Osceola County, FloridaCommerce and construction team representatives joined elected officials like District 2 County Commissioner Viviana Janer (with scissors) at the ribbon cutting for the Osceola County Tech Library on Bill Beck Boulevard. (Photo/Osceola County)
Osceola County opened its newest library Friday, but the term “library” is now a little different in the digital age.
In short, this isn’t your parents’ library, or the library of your childhood, Gen-Xers.
The Osceola County Tech Library, located at Bill Beck Boulevard and Fortune Road on a portion of the former Johnson University campus, puts new-world, real-world technology and experience front and center.
While users with their valid Osceola Library system library cards can still access digital copies of the texts and books— oh yeah, there’s no books in this library—from the rest of the system, users who get the most out of it will be standing and doing rather than sitting and reading.
The mark of this library, built with a $4 million Multi-Purpose Community Facilities grant from the Florida Department of Commerce, is the ability to explore new interests build practical skills in things like robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), coding, 3D printing, simulation and laser engraving—things our kids are learning in public school.
For instance, who goes to the library to play? You can. A full eSports and Gaming lab— the county’s high schools have student teams that compete— bring game design and competition to your fingertips through workshops, guided activities, and collaborative learning.
And then there’s things to help your health and career. A telehealth station allows virtual access to personal healthcare providers in private spaces, and the ability to find resources for career exploration, job seeking, workforce readiness, and digital-skills development through Workforce Connect.
It all gives public access to computing and a digital life to those who don’t have that at home or the literacy for it, like seniors.
Osceola County Commissioner Viviana Janer, whose District 2 includes the location of the Tech Library, has been the driving force to bring the next generation of technology to residents.
“So as you notice, there’s no books in this library,” she said. “You do have access to the system through the database, and it will deliver the books. But for me, it was important to have access to the technology, sort of the library of the future, where they’ll have access to virtual doctors, they’ll be able to check their temperature, they’ll be able to check their glucose, and they’ll be able to log on, because a lot of people in Osceola County still don’t have access (from home).
“It’s very exciting for me to see it come to fruition, because everybody was like, ‘We can’t find a national model,’ and I said, ‘I know, because I made it up.’ It’s one thing to have access to a computer, but do you know how to use it? Do you know how to code to put in the laser measurements?”
According to the Tech Library’s website—learn more about it at www.osceolalibrary.org/techlibrary/—its operating hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sundays.
