Editing DeFuniak Springs, Florida (section)

===Library===
At the time of planning, the founders of DeFuniak Springs were interested in the adult education movement. For DeFuniak Springs, this movement did not only include the Chautauqua center, McCormick University and Academy, and the State Normal School, but also a community library.

In 1887, a group of women formed the Ladies Library Association, and their goal was to establish a library that would become the "little sister" to the Chautauqua center, university, and school.<ref name="Blazek, R. 2">{{cite journal |last1=Blazek |first1=R. |title=The library, the chautauqua, and the railroads in DeFuniak Springs, Florida |journal=The Journal of Library History |date=1987 |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=377–396}}</ref> The Ladies Library Association chose a plot of land adjacent to the Chautauqua center and signed a lease for ninety-nine years.<ref name="Blazek, R. 2" /> By the end of 1887, five years after the initial plan of the village, there was a community library; the Ladies Library Association's main goal of establishing a social library was complete. Initially, the library relied on book donations, but also purchased books from the Ladies Reading Club and a private book owner, J. L. Shearer.<ref name="Blazek, R. 2" /> The Ladies Library Association persisted and was able to maintain the library, books, and maintenance of the library for quite some time. However, by 1923, the Ladies Library Association was unable to continue to sustain the library and requested city funds, which the city took on gradually. It was not until the 1960s when the subscription fees were finally eliminated, and the county and city assumed total responsibility for its maintenance and collection development.<ref name="Blazek, R. 2" /> Today, the [[Walton-DeFuniak Library]] contains antiquities, a medieval weapon collection, and many first-edition books.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}