Civic Center 2
Beginning in 1914, the eastern half of the building was set off as a library. For many years it was well patronized and used by full time librarians. It had a yearly budget of 100 bucks for brand new books, which back in the day could buy you 30 volumes, in extensions to the donations. This library was the middle for the young communities of Longwood. Meetings, graduations, and gatherings were held at the library. The library was where many teenagers went to go for school work with its plethora of encyclopedias, almanacs, and atlas.
Throughout the 1950s the front porch of the library was shut and it stayed shut for over 50 long years. Many citizens despised the change to the library but when the library returned to its original style they celebrated because that was the design they all loved.
During the 1970's, interest began to decrease and the town’s library could not keep up with all the new county libraries around Longwood. After that it became known as the Longwood Historic Library, and the library mostly focused on Florida and historical books about Longwood. Presence was short and the Women’s Club decreased the hours open to just 2 days a week. In 1986 the Longwood Historic Library was retitled to the Maxine McGrath Memorial Library, after a worker who worked at the library as a volunteer for many years died that same year. In 1998 the Women’s Club broke apart and gave the building to the Longwood Historic Society so that it could be well taken care of and secured for decades to come.
For several years of the library's lifetime the library was painted pale yellow but has since been reestablished to its primary white color. The front porch was again reopened in 2007 to show the original design all the way back in 1914. In 2019 the Longwood Historic Society gave the building renovation and restoration of the damaged floors, this damage was incurred from decades of termites eating away unnoticed until recently. The restorations were done to the extent of replacing the subfloor and reinforced the support beams of the structure. The interior floor was replaced with wooden tiles, meant to increase the durability and capacity needed for hosting community events. Today the library is distributed as the main office for the Longwood Historic Society, and it is rented out to residence in the community of Longwood for events.
