Nettie Wheeler
Diary
Nettie E. Wheeler, the first librarian at the Elyria Public Library, kept this diary. In it, she discusses the day the library opened and her other duties, including making a carpet for the library’s office....
1st Elyria Library
Inside Views
On the north side of the square, the Elyria Library was an important part of town life. The library and most of its contents were lost in the terrible fire of 1873. When the Commercial Block was rebuilt, the library returned to its original location on the second and third floors overlooking Broad Street. Electric lights and a ceiling fan were installed in 1901.
Dr. Karl Reefy Home
Became Elyria Public Library in 1929
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Meet Lucille, age 92. She was the winner of a $50 gift card awarded to the oldest visitor during our recent 140th Anniversary Open House on June 10. |
| Lucille has been coming to the Elyria Public Library for as long as she can remember. As a child, she recalled walking up the very steep and narrow steps of the Elyria Public Libray's original location on Broad St. overlooking Ely Square. "Those old wooden floors really creaked when you walked on them but I just loved going to the library," said Lucille. Of all of our locations, Lucille loved the Reefy House the best. "It was such a beautiful building," she said. In the early 90's Lucille volunteered at the Elyria Public Library, sharing that she really enjoyed that time. Still an avid reader, her favorite subject is reading about history. "Public libraries are so very important," said Lucille, "I hope we always have public libraries because I believe that our libraries are the hope of the world." |
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1864 - Charles Arthur Ely, son of Elyria’s founder, died and left a Will establishing a public
library for Elyria and the vicinity.
1870 - The library began operation with 2,000 books. Fines were five cents per day, which remained until 2003.
1873 - The library was destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The new building was built on the site
currently held by Loomis Camera.
1900 - Steam heat was added to the building.
1901 - Electric lights and ceiling fans were added to the facility.
1902 - The Elyria Board of Education secured a .6 mil operating levy.
1908 - A telephone and typewriter were added to the library.
1914 - The collection reached 26,232 volumes and annually circulated 58,000.
1915 - The first Children’s Librarian was hired.
1916 - The operating levy ended.
1920 - The library received $5,000 from the Community Chest.
1929 - The Broad Street building sold for $60,000 and the Dr. Reefy house was purchased
for $30,000. An addition was built onto the house to accommodate more library materials.
1934 - The first collection of an intangibles tax on stocks and bonds gave the library $18,000.
1938 - School library service was re-established.
1948 - The library became a charter member of the first cooperative film circuit in the U.S.
1965 - Kiwanis spearheaded a fund drive for a new library building.
1966 - The library was designated as a U.S. Federal Government Documents Depository.
1967 - The Main Library opened on Washington Avenue.
1979 - The Friends of the Elyria Public Library was established.
1981 - The Nord Foundation grant allowed access to on-line databases.
1982 - The King Fauver Memorial Fund made it possible to automate material cataloguing.
1984 - The Ethelyn Smith bequest made it possible to meet a 35% matching fund requirement
for a $102,000 Bookmobile grant. The Greater Lorain County Community Foundation gave
a grant enabling Project: READ to begin. The Curtis and Jesse Spence fund made it possible
to join CLEVNET, an on-line cataloguing computer system. Videocassettes were added to the collection and a front parking lot was added.
1985 - The Bookmobile started service throughout the Elyria and Keystone areas.
1986 - The Lewis Miller Trust and the Ethelyn Smith Trust made possible the purchase of
more library books. Conversion to an on-line catalogue and circulation system was completed. Compact Disks were added to the collection
1987 - The Keystone School District and the Village of Lagrange requested to be officially
defined as part of the library’s service area along with the Elyria School District.
1988 - Framed art for lending was initiated. The Blue Ribbon Long-Range Planning Committee
was formed from citizen organizations.
1991 - The November bond issue was passed to build West River Library, but an operating
levy failed.
1992 - The Washington Avenue Library was renovated. Ground was broken for the
newly designed West River Library. The Library joined the Cleveland Area Metropolitan
Library System.
1993 - CLEVNET added more data-bases including Medline. The State of Ohio reduced
the 6.3% personal income tax revenues to 5.7%
1994 - West River Library opened. Lack of funding lead to staff and budget cutbacks.
1995 - Office and Professional Employees’ International Union Local 17 was ratified.
1999 - The New Bookmobile was on the road.
2000 - The Neighborhood Center Branch opened. The old Bookmobile served to open the LaGrange Library.
2001 - The State of Ohio froze the Library and Local Government Support Fund distribution levels.
2003 - The Keystone-LaGrange Community Library opened. The Audio/Visual Department
at Central Library was moved to the first floor.
2004 - Twenty staff members were laid off in January after the levy failed in November ‘03.
The operating levy passed in March. Staff members were recalled in April.
2005 - Celebrated 135th Birthday of the Elyria Public Library 1870-2005
2005 - Joined MORE—Moving Ohio Resources Everywhere— a statewide resource-sharing network connecting the Elyria Public Library with more than 100 participating libraries statewide.
2006 - Opened the South Branch Library in the former Hamilton School building. This is a partnership between the Elyria City School district, the Lorain County Community Action Agency’s Head Start program and the Elyria Public Library System.
2006 - The Branch at Neighborhood Center moved to Hamilton School in partnership with
Lorain County Community Action Agency Head Start Program and Elyria City Schools. It
was re-named the South Branch Library.
2007 - The state if Ohio moves library funding from 5.7% of the personal income tax revenue
to 2.22% of the General Tax Revenue. Land is purchased in LaGrange Township for future
possible expansion in the Keystone School District.
2008 - On April 1st, the Keystone-LaGrange Library’s hours were expanded from thirty to forty-four hours per week.
2008 - The EPLS collection of Scheide Photographs was digitized through generous donations from Rotary members. The collection was then presented to the community to honor Dr. Bob Perry, a Rotarian and past EPLS Library trustee.
2008 - North Branch Library was opened in the new Barbara and Mike Bass Library/Community Resource Center on the campus of Lorain County Community College. This partnership of an academic library and a public library is the first of its kind in the state of Ohio.
2009 - In May, a replacement/additional operating levy of 1.9 mills was passed in the city of Elyria to support the EPLS libraries in Elyria. A new operating levy of 0.8 mills was passed in LaGrange Township to support the Keystone-LaGrange Community Library. |
