Home » Libraries » State Librarian Visits » 2007 » January

January

Former State Librarian Jo Budler visits for January 2007: Fairfield County District Library, Wagnalls Memorial Library

January 25th, 2007
Fairfield County District Library

Click on thumbnail to view the description and larger image.

We were greeted and given a tour by Director Marilyn Steiner. A highlight for me was certainly the children and young adult section. This section of the library shares the second floor with the administration offices. I was pleased to see many of the children's book characters my children loved are still entertaining children. We saw the newest versions of "Choose Your Own Adventures" which continue to be popular. I was impressed with the Leap Pad which young library visitors can use to encourage and enforce their reading skills. In addition, this material circulates so that families who have the Leap Pad machinery at home are able to enjoy additional titles without needing to purchase them.

Many years ago the children who visited the library created a three dimensional young artist rendition of the library. This art piece resides in the youth services area and is replete with spiders in the upper corners of rooms and monsters in the basement!

Everywhere we looked we found the library's mascot, Booker. A beautiful mural covers the walls in the stairwell from the first to the second floor and Booker can found in a variety of places, always reading! Never seen Booker? You can find him at http://www.fairfield.lib.oh.us/kids/

The one wish youth services librarian Becky and Marilyn have is to create a separate space for Young Adult.

Other highlights:

  • The Fairfield Public Library has an exceptional music collection which circulates widely.
  • The top floor of the library is currently used for technical services, meetings and an exhibit area. The quilt exhibit that was in this area during our visit was beautiful. These quilters are truly artists!
  • We visited the new bookmobile which visits communities around Lancaster and Fairfield County and learned about the library's outreach service which delivers library materials to 27 daycares and nursing homes on a monthly basis, as well as a small homebound population.

Thanks, Marilyn, for inviting us to visit and for taking the time to give us a tour and orientation.

 
Wagnalls Memorial Library
 
Click on thumbnail to view the description and larger image.
 
Director Erma Stotts and former Director Jo Riegel were present to give us a tour and a history lesson about not only the building but the Wagnall family as well. This is another beautiful library which is, in Erma's words, "Gothic on the inside and Tutor on the outside." It is magical being in this library that looks and feels like an English castle. It was originally endowed by Anna Wagnall in memory of her parents who were both born in Lithopolis.
 
The library addition was built in 1991 adding much needed space to the original building which was constructed in 1925. Also in the building is the Wagnall family theatre where the members of the community can enjoy plays and the museum where we were able to view several special collections.
 
As always, the children's section was the most fun. Here children are able to sit in the train station (where there is a train crossing bar) and settle in for a good read. I am always impressed with how comfortable looking and attractive librarians make the reading areas of the libraries. Wagnalls has many inviting areas to sit and read, from an armchair by a stone fireplace nestled among bookshelves to the spacious reading room containing overstuffed furniture and nineteenth century looking library tables. This room had a vaulted ceiling and plenty of windows. On the day we visited the sun streamed in the windows, giving the room a classic library look and feel. And again, as always, it is very tempting to stop and take the books down from the shelves - especially those titles for the little ones!
 
It was a pleasure to meet the staff at the Wagnalls Memorial Library and we truly appreciated the tour by not one distinguished director but two! Thanks, Jo and Erma, for your time and for sharing your stories.