The history of the Lakeland Public Library can be traced to 1912 when The Women's Club of Lakeland organized and maintained the only library accessible to the local community. In 1923 the Women's Club successfully lobbied Lakeland to purchase land from Herbert Munn on Lake Morton between Massachusetts Avenue and Iowa Avenue. The site had previously been a campground for Spanish–American War soldiers and was later a park. Lakeland purchased the land with a bond issue of $25,000. By a vote of 461–122, Lakeland citizens, in 1924, approved a bond issue of $75,000 to build and equip the library. The building, the work of architect Franklin Adams Jr., was in the Mediterranean Revival style, had a steel circular staircase, and the lobby was decorated with a twelve-inch frieze. On January 6, 1927, the library opened. It was Lakeland's first public library and it was in what is now the Park Trammell Building on the north shore Lake Morton. There were 5,000 volumes. The library also served as a depository for government documents. By 1938 the Library had a story hour for children, a nature club, and a fifteen-minute broadcast once a week on WLAK radio. In 1940 Mrs. Park Trammell gifted the library papers belonging to her deceased husband former Lakeland mayor and Florida governor Park Trammell. In 1954 a bookmobile began serving the city making 16 stops. A children's department opened in the basement in 1961. That summer a Smokey the BearSummer Vacation Reading Program began. On May 15, 1962 the first Friends of the Library meeting was held. On April 5, 1965 plans for a new library building were approved, through a contract bid of $317, 716, to meet the increasing needs of citizens. In 1966 the new facility was built on the east shore of Lake Morton and the library moved into its current location. By 1970 more than 73,000 books were available to citizens. In 1983 construction began to expand the library building and it was completed in July 1986. That same year the library was awarded a LSCA Title II grant if $7, 268 to join the SOLINET/OCLC interlibrary loan system. A year later in 1987 The Lakeland Room for special collections was opened. In 1988 the library joined others in Polk County to form a Reciprocal Borrowing program allowing patrons to borrow materials from any participating library. The photography collection of local photographer Dan Sanborn, was given to the library in 1990. His collection contained many photographs of local places and events. In November 1990 Polk County voters selected to establish county-wide library system. In September 1992 the card catalog was replaced by a BiblioFile Intelligent Catalog which was a C.D. ROM system. In September 1996 Lakeland City Commissioners voted to join the new Polk County Library Cooperative. On October 23, 2018 the Lakeland Public Library 's first coffee shop opened to its patrons. The coffee shop, Black & Brew Lake Morton, is a smaller version of the downtown flagship cafe, Black & Brew Coffee House and Bistro, owned by Chris McArthur.
Main Library and Branches
Lakeland Public Library
The oldest Lakeland library location has been in its current address since April 20, 1966. This location also houses the Lakeland History Room, which features a number of original artifacts from Lakeland's history.
The Larry R. Jackson Branch Library was originally opened in 1995, as the Lakeland Branch Library. It was renamed in 1998 after Larry R. Jackson, a lawyer who worked with city officials to establish a library in North Lakeland.
eLibrary South Lakeland
The "e" stands for express. The small collection features recent fiction, non-fiction, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, bestsellers, and HotSpots. Additionally, they offer ten public access computers, free Wi-Fi, and pick-up or drop-off of items from any Polk County public library.
