Ohioana Library Mission
The mission of the Ohioana Library Association is to:
recognize and encourage the creative accomplishments of Ohioans, preserve, and
expand a permanent archive of books, sheet music, manuscripts, and other
materials by Ohioans and about Ohio, and disseminate information about the
work of Ohio writers, musicians, and other artists to researchers, schools, and
the general public.
Adopted by the Board of Trustees in July 2002
This mission is accomplished by:
continuing to expand its collection with the addition of new books, music, manuscripts, and biographical information about Ohio
authors, composers, and other artists
publishing the Ohioana Quarterly and other educational resources
sponsoring the various Ohioana Awards
hosting special events to recognize local and regional authors
responding to reference requests
assisting other literary/artistic organizations and educational institutions
The Association began in 1929 when Martha Kinney Cooper, the First Lady of Ohio, invited representatives of many groups from around the State to assist in gathering a collection of Ohio books for the Governor’s Mansion. The collection outgrew the Mansion and in 1935 it was moved to the Ohio Departments Building at 65 S. Front St., Columbus. In January 2001 Ohioana, along with the State Library of Ohio, moved to the renovated Jeffrey Manufacturing Center at 274 E. First Ave. in the historic Italian Village district near downtown Columbus, Ohio.
The Association is a 501(c) (3), tax exempt, not-for-profit organization, governed by a Board of Trustees composed of up to 28 members from throughout Ohio. The members have interests and expertise in the various program areas in which Ohioana provides services. Members of the Board of Trustees serve a term of four years and are elected by the membership of the Association. The Governor of the state of Ohio may appoint one member to the Board each year, and the spouse of the Governor is an ex-officio trustee. In October 2001 the Board adopted a Long Range Plan for 2001 – 2004.
Ohioana’s current holdings includes approximately 45,000 books, 10,000 pieces of sheet music, scrapbooks, and biographical files on more than 23,000 Ohio writers, artists, musicians, and other notable Ohioans. The books are written by Ohioans, or are about Ohio or Ohioans. They include a wide range of literature, fiction, history, biography, poetry, humor, children’s literature, county atlases, and local, church, and family histories. New books are added to the collection daily. This year 1,148 new titles were added to the collection. In January 2000, Ohioana’s holdings began to be added to the State Library of Ohio’s electronic catalog, and in March 2002 they were released to the 90 OhioLINK institutions. This makes information about the collection easily accessible to anyone who has access to the Internet. As an archive, Ohioana has continued to maintain its old paper cards, but only shelf list cards are added for new books.
Many of the books are rare and date back to the 1800s. These, and many newer books, are often unavailable to the public anywhere else. The collection does not circulate, but the public may use the collection on site. Ohioana’s new facility is easily accessible and has adequate parking. It has a state-of-the-art climate-controlled room that dramatically improves Ohioana’s ability to properly store and care for its growing collection. It also has a large, comfortable, well-furnished, well-lit public area where both student groups and individual researchers may use Ohioana’s resources. Usage between February 2001 and July 31, 2001, increased nearly 1,000% compared to the same time period the previous year, and reference requests from remote locations increased more than 50%.
The Association recognizes and encourages the literary and creative accomplishments of Ohioans through nine different Ohioana Awards programs, and by publishing the Ohioana Quarterly. The Awards are presented on Ohioana Day; a celebration held each autumn. Other events held around the state are the Hamilton County Authors Tea, held in cooperation with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, and the Central Ohio Authors Tea, co-sponsored with the Friends of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
The Ohioana Quarterly, published since 1958, highlights the work of Ohio writers, musicians and other artists. It contains
reviews of recent books, essays about Ohio’s literary figures, news about Ohio’s literary and arts world, and an
annotated list of new books as they are received each quarter by the library. The Association has also published the book
Ohio Authors and Their Books, and the Ohioana Ohio Literary Map, as well as other educational resources.
The Ohioana Library is supported through memberships, subscriptions, contributions, and a subsidy from the State of Ohio. Members and subscribers live in 36 states, the District of Columbia, and three European countries.
|
