southeast and the Bookmobile-Extension Services. Information about branch hours and locations can be found here or by navigating to a branch's page. Each branch's page also provides information about programs and classes offered by the library, this information can also be found through the events calendar.

Anastasia Island Branch

The Anastasia Island Branch opened its doors in 2007 and is located at 124 Seagrove Main Street, St. Augustine, FL 32080. It serves the east portion of St. Johns County.[5]

Bartram Trail

The Bartram Trail Branch library is located at 60 Davis Pond Blvd. in Fruit Cove, FL. The Branch Manager is Maribeth Beck. [6]

Main Branch

The Main Branch is located in St. Augustine. This is located at 1960 N. Ponce De Leon Blvd. This branch is only open Tuesday through Saturday. They are currently running events online. The Branch Manager is Valerie Peischel Mull. [7]

Bookmobile

St. Johns County established its first bookmobile in 2001, named the LEO Express. Due to its popularity and additional funding, in 2008 St. Johns County purchased another bookmobile. This bookmobile is called the Bluebird Express and is able to service a larger population of St. Johns County.[8]

Both bookmobiles are housed in the Southeast Branch Library. In August 2010, the library system added its Books by Mail service. The library sends library materials to library patrons for free. These materials can be returned to any branch or bookmobile.[9]

References
  1. "St. Augustine Public Library 12 Aviles Street St. Augustine Florida". University of Florida. n.d. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  2. "Segui-Kirby Smith House". Florida Department of State. 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  3. "Florida". World Book Encyclopedia. 1998 ed, vol. 7, page 247.
  4. Summers, Alex. Connecticut. Commissioner of the School Fund. (1809). Report of the Commissioner of the School Fund: reformatted from the original and including, Report of the Commissioners of the School Fund, made to the General Assembly, at their session in. New-Haven: [Published by order of the House of Representatives].
  5. "St. Johns County Public Library System | Connect, Learn, Enjoy @ Your Library". Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  6. https://sjcpls.org/branches/bartram-trail-branch/
  7. https://sjcpls.org/branches/main-branch/
  8. Andres, Shakaya. "St. Johns gets second bookmobile". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  9. https://sjcpls.org/branches/bookmobile/

Further reading
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