LADY LAKE, FL (352today.com) – The Town of Lady Lake will host an open house at the Lady Lake Library on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, to celebrate the opening of the library’s new Children’s Library and recently completed expansion.
The open house will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Lady Lake Library, 225 W. Guava St. and will include refreshments, dignitary remarks and guided tours of the new facility. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Lady Lake Library.
The Children’s Library soft-opened to the public in June 2025 following the completion of a major expansion project designed to enhance library services and accommodate the town’s growing population–an estimated increase of 8,000 residents by 2030. The project supported plans to grow the library’s children’s collection by approximately 25 percent and expand youth programming opportunities. In fact, since June, the Library has had 210 programs with 10,391 attendees. Book circulation for children’s books was 24,787 and 3,734 for teen books. The Lady Lake Library, part of the Lake County Library System, served more than 16,000 registered cardholders and welcomed approximately 175,000 visits in 2025.
As part of the project, the youth library area increased by 3,000 square feet. Improvements also included an expanded lobby, a new public elevator, and a landing area for the second-floor Children’s Library. The expanded Children’s Library provides additional shelving, reading areas, a larger story time room, a multipurpose room and more study spaces.
The expansion project was supported by a $1 million Lake County Library Impact Fee grant, which funded the Children’s Library portion of the project. The impact fee grant was awarded based on the library’s service reach and population. The Town of Lady Lake funded the remaining costs, which included an expansion of the Information Technology Department and the addition of a Growth Management annex.
The project was designed, built, and furnished by Judd Dickerson from Dickerson Architects, Inc., McLaughlin & Company, and Jeff Hunt of Library Interiors of Florida, Inc.
“This open house is an opportunity to formally welcome the community into a space that was designed to foster community learning, creativity and connection,” Library Director Aly Herman said. “The expanded Children’s Library allows us to better serve families today while planning for the needs of future generations.”
Anyone interested in attending the open house may RSVP by contacting Library Director Aly Herman at aly.herman@mylakelibrary.org.