Bristol Public Library, Bristolville, Ohio
Posted by: 
boatchick
N 41° 23.232 W 080° 52.056
17T E 511069 N 4581749
Bristolville received the smallest Carnegie grant in Ohio, but local citizens contributed to make the library a success.
Waymark Code: WM4W6H
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 10/04/2008
Views: 9
Bristolville first established library service in 1908 in conjunction with the State Library in Columbus. The state library loaned books to the town for three months at a time. This service was short-lived, terminating in 1910. In 1911, Judge Norman Gilbert and his wife petitioned Andrew Carnegie for a library grant. The township levied a tax to support the library, and Judge Gilbert donated a lot south of the cemetery near what is now the intersection of Ohio Routes 88 and 45. The $6000 Carnegie grant was the smallest grant received for any library in Ohio. Book donations were solicited from the townspeople via postcard with the following verse taken from the library website:
"The New Library at Bristolville
Is in need of a book or two still;
We write to inquire if you yourself
Wouldn't like to place one on its shelf?
Donate any kind you select,
No one will at all object.
Be it history or fiction,
There is no restriction.
If you have a book on art
Or one dealing with the heart;
A worn one concerning theology,
Send it without an apology.
We leave it to your own selection,
Trusting we will receive a good collection."
In 1989, the library grew, adding a 5000+ square foot addition to the back of the building. Today, the book collection is held in the new wing, while the periodicals and a collection of local history artefacts reside in the orignal Carnegie library.