The Wagnalls Memorial Library (Lithopolis)

Over the years I’ve read various articles about this privately owned library in Lithopolis, a small village of about 1,600 people just 15 or so miles southeast of downtown Columbus. So I was really looking forward to visiting it yesterday on my way to a Presbytery meeting in Logan, OH, where my recent retirement was to be recognized.

Wagnalls Memorial did not disappoint. This is an AMAZING library!

The stone Tudor-Gothic structure on E. Columbus St. is quite striking and looks like it could be a church—especially the tower and the peaked roof of the original portion of the building that dates to 1925. The library along with an endowment to provide support were given to Lithopolis by Mabel Wagnalls Jones in memory of her parents, Adam & Anna Willis Wagnalls, who were both born in log cabins there. (Adam was the co-founder of Funk & Wagnalls publishers, and Mabel was an author and concert pianist.) Additions in 1983 and 1992 extended the building to the southeast and maintained the stone Tudor-Gothic style.

As I entered the library from a brick patio area, I was struck by the long corridor that extends from the addition to the original library room. To the right are stacks and the patron services desk, and to the left the Rager Reading Room with Mabel’s favorite Steinway piano from her Long Island home. I proceeded to wander the library exploring for about 30 minutes, but would eventually settle in the wingback chair you can see by the  large window of the Rager Reading Room to do some reading for an hour or so.

There is so much to see, including two original Norman Rockwell paintings on display as well as art and memorabilia from the Funk & Wagnalls publishing business. But one of the first things that caught my eye was a sign pointing the way to the Children’s Library in the lower level. I headed downstairs to see it and found a very busy story time in progress with 8-10 mothers and many children. The photo below doesn’t do the space justice, but I wanted to avoid any photos with identifiable children.

I’d read about the 300-seat auditorium that was part of the original library, so that was next. I was particularly interested in seeing the display of photos and letters famous people (including Harry Houdini) had sent to Mabel. And I really wanted to see the original wooden seats that have a special rack below the seat designed to store men’s top hats.

In the foyer outside the auditorium there are numerous paintings by John Ward Dunsmore along with a large memorial dedication plaque.

From there I stepped back into the original library room, where volunteers were putting up holiday decorations. The room itself is a work of art. There are stained glass inserts in the large window, and all along the upper walls are sculpted grape vines with bunches of grapes and numerous shields setting off the ceiling beams and the chandeliers. A portrait of Mabel Wagnalls Jones is high on the end wall.

Heading back to the Rager Reading Room to read, I couldn’t help but wonder where this arched door (below) might lead. I understand that the library includes a banquet hall, a fully functional kitchen, and a garden outside with pathways and rock sculpture. The tower contains poems by Edwin Markham in his own handwriting, but it was locked.

I settled into a wingback chair by the large window for some reading time. Looking up I could see the ceiling beams, the chandeliers, and the window to the second floor (which is used for special events.) A very friendly library volunteer took the photo of me reading. I explained my retirement project of visiting libraries, and she shared that she was a retired librarian from New York City. She never expected to find anything like this library in a small village like Lithopolis, and she loves volunteering in it.

 


When it came time to leave, I had a wonderful conversation with the librarian at the desk. I shared about my retirement library visits and blog, and she shared some additional things about the library and the village.

Given that I’d recently read an article about the maintenance needs of the library and the difficulties of a much reduced endowment after the financial crisis of 2008, I’d already decided not to check out a book. Instead I’d purchase something from the Friend’s of the Library sales shelves. After 18 years in the 1916 Gothic revival style stone building at Indianola Presbyterian Church, I know full well how maintenance needs of such building are enormous as well as endless. I ended up picking out two books from my Amazon Wish List as well as an audio book—all to support a very good cause. (Years ago, my children used to laugh at me when I’d take them to the main library downtown and they’d check out dozens of books while I’d end up buying books from the Friends of the Library store.)

I will definitely be revisiting this library!

Despite the cold and snowy day, I had thoroughly enjoyed the drive through the country to get to Lithopolis, so I headed for Logan on country roads, trusting in my GPS. I’d hoped to stop for lunch at a Sandy Sue’s Silver Diner along US-33 at Rockbridge, but it was closed. I ended up having lunch (as well as dinner with a good friend that evening) at the Millstone Southern Smoked BBQ restaurant on the northwest side of Logan. Both the brisket and the smoked turkey were quite good, and the baked beans were excellent.

All in all it was a great day… and my favorite library so far!

_____________
For more information and additional photos of The Wagnalls Memorial Library, check out their website at https://wagnalls.org  While privately owned, the library does receive some funding from the State of Ohio and is a partner library with the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

Note: I’ve included more photos than usual this time, and some of them may seem small. To enlarge any photo, simply click on it.

Northwest Library

After taking in the movie “Widows” this morning (way less formulaic than I expected with several major surprises), I decided to skip lunch since I ate far too well yesterday.  The original City Barbecue location on Henderson Road was doing a fundraiser—giving 25% of receipts to the Neighborhood Services Inc. food pantry. So I ended up eating both lunch and dinner there (as well as seeing many good friend from Indiana Presbyterian Church). I left the theater just after noon and headed to the Northwest Library on Hard road—a Worthington Public Library that is also one of the 17 libraries that partner with the Columbus Metropolitan Library system.

This is one of the three or four libraries I’ve been to in the past, mostly many years ago with my children.  The curved wall of windows along the roof line is quite striking.  But apparently there are some roof problems being addressed. Plastic sheeting is hanging from the ceiling throughout much of the library, and the sound level from the work is such that the library is offering noise cancelling headphones.

The plastic sheeting doesn’t detract from the friendly entrances to the children’s sections of the library.  The large carpeted room looks like an especially inviting space for story time.

This was the busiest of the three libraries I’ve visited so far on a weekday afternoon, with many of the people using computers in a large central area. The well-lighted stacks seemed to be calling to me, and I spent a while searching for various of my wish-list books.

I spent an hour or so reading in a (relatively) quiet, well-lighted area at the north end of the library. Unfortunately there was no fire burning in the fireplace. I read Ted Chiang’s “Story of My Life” from one of the books I checked out last week. It’s the basis for one of my favorite sci-fi movies, “Arrival,” and I was fascinated by the changes and additions that were made to allow this fairly cerebral story to retain its power when translated to the screen. I loved the story as much as I loved the film.

Today I returned the first book I checked out two weeks ago and checked out the next book after it in John Sandford’s “Virgil Flowers” series. I also was pleased to come across a book not on my Amazon wish list, the latest thriller by a favorite author, Thomas Perry.

The Bexley Public Library

After a wonderful lunch with a good friend at the Market District restaurant in Bexley, I decided to go up the street a couple of blocks and visit the Bexley Public Library as the second stop in my plan to visit all of the public libraries in the metropolitan Columbus area in my first year of retirement.

The library is on Main Street near the center of Bexley in a lovely stone building that dates to 1929. It’s next door to the Congregation Torat Emet Orthodox Synagogue, and the Capital University football stadium is right behind it.  As I walked toward the entrance, the first thing I noticed is how friendly they are to bicyclists.

Then it was up the stairs and through an impressively heavy brass and glass door to enter into the traditional hush of a library — with stacks and stacks of books straight ahead and to the right and a large room to the left filled with all kinds of other media as well as a second floor study area.

 

My favorite room in the library was the Quiet Reading Room, with tables, overstuffed chairs, and shelves of large print books along all the walls. I spend a most enjoyable hour and a half there reading while surrounded by books.

As I got ready to leave, I was pleased to discover that my brand new (just renewed last week) Columbus Public Libraries card would allow me to check out books from the Bexley Public Library, especially since I had spent some time browsing the stacks to find the two books below that are on my Amazon Wish List.  (Ted Chaing’s “The Story of Your Life” is the basis for “Arrival,” one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies.)

A bonus to go with this library visit — across the street from the library I found Gramercy Books. It’s just a couple of years old, and I’d never been in it. So I spent another hour there, browsing and adding to my wish list.  (No purchases, however.)  It was a truly fine afternoon!

 

South High Branch - Columbus Metropolitan Library

I've decided that one of my initial goals in retirement is to visit every public library in the Columbus, OH, metropolitan area—to spend some time there reading and getting the feel of the place and (when possible) to check out one book that I have on my Amazon Wish List so as to (hopefully) keep from purchasing it.  My plan is to use this blog to document those visits along with certain other explorations as I adjust to retirement.  Never having blogged before, I'll have to see how this goes.

My first library visit was to the South High Branch, 3540 S. High St.  I combined this with stopping for a lunch at Dan's Drive In Diner, also on S. High St.  The burger and fries were pretty darn good.

  
The library entrance faces Highview Blvd. to the south, so the windows above the doors bring in lots of natural light.

The high ceiling atrium extends from the entrance all the way to the north end of the building, which is where I sat reading for about an hour.  Then I wandered the shelves to pick out a book and ended up selecting the one pictured below.  When I went to check it out, I discovered it had been so long since I'd checked anything out from the Columbus libraries that my card was no longer active in the system.  But the librarian quickly remedied that, and I now have a new library card.

I don't know how often I'll make and report on these visits.  I do know this was a great way to spend the afternoon in a part of Columbus I rarely get to.