Library History:

In the late 1950's, individuals, primarily from the local Women's Club, began collecting books and garnering support from the Englewood area to open a bi-county public library that would serve Englewood residents in both Sarasota and Charlotte Counties. Due to a ruling that Charlotte County funds could not be spent on a facility in Sarasota County, two libraries were built in Englewood. The Englewood-Charlotte Public Library opened to serve Charlotte County residents; two weeks later the Elsie Quirk Library opened to serve Sarasota County residents.     Elsie Quirk Library

The original lot and $10,000 for the new library were donated by Elsie and Wellington Quirk. The original library steering committee, composed of Leah Lasbury, Lois Potter and Josephine Cortes, obtained the first funds ever allocated for public library use by the Sarasota County Commission, which began the path for county library service.