Warder Public Library, Springfield, Ohio

[LIB0237] - The Clark County Public Library had its first real beginnings around the year 1841 with what was then known as the Springfield Lyceum. Various short-lived Library Associations followed and the library found a more permanent home on the second floor of Black's Opera House. The library housed 3,300 volumes when it opened to the public at this location in 1872. As patronage and the collection expanded, the need for yet another move set in and the library relocated in 1877 to the second floor of the Union Hall Building, which was situated on what is today Fountain Avenue.
Local entrepreneur Benjamin Warder gave the library a new location on the south-west corner of East High and South Spring Streets in 1890 with a building constructed in memory of his parents, and dedicated to the people of Springfield. This location now houses the Warder Literacy Center. Read more about this library history here.