MAITLAND, Fla. — The city of Maitland took another step toward building a brand new library during a special City Council meeting Wednesday.

The Maitland City Council voted unanimously to approve the design of the future building after hearing from their contracting partners RVI Planning and HBM Architecture during the meeting.

What You Need To Know

  • In a special meeting Wednesday, the Maitland City Council voted to approve designs and plans to build a new library

  • The new library will be a two-story, 20,000-square-foot building constructed in Quinn Strong Park as a replacement for the city's original library building, which has been operating since 1907
  • Maitland residents voted to approve the project during a March referendum
  • Construction is expected to start on the new library in January 2026

While it may cost each Maitland resident about $100-$200 more per year in taxes, city voters supported the library referendum in 2024. 

And now the city has an idea of what the new library will look like.

“Today was a monumental time for the council to unanimously vote on the design, on what the actual layout of the building will be, what the purposes of it will be, so that we will now go forward with this design plan and move into pre-planning for construction," Maitland Public Information Officer Robert Sargent said.

The new library will be a two-story, 20,000-square-foot building constructed in Quinn Strong Park where it will take over for the original library building, which has been in operation since 1907.

To build the new library, a city-owned lot and the Maitland Senior Center near Maitland and Packwood Avenues will be torn down.

City officials say programs from the center will be moved to other facilities, including the new library.

The city has been working on this plan since 2017, but when it was determined that the original library couldn’t be updated without diminishing the interior, the City Council worked to figure out another way to maintain their foundations.

“This building carries forward the tradition that the Maitland Library has as a cornerstone for this community in being something that involves many people in the community for different services and stuff, and remains that important segment of the community," Sargent said.

The current budget for the project is about $20 million, which was approved by 69% of residents during a March referendum.

“If you live in a nice community, you want to have nice things to keep its identity, and there’s nothing like a library to enhance the needs of the community," Bob Allen said. "So it was money well spent and I think it was welcomed.”

Wednesday’s meeting gave people like Allen a chance to see what the new library will look like.

“I think it’s going to be attractive, it’s going to be very functional, and it’s going to be something we’re proud of," Allen said.

It is still unclear what the original library will be used for, but city officials say the building will stay intact.

Design plans for the new library are set to be finalized by August, with construction expected to start in January 2026.