Description
The Glades Branches, Belle Glade,
Pahokee (Loula V. York Branch), South Bay (Clarence E. Anthony
Branch), serve the 38,000 residents of rural, agricultural Western
Palm Beach County.
The largest of the three branches is
the Belle Glade Branch. It is the only branch of the Palm Beach
County Library System that has a Museum. The museum is the Lawrence
E. Will Museum. The mission is to conserve, display, and
organize, for educational and research goals, the artifacts,
memorabilia, photographs and written records pertinent to this
unique region adjacent to Lake Okeechobee and the upper Everglades.
The Belle Glade Branch has a large
collection of African American fiction as well as large Florida and
Mystery collections. The branch has a growing Spanish collection to
serve the large number of Hispanics in the Glades. The Children's
staff provides about 650 programs a year for about 13,000 children.
The Branch provides Ethnic Newswatch, an online service that provides over 100 newspapers from
the United States and around the world that are geared to different
ethnic groups, including: African American, Spanish and Arabian.
Patrons have full access to the Internet through FloriNet.
In 1998, the Gates Foundation gave the branch four computers for a
Children's Learning Center. Children have access to games as
well as to Encarta Encyclopedia and Encarta Africana Encyclopedia.
In addition, the branch provides computers for word processing.
The branch now has a computer to help adults learn to read.
Tutors and students, and some students on their own, may use the
programs to reach their reading goals. If you are interested
in helping teach someone to read or know some one who needs help
learning to read, call the branch.
History of the Branch
- Size: 9,100 sq. ft.
- Opened in 1967 as a municipal
library, in October 1986 became a County facility.
- Special Feature: Lawrence E. Will
Museum is a part of the branch facility. It houses local history
displays.
- Leased: $1.00 a year for thirty
years. (1986-2016)
