A Special Announcement From the Library
Dear Winter Park Library Community,
The Board of Trustees shares the sad news that Sabrina Bernat, the Executive Director of the Winter Park Library, has announced her resignation. Sabrina’s husband has accepted an executive position for a company outside Boston and her family will be relocating for that exciting opportunity.
Sabrina has been with the Winter Park Library since 2015, serving as Assistant Director until being named Executive Director by the Board of Trustees in November 2019. Sabrina was instrumental in every phase of the design of the new state-of-the-art Winter Park Library and worked alongside the design team from Adjaye and Associates to ensure that the Library’s features and spaces reflected a modern Library with an eye to the future. The Library’s record-breaking first year saw a major increase in patron visits, checkouts, and attendance at the classes and events offered to the residents of Winter Park. Thanks to Sabrina’s leadership, the new Library delivers a variety of expanded services, and now boasts active membership of over 15,000 Winter Park residents.
This is a tremendous opportunity for Sabrina’s family and on behalf of the Board, we thank her for her leadership of the Winter Park Library and her enthusiasm for education for all. We are grateful for her tenure and wish Sabrina and her family well as they start on their new chapter.
The Board of Trustees will begin a nation-wide search for a new Executive Director. The Board of Trustees is focused on the goal of providing exceptional library services and earning designation as the first starred library in Central Florida. We have made great strides in the last year towards that goal, and we are excited to continue that work. We are grateful to the City of Winter Park, who in the spirit of long-standing partnership, recently voted to increase their contribution towards the Winter Park Library. As a 501(c)(3) lending library, the success of our unique role in the community relies on public and private funds, and we are pleased that our Endowment and the Library’s Annual Fund continue to grow through consistently generous gifts. We are in the planning stages for next year’s sensational Love Your Library Gala on February 11, 2023, capitalizing on last year’s record-setting success.
The Board of Trustees has started their process to name the next Executive Director. Melissa Schneider will serve as Interim Director during the search. Melissa has been with the Library since 2014 and has been instrumental in the successful first year of the new Library.
We will continue to update about this process as appropriate.
Thank you for your continued support of the Winter Park Library.
Lawrence Lyman
President, Winter Park Library Board of Trustees
