Misplaced Pages

#442557

40-572: In 1908, the St. Petersburg City Council and concerned citizens began on a journey to get funding for a public library. It was the culmination of a five-year pursuit by Councilman Ralph Veillard, W.L. Straub (owner of the St. Petersburg Times ), and Annie McCrae, (who became the first secretary of the library) in 1913 that the city was awarded a $ 17,500 grant from the Carnegie Corporation . The grant

80-402: A Carnegie library in St. Petersburg, and remained active in working on behalf of the library. She published articles in the St. Petersburg Times in support of the library. In one Times article, “Will St. Pete Finish Its Library Undertaking?” McCrae urged the city to use tax dollars to augment the former reading room's meager 3,000 books. The library was built to house 16,000 volumes. The mission of

120-681: A number of online and e-resources that patrons have access to, including Hoopla Digital , OverDrive, Inc. , Ancestry.com , and more. Patrons can request items from other Pinellas County Libraries and can fill out requests for interlibrary loans on the library website or in person. There are a number of programs offered at the Mirror Lake Community Library and a calendar of events is available on their website . Types of programs offered include weekly story times, therapy dog reading sessions, ESL classes, walk-in computer help, meditation classes, and special events sponsored by

160-603: A single year for the first time in its history, one of which was for its PolitiFact project. The newspaper traces its origins to the West Hillsborough Times , a weekly newspaper established in Dunedin, Florida , on the Pinellas Peninsula in 1884. At the time, neither St. Petersburg nor Pinellas County existed; the peninsula was part of Hillsborough County . The paper was published weekly in

200-470: A week in 1912. Paul Poynter, a publisher originally from Indiana, bought the paper in September 1912 and converted to a seven-day paper, though it was rarely financially stable. Paul's son, Nelson Poynter , became editor in 1939 and took majority control of the paper in 1947, and set about improving the paper's finances and prestige. Nelson Poynter controlled the paper until his death in 1978, when he willed

240-554: Is part of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative and consists of 7 branch locations. The city received its first library, the St. Petersburg Public Library (now the Mirror Lake Community Library ) in 1915 through a grant awarded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York . This was one of only 10 libraries in Florida to receive Carnegie funding. The $ 17,500 Carnegie grant was approved and matched by

280-601: The St. Petersburg Times until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida , United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company , which is owned by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies , a nonprofit journalism school directly adjacent to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in

320-541: The St. Petersburg Times was renamed the Tampa Bay Times ; this stemmed from a 2006 decision of a lawsuit with Media General , at the time the publishers of the Times ' competing newspaper, The Tampa Tribune , which allowed that paper to keep its exclusive right to use the name of its defunct sister paper, The Tampa Times , for five years after the decision. As the newly rechristened Tampa Bay Times ,

360-544: The COVID-19 pandemic . By this point, they had reduced delivery to two days per week. They had also cut 11 journalists' jobs through layoffs expected before the pandemic. In August 2024, the paper announced it will eliminate 60 jobs, amounting to 20% of total staff. On October 9-10, 2024, the Tampa Bay Times building was severely damaged during Hurricane Milton by a nearby construction crane that collapsed onto

400-725: The Church of Scientology , since the church's acquisition of the Fort Harrison Hotel in 1975 and other holdings in Clearwater . The Times has published special reports and series critical of the church and its current leader, David Miscavige . In 2010, the Times published an investigative report questioning the validity of the United States Navy Veterans Association , leading to significant reaction and official investigations into

440-633: The Florida Heartland . In the case of the latter, the Times published Highlands Today , which was a daily news supplement of The Tribune for readers in Highlands County . The Times sold the paper in 2016 to Sun Coast Media Group. In October 2019, the paper laid off seven newsroom employees. The Times received $ 8.5 million in federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program by July 2020 during

SECTION 10

#1732772493443

480-531: The Friends of the Library . There is one meeting room available for library patrons to reserve. Patrons can apply for meeting room access on the library website . Meeting room use is limited to non-profit organizations engaging in library related activities or in educational, cultural, intellectual, charitable, and/or community related activities. St. Petersburg Times The Tampa Bay Times , called

520-430: The 4th Street Free Reading Room. William's first act as librarian was to catalog and shelve the 3,000 books brought over from the 4th street reading room. Annie McRae [McCrae] was offered the position of librarian first, but declined due to “political concerns.” Mrs. McRae was the secretary of the library board and felt there was a conflict of interest in accepting the position. McCrae was a passionate advocate of obtaining

560-550: The African American community. Mirror Lake Library's first librarian was Emma Moore Williams. Before becoming the Sunshine City's first librarian, she was the first English teacher at St. Petersburg's High School ( St. Petersburg High School ) and is described by the St. Petersburg Times as “a very efficient and popular member of the city school faculty.” William's assistant librarian was Margaret Jenkins, who ran

600-551: The Childs Park YMCA In 2018, Mayor Rick Kriseman proposed that the Main Library be renamed after President Barack Obama . This change was approved by the city council, and will come with $ 6 million in renovations set to begin in 2021 and be funded via the "Penny for Pinellas" tax. In addition to borrowing books, DVDs, CDs, and other items, patrons have many other resources and services available through

640-581: The Enoch Davis Center. The city finished building the Main Library in 1964 to serve as a central midtown location. In 2009, the Main Library underwent a $ 1.2 million interior renovation, which included the addition of 67 new computers. The North Community Library was constructed in 1973 after the city acquired the land. The South Community Library, previously independently housed in the Boyd Hill Nature Center, became part of

680-475: The Library. After assessing the inadequacies of the library facilities she was determined to come up with a plan to seek better library services for the St. Petersburg community. She recommended that the city organize a group of citizens to be known as the “Friends of the Library” which was organized on April 11, 1947. The purpose of the group was to encourage more effective use of the library and assist in planning

720-636: The Mirror Lake Library. The James Weldon Johnson Community Library was relocated from its original location in the Gas Plant district due to the city's urban redevelopment project (which displaced many black residents). In 1981, the Johnson Community Library reopened in the Enoch Davis Center where it was located until 2002, when the current location was built. The Johnson Community Library is currently located next door to

760-720: The St. Petersburg Library System and Pinellas Public Library Cooperative . Each branch location offers free Wi-Fi and desktop computers for patron use, as well as printing, faxing, and copying services for a fee and free scanning. The St. Petersburg Library System also offers Wi-Fi hotspots for checkout. Patrons can download and stream digital resources, such as ebooks , audiobooks , and movies, using cloudLibrary, Hoopla , OverDrive, Inc. , RBdigital , and Tumblebooks. The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative has also paired up with local museums to provide museum passes that are available for checkout by patrons and their families for free. Research databases are available to patrons both through

800-627: The World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters." The Times sold PolitiFact.com to its parent company, the Poynter Institute, in 2018. St. Petersburg Library System The St. Petersburg Library System is a free public library system for residents of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida , located in Pinellas County . The St. Petersburg Library System

840-617: The architecture of the United States in the period from 1880 to 1920. The building's architect, Henry D. Whitfield worked for the Carnegie Corporation and designed this library, as well as many other Carnegie libraries in this style. Funding from the Carnegie grant was granted with the intention that libraries built with the money would be racially integrated. However, when the library was opened in 1915, St. Petersburg

SECTION 20

#1732772493443

880-415: The back of a pharmacy and had a circulation of 480. It subsequently changed ownership six times in seventeen years. In December 1884, it was bought by A. C. Turner, who moved it to Clear Water Harbor (modern Clearwater, Florida ). In 1892, it moved to St. Petersburg, and by 1898 it was officially renamed the St. Petersburg Times . The Times became bi-weekly in 1907, and began publication six days

920-533: The building. The newspaper created PolitiFact.com , a project in which its reporters and editors "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups…" They publish original statements and their evaluations on the PolitiFact.com website and assign each a "Truth-O-Meter" rating, with ratings ranging from "True" for completely true statements to "Pants on Fire" (from

960-493: The building. The second floor was accessible only by a small, winding staircase; the main entrance was sealed. The city commissioned a study to determine if the building was fit to continue being used as a library. In 1987, a plan to restore the library was approved by the City Council. A wing added in 1951 would be removed, and a new wing would be built in its place, and the 1915 building would be restored. The restoration

1000-540: The city and the Mirror Lake site chosen on July 17, 1914. It was opened on December 1, 1915. The Mirror Lake Branch is also significant to the city's architectural history for being one of the earliest Beaux Arts style buildings designed in this area. In 1951 a modern addition was added onto the original Carnegie building, and again in 1991. Andrew Carnegie intended for the library he funded in downtown St. Petersburg to be racially integrated when it opened in 1915, but

1040-474: The city refused black residents access to the library. In 1944, the city began allowing blacks into only the basement of the Carnegie library. Mrs. S.M. Carter, wife of a pastor, formed an interracial committee and lobbied the city for funds to open a black library. In 1947 the James W. Johnson Library branch opened as the city's first library for the African American community, as they were previously not allowed at

1080-563: The city's system in 2002 along with the Johnson Branch, with both libraries receiving new facilities between 13,500 feet and 14,700 feet. The West Community Library at St. Petersburg College , a joint-use facility that serves both public patrons and SPC students, opened in 2005, replacing the Azalea branch. The Childs Park Community Library is the newest addition to the St. Petersburg Library System, which opened in 2009, located inside

1120-533: The expansion of library facilities. The group was granted a corporate charter in 1949 that allowed them to receive gifts and legacies to be put toward the library. Their first achievement was recruiting the help of the Junior League in a new community project- a Bookmobile. The Junior League presented the city with their first bookmobile in February 1949. The bookmobile was in use until December 1962 when it

1160-518: The group nationwide. On May 3, 2016, the Times acquired its longtime competitor The Tampa Tribune , with the latter publication immediately ceasing publishing and Tribune features and some writers expected to be merged into the Times . As reported by other local media outlets in the Tampa Bay area at the time of this acquisition, for many years the Tampa Tribune was considered to be

1200-410: The library is three-fold, she stated, “It is for information, for recreation, and for inspiration.” Of libraries, she urges, “We cannot accurately trace its influence--it may kindle a train of thought that shall found museums and colleges and hospitals, that shall lead to the production of wonderful inventions that shall inspire noble deed of every kind." In 1946 Hilda Glaser was appointed as Director of

1240-901: The library website and on the desktop computers at each branch. Databases include ProCitizen (both in English and Spanish), Florida Electronic Library , Gale Databases, Ancestry.com , LinkedIn Learning , AtoZdatabases, and an archive of the Tampa Bay Times . The St. Petersburg Library System is a Federal Depository Library . Government documents are available to patrons at the James Weldon Johnson Community Library . Each branch offers programs for children, teens, and adults, including computer classes, health insurance information sessions, job search assistance, book clubs, and story times. An updated schedule of programs and events, as well as contact information,

Mirror Lake Library - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-577: The majority of the stock to the non-profit Poynter Institute . In November 1986, the Evening Independent was merged into the Times . Poynter was succeeded as editor by Eugene Patterson (1978–1988), Andrew Barnes (1988–2004), Paul Tash (2004–2010; chair of the Times Publishing Company since 2004 and the Poynter Institute since 2007) Neil Brown (2010–2017), and Mark Katches (2018–present). On January 1, 2012,

1320-404: The more conservative newspaper in the region, while the Tampa Bay Times was thought of as more liberal . The Times ' purchase of The Tribune also allowed its circulation area to be expanded into Polk County , placing it in competition with other newspapers such as The Lakeland Ledger and The Polk County Democrat , as well as into the south central region of the state known as

1360-437: The paper's weekday tabloid tbt* , a free daily publication and which used "(* Tampa Bay Times)" as its subtitle, became just tbt when the name change took place. The St. Pete Times name lives on as the name for the Times ' neighborhood news sections in southern Pinellas County (formerly Neighborhood Times ), serving communities from Largo southward. The Times has also done significant investigative reporting on

1400-468: The taunt "Liar, liar, pants on fire") for false and ridiculous statements. The site also includes an "Obameter", tracking U.S. President Barack Obama 's performance with regard to his campaign promises. PolitiFact.com was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2009 for "its fact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of

1440-482: Was approved and matched by the city, and the site on the banks of the city Reservoir (now Mirror Lake) was chosen on July 17, 1914. The Mirror Lake Community Library is built in the Beaux-Arts style, with sculptural decoration along conservative modern lines, slightly overscaled details, bold sculptural supporting consoles, rich deep cornices, swags and sculptural enrichments. The Beaux- Arts style heavily influenced

1480-412: Was delayed by the discovery of unexpected structural damage and wrangling over the city budget; on January 18, 1994, then-mayor David Fischer cut the ribbon to reopen the refurbished 1915 wing of the library. The elevator was not yet installed at this point, and handicap access was still an issue because the ground floor entrance and the 1951 wing were closed. In 1997, the project was completed and library

1520-447: Was expanded with an 8,000 square-foot addition designed to blend harmoniously with the historic exterior and an elevator to make all levels handicap accessible. It reopened with the added wing on May 21, 1997. The Mirror Lake Community Library is a branch of The St. Petersburg Library System and a member of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative . Patrons of this library can borrow books, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, and magazines. There also

1560-430: Was replaced by a new Mobile Library trailer. On June 13, 1986, the library was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places . Mirror Lake Community Library was St. Petersburg's only library until the current Main library was built at 3745 9th Avenue in 1964. In the 1980s, the Mirror Lake Community Library fell into a state of extreme disrepair. A faulty air conditioning system, water damage and mold plagued

1600-465: Was still racially segregated, and the city refused black residents access to the library. It was not until 1944 that the city began allowing blacks into the basement of the Carnegie library. Mrs. S.M. Carter, the wife of a pastor, formed an interracial committee, and lobbied the city for funds to open a black library. As a result, the James W. Johnson Library branch was opened as the city's first library for

#442557