Ohioana Library

IMG_5325
Stephanie Michaels, Librarian, and David Weaver, Executive Director of Ohioana Library

The Ohioana Library is a special library dedicated to preserving works related to Ohio, by Ohio authors and authors that have written about Ohio.

The Ohioana Library collects, preserves, and celebrates Ohio literature and other creative endeavors.

The library is open to the public, Monday through Friday, and offers a reading room for visitors to access the closed collection of materials. The library was established in 1929 by Martha Kinney Cooper, Ohio’s First Lady at the time. The collection was originally housed in the governor’s home, moved in the 1930s as the collection grew and then moved to its current, climate-controlled location in 2001.  Books are donated to the library by authors and publishers, as well as from private donations.  There is also a fund for purchasing rare books to augment the collection.

The organization maintains a number of projects and initiatives, including the Ohioana Award, which recognizes Ohio authors for their literary contributions to the state,  an annual book festival, in celebration of Ohio books, and the Ohioana Quarterly, a publication featuring books that have been added to the library.

The Ohioana Library is an amazing and diverse resource.  Their 75,000 materials include books, sheet music and biographical files.  The library has an impressive collection of scrapbooks collected from organizations around the state such as the Ohio Watercolor Society and junior music clubs.  Through a partnership with the Ohio History Connection, Ohioana has made portions of the scrapbook collection available digitally.  The collection of biographical files offer insight into the lives of Ohio authors through letters, photos and news clippings.

IMG_5338
Scrapbook Collection
IMG_5337
An album in the scrapbook collection
IMG_5333
NAA Management Club Clown Unit Scrapbook
WP_20150225_007
2014 Ohioana Award Nominees
WP_20150225_009
1946 Ohioana Award for Walter Havinghurst’s Land of Promise
IMG_5330
A sampling of the collection
IMG_5305 (2)
First edition of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
IMG_5329
Handwritten sheet music for Auld Lang Syne
IMG_5323
Entrance gates at the Ohioana Library

About The Author

X