The Horizon West Branch library opens at 10 a.m. Saturday at 4657 Hamlin Groves Trail, with all-day events, 45,000 books and a garden StoryWalk.

Horizon West gets its own public library Saturday. The Orange County Library System opens its Horizon West Branch at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at 4657 Hamlin Groves Trail.

The library system announced the date on its Horizon West updates page on Sept. 22. The branch’s own page lists a grand opening with “all-day activities, events, and entertainment.” No registration is needed, and all ages are welcome.

The branch sits at the entrance to Horizon West Regional Park, off Hamlin Groves Trail. It uses a Winter Garden mailing address, but it is in Horizon West, a short drive from Hamlin.

What is inside

The library system’s updates describe a 20,000-square-foot building on a planned 11-acre campus. According to those updates, the branch has:

  • about 45,000 books, which staff shelved in late September
  • a children’s area with a bee theme and honeycomb-style shelving
  • meeting rooms, which the branch already lists for events
  • self-checkout, public computers, printers, scanners and Wi-Fi
  • an outdoor programming space with bench seating at the entrance

Outside, the gardens carry a permanent StoryWalk, a trail of picture-book pages, and a percussion pathway of outdoor musical instruments. The branch page also lists it as one of the system’s branches open on Sundays.

Two years in the making

The library system’s board approved the project budget in April 2024. The updates page puts the total construction budget at $27,275,000. That includes a guaranteed maximum price of about $18.3 million with H.J. High Construction Company.

Ground was broken Nov. 13, 2024. At the time, the library system expected the building to be finished in late 2025. As late as May, its updates page said no opening date had been set.

Steve Powell, the library system’s director and CEO, wrote in his October message that the collection, furniture and supplies had all arrived in the last two weeks of September.

What it means for you

From Saturday, Horizon West has a library branch of its own, next to the regional park.

  • When: 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, with events all day.
  • Where: 4657 Hamlin Groves Trail, past the Horizon West Regional Park entrance.
  • Registration: none needed, and all ages are welcome.
  • Questions: the branch page lists (407) 835-7323.

Updated Oct. 14: the branch opened Oct. 10. Its regular hours, from the branch page, are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

For more to do with children, see our kids’ activities guide. The rest of the weekend is in things to do, and the regional park is in our parks and trails guide.