The already popular Winter Park Library could soon be getting a new location in the city, but the proposal does not sit well with many residents.

The current Winter Park Library sits on New England Avenue, near Fairbanks Avenue, a location many say is fine right where it is.

However, a city-appointed task force recommended moving the property to a new location on the north end of Martin Luther King Junior Park, near the corner of Denning Drive and Morse Boulevard. The Winter Park Civic Center is currently at the location but could be demolished to make way for the new library.

The new library could also go a few hundred blocks to the east of the center — all details that haven't been officially proposed yet to the City Commission.

The Civic Center would not be completely lost; one option involves putting the library and the civic center in the same building. But residents at Monday night's commission meeting did not like the proposal.

"Why would you want to remove and take away green space for a building?" asked Winter Park resident Jackie Sword.

A new library at the park location could cost between $17 million and $21 million, but those with the library said they do not want to take away from a community asset to try and benefit another.

"I must tell you, if we thought we were detracting from the park, the task force would not have approved this site," said Jeffrey Jontz, with the Winter Park Library Association.

Over the last year, a task force made up of library members and commission-appointed members have been meeting to discuss everything from possible site locations to what they would like to see in a new library.

At Monday night's meeting, some residents said they love the library, but it has to get bigger to get better, and support the building at a new location.

"You're really not taking any park away, but yet you're having more room for people and activities," says Jan Walker, who supports the move.

Over the next few months, the library will hold several town hall meetings. Library officials hope a referendum will be drafted for the city by March, with a possible groundbreaking by early 2017.

There was no official word on what would happen to the current building and property.