The Marion Public Library building, now the Explore-it-torium Children's Museum of Marion, is a historic Carnegie library in Marion, Ohio . Funded with a Carnegie Grant in 1905, the public library opened in 1907. ^[1] The library was designed by Richards, McCarty & Bulford of Columbus, Ohio. ^[2] The architectural firm also designed the Frank Huber Residence , located at 416 Church Street (diagonal from the current library building) and the Huber Building , a five-story department store in Marion.

Andrew Carnegie donated $30,000 to build the library. It was designed in the Beaux Arts style. The historic building closed in 1978 and is now part of the Trinity Baptist Church complex. ^[3]

New library [ edit ]

A newer Marion Public Library was constructed in 1978 on the site of the Greenwood Street School ^[3] at 445 East Church Street. In 1997 additional construction occurred adding more space on both floors.

Library history [ edit ]

Industrialist Edward Huber established Marion's first library in 1886, ^[4] the Mechanics Library. ^[3] It was a subscription library for his employees and other employers joined in to form a library association. The library was open to the public by 1891 and was funded by a tax levy . ^[2]

The library was expanded in 1957 and again in 1963. ^[2] The Carnegie library was purchased by Trinity Baptist Church in 1979 for $125,000 and remodeled. ^{[1] [5]}

The Marion Public Library was featured on a postcard. ^[6]

References [ edit ]

External links [ edit ]

• Historic Postcard of library Marion00057a Columbus Metropolitan Library
• Image of church building next door on Flickr
• Exterior image of building as part of church Waymarking.com
• Marion Public Library website
• Image of library on Flickr

40°35′14″N 83°07′11″W  /  40.5873°N 83.1197°W  / 40.5873; -83.1197