Support Us

Volunteering

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact Steven Morris at 407-623-3300 ext. 2082 or smorris@winterparklibrary.org. Please visit our website for more information: https://www.winterparklibrary.org/support/volunteer

Donating

If you are interested in making a monetary donation to help us preserve Winter Park's history, please contact Jody Lazar at 407-623-3277 or email jlazar@winterparklibrary.org. 

If you are interested in donating items to the collection please see our collection policy below.

 

Collection Policy

Role and Scope

The Winter Park Public Library preserves and provides access to the history of the city of Winter Park and envisions that all patrons interested in local history will have access to appropriate materials resulting in better knowledge of the community.

 The historical materials included in the Winter Park History Collection are part of the community’s collective heritage, holding permanent value. It is the responsibility of the library to preserve these resources for current research and future generations. The purpose of this collection is to collect and preserve materials that document the history of the city of Winter Park and its citizens, including other geographical areas as they pertain to the history and development of the city.

 Gift Policy

Winter Park Public Library History and Research Center is regularly supplemented and supported by donations of Winter Park’s citizens. As a repository for Winter Park’s local history, we pride ourselves on being able to provide as clear and accurate vision of our community’s past as possible. As such, our general policy for accepting donations from the community are as follows:

  1. Materials to be donated should be relating to Winter Park, and preferably unique source material unavailable elsewhere.
  2. Materials collected include but not limited to: books, newspapers, correspondence, financial records, literary manuscripts. Graphic materials such as: photographs, maps, posters, postcards, and t-shirts/designs; Audio visual materials, digital images, and formats to be developed in the future.
  3. Items that are tangentially related to Winter Park or the general local area, extending into Orlando, Casselberry, and other nearby related municipalities will also be accepted, provided there is tangible and demonstrable relation to the history of Winter Park itself.
  4. Staff, space, and budget limitations are considerations when adding new materials.

If you are not a local author but would like to donate documents, photographs, or other items to our Historical Archives, please complete the following steps:

  1. Contact the archivist with any questions you may have about your gift. The Winter Park Library welcomes inquiries about donations, but cannot accept everything. Prospective donors are kindly asked NOT to send item(s), but instead send gift offers identifying the item(s) to be offered. 
  2. Download and complete the Deed of Gift (PDF) and Gift Agreement (PDF). Both are required to donate to Winter Park Public Library. Beginning January 1, 2020 materials given to the library without these documents will be considered to be full, free, and unencumbered property of the library once deposited, if accepted.
  3. Allow the archivist to inspect all items to ensure they are in safe condition to be transferred to the archives.
  4. If you choose to do so, arrange for your collection to be appraised. If a donor so wishes to have his or her collection appraised for tax purposes, he or she must have it appraised by a third party. The Winter Park Library will not appraise the monetary value of materials nor arrange for them to be appraised.
  5. Bring items to the archives to be rehomed in our collection.

Examples of Donations that are inappropriate for the archives and therefore won’t be accepted.

  1. Materials that are in no way related to the history or development of the City of Winter Park or the surrounding geographic area.
  2. Materials which contains mold, vermin, or insects that could destroy existing records.
  3. Materials that are so damaged information cannot be gathered from it or require repair far beyond what historical/ intellectual value it would provide.
  4. Low quality copies of original works that are in other repositories.

 All acquisitions that are not part of the Local Author Collection become unrestricted property of Winter Park Public Library, with the exception of that which is subject to Copyright (see below).

 The Winter Park Public Library reserves the right to remove materials deemed unsuitable to the collection at any time. Materials may be moved to the circulating collection, offered to another institution, sold, or discarded as per library policy.

 Copyright Information:
As a contribution to education and personal scholarship, the Winter Park Public Library maintains a Winter Park History and Archives Collection. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U. S. C.). Additionally, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of the library's gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing, and trademarks.

Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by Fair Use copyright law requires the written permission of the copyright owners.

Copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine due to the nature of historical archival collections. Whenever possible, the library provides information about copyright owners and other restrictions concerning its collections.

However, it is the user/patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections. Also, the responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions rests with user/patrons desiring to use the item. 

 Use Statement:
The Winter Park Library welcomes and encourages the use of its Winter Park History and Archives Collection. All materials are available to interested persons on equal terms of access. The Winter Park Library (WPL) does not grant privileged or exclusive use of materials to any person or persons. The only restrictions on the use of the Collection are those items that have been restricted by the donor; are in delicate condition; are not yet processed; are being used by WPL; or are going through a preservation process.

Most materials are available for reproduction and use by the public. The user assumes all responsibility for conforming with the laws of copyright when copying materials. WPPL reserves the right to refuse to copy or permit the copying of materials which may be damaged by reproduction processes.

Credit for any materials used must be given to the Winter Park Public Library. If any photographic or other types of graphic material are used for publication, a copy of such a publication should be donated to WPL.

The Winter Park History Archives also maintains a Local Authors Collection and follows these guidelines:

  • Authors must reside in the City of Winter Park, Florida.
  • All books must be approved by the Winter Park History archivist and/or selection team before being added to the collection.
  • Appropriateness of format (textbooks and pamphlets will not be accepted), relevance to the City of Winter Park residents, subject, style, content level of intended audience, professional reviews, quality of writing, and production will all be considered.

Please fill out the Local Authors Submission Form. Submit the form along with your book to the Winter Park Library.

Please click here to complete and sign this required form for your book to be considered for the Local Author Collection.

Parental or guardian consent is required if the author is under the age of 18.

Submit this form along with a donated copy of your book to Winter Park Library or send it to:
Winter Park Library
1052 West Morse Blvd.
Winter Park, FL 32789