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. 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.   On opening day in 1962, Elsie Quirk had 3,500 books, one paid employee, many dedicated volunteers and 1,400 square feet of space. The first annex was built in 1964. April, 1972, saw the dedication and official opening of the second expansion (the east wing - Alexander room). These expansions were funded by the Englewood community.  With the dedication of the Daniels Wing (West side and mezzanine) in October, 1982, the agency saw building funds from Sarasota County and came to its current square footage.   In 1995, Sarasota County acquired additional lots to provide an entrance on Dearborn Street (historical downtown section of Englewood), additional parking and storm water retention ponds.