News

The passing of Toni Morrison in August 2019 at the age of 88 opened a floodgate of tributes from around the world. The native of Lorain, Ohio, had climbed heights no other American writer of the past half-century had achieved, winning every major award from the Pulitzer Prize to the Presidential Medal of Freedom and, in 1993, the Nobel Prize ... Read More

Election day – exciting for some, nerve wracking for most. This year, we’ve watched election day turn into election week as we wait for the results of a tight presidential race. As we’re waiting, it’s easy to get caught up in speculation and anxiety. If that is what you’re feeling this week, you’re not alone. Thankfully, one of the best ... Read More

Celebrating Nancy Drew’s Creator It’s July 10, and today we celebrate the 115th birthday of one of Ohio’s greatest writers – Mildred Wirt Benson. Her name might not be as familiar to you as some noted Ohio authors, but you’ve certainly heard of her pen name and the beloved fictional character she created – Nancy Drew. Yes, indeed, “Millie” was ... Read More

Though the Syfy Channel has traditionally been the home of the New Year and Independence Day Twilight Zone marathons, this year the Decades channel will be celebrating the 4th of July Weekend with “Rod, White, and Blue,” to commemorate creator Rod Serling on the 45th anniversary of his death, at age 50, on June 28, 1975. https://www.youtube.com/embed/CYQrUc8VAD8 Serling was born ... Read More

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising, which began on June 28, 1969, was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially ... Read More

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. It was first observed in June, 1865, just two months after the end of the Civil War. Today, 155 years later, too many Black Americans still suffer from violence, inequality, and injustice resulting from systemic racism. We stand united with them in their quest ... Read More

Memorial Day weekend has just passed. We hope yours was a safe one. This year was especially poignant as we marked 75 years since the end of World War II and also the devastating effects of COVID-19, which has already taken nearly 100,000 American lives since March.At this special time of year, Ohioana would like to pay tribute to three ... Read More

It’s spring! Along with the season comes fresh flowers, warm sunshine and, historically, the Ohioana Book Festival. Right now in Ohio, we are following a stay at home order to keep our communities safe. As such, the Ohioana Book Festival, which was originally scheduled for April 25th, has been postponed until Saturday, August 29th. That doesn’t mean the fun has ... Read More

When the American Library Association picked “Find Your Place at the Library” as its theme for this year’s April 16-25 celebration of National Library Week, little did anyone know at the time that we’d be in the middle of an unprecedented world health crisis that would force most libraries to close temporarily. The Ohioana Library being one of them. Libraries ... Read More

March is Women’s History Month. Ohio has been home to many extraordinary women, in many different fields. One of them was Cincinnati’s Doris Day. Born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff in 1922, she was a talented singer who began appearing on local radio while still in her teens. She sang with several big bands – changing her name to “Day” along ... Read More