[1] The collection boasts 44,000 items, including periodicals, books, online databases, and Altamonte Springs history archives.

Former director Richard Miller states a library “is the only education institution that caters entirely to personal need… You come in with a question-any question you want- and we will try to provide the answer for you.”[1] 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] Dorothy Fuller found an empty cottage on the grounds of the community center where the Civics Club held their meetings.

[3] The remaining summer, fall, and winter months of 1959 were spent cataloging and preparing the donated books for the shelves.

[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.

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] The City of Altamonte expanded the library building in September 1985 to house the Greater Seminole County Chamber of Commerce.