McComb Public Library celebrates a century

McCOMB — More than a century ago, the Rev. W.D. Trumbull had a dream for McComb: The Church of Christ pastor wanted to start a town library. He enlisted the help of three others — Mrs. C.W. Griswolf, Mrs. Joe Wasson and Mrs. Sam Light — and a committee was formed. From that modest beginning, the McComb Public Library was born. "Those first four, I'm sure they had no idea where we would be today. But what vision they had," said library director Jane Schaffner. "Every time I do this, whenever I do a history presentation for a group, I always say, 'We are here today because of those four people.'" The library is celebrating its century anniversary on July 28, with a party planned from 5:30-7 p.m. The festivities will include door prizes, contests, refreshments, a photo booth, a party hat craft for children, balloon animals and face painting. Two mini-magic shows are scheduled at 5:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and the first 50 families will receive a STEAM kit compliments of COSI. Humble beginnings Although Schaffner knows the library opened in July 1921, she hasn't been able to track down an exact date. "The history has been amazing to learn as I've done this," she said. "I've done some PowerPoints for the Rotary and the Lions and different things and had done quite a bit of this. But it was still interesting to go really deep into our history." The library was initially located in various downtown businesses, said Schaffner. Light's Store (later Bennett's Furniture) was the first site, with Griswold and Mrs. Will Stoker as the first directors. The State Library of Ohio rotated collections of books every three months. By 1930, the State Library was no longer sending out books, according to Schaffner. Instead, the local Philomath Club paid the bills and purchased new books. "They would buy a new book, and if you wanted to read the new best seller, you had to pay 5 cents to do that," she said. "Basically, what it did was, it paid for that book. Once that book was paid for, then they moved it so everybody got to check it out and they'd buy another book." Funding changed in 1935, and school district libraries were allowed to form with funding through intangible taxes, said Schaffner. "That's what most libraries are in Hancock County. There are seven of us, seven libraries that have a portion of Hancock County. And they're all school district libraries except for Findlay, and they're the county library," she explained. The libraries that share a portion of the county include Ada, Bluffton, Findlay, Forest, Fostoria, Hardin-Northern and McComb. In 1941, the library moved to a renovated room on Main Street, and books were displayed in the front window. By the early 1950s, the library needed more space, said Schaffner. "The library board was thinking about what they were going to do, and then this lady, Mrs. Blanche Fletcher, passed away and gave her entire estate to build a library," she said. "It was in memory of her husband and her father." Fletcher made one stipulation: that the building include a club room so the various ladies' clubs in town had a place to meet. "Then as the clubs were no longer in McComb, our board changed it to a meeting room and opened it up to everyone, and that's how it serves its purpose today," Schaffner said. Building toward today With Fletcher's gift, the board was able to purchase the property where the library now stands on South Todd Street, erect the building and set aside a portion of the funds for upkeep. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 1958, and the new library opened the following November. More space was again needed by the 1970s, and an addition was built in 1973, which is now the location for Schaffner's office and the adult book collection. A children's area, new circulation desk and restrooms were added in 1983. A laundromat across the street was purchased in 1988. The building was razed, and that site now provides extra library parking. The board bought a nearby house in 1996 that was torn down, and the area became a large yard where programs such as summer read picnics can be held. A legacy addition honoring Miriam Rader's 44 years as library director was added in 2004. Schaffner said the project started with a donation from Rader's family, with community members contributing the rest of the funding needed. The Friends group was founded in 2005. Schaffner said its support has included funding for programs, items for the collection, digitization of items, the summer reading program, furniture, computer equipment and building improvements. One of the Friends' main fundraisers is an annual basket auction that has raised more than $56,000 over 15 years. The library joined the SEO (Serving Every Ohioan) Consortium in 2012. The group includes 97 library systems in 246 locations and 49 counties. "That's where you can take our card into any of these libraries and use it just like you're at our library," said Schaffner, who was named library director in 2006. "It's been wonderful. Our patrons really appreciate it. What it does is, it gives our patrons access to over 8 million items at all these libraries in Ohio. So part of being that consortium, we get to borrow and loan items for our patrons and send items out to other libraries." A fine-free policy was instituted by the board in 2018. "We're so much more than just books," said Schaffner, noting that the library has about 30,000 visitors a year. "Hancock County is fortunate. We have wonderful directors in Hancock County. We've got wonderful directors in northwest Ohio, and Ohio funds their libraries. They care, and it's obvious that they care." Wolf: 419-427-8419