Tuesday, October 18, 2005
A library by any other name
Most libraries in Ohio are named after the town where the main library is: Centerburg Public Library, Germantown Public Library, Oak Harbor Public Library. These are the easiest to find on the many, many occasions OPLIN staff have every day to find a particular library in a standard list. Many are named after their counties, like Preble County District Library and Adams County Public Library. A couple dozen libraries are named after benefactors, like the Reed Memorial Library in Ravenna, Henderson Memorial Library in Jefferson, or the Mary Lou Johnson-Hardin County District Library in Kenton. Some libraries have the same name -- there are two libraries in Ohio that are called merely "Carnegie Public Library": one in East Liverpool and one in Washington Court House. Both Sunbury and St Marys call themselves simply "Community Library." OPLIN has to take care not to confuse these libraries when we work with them. And we also have to make sure we haven't confused the Wayne Public Library in Wayne with the Wayne County Public Library in Wooster. Or confused the Perry, Perry County, and Perry Cook Memorial libraries.
By statute, Ohio libraries can name themselves anything they want; no one except the local library boards has oversight over that. So the names can change. The Mackenzie Memorial Library is now Madison Public Library (like in the Music Man!), and the Taylor Memorial Public Library is now Cuyahoga Falls Library. So I'm not surprised to learn that trustees of the Akron-Summit County Public Library are considering shortening their name to Akron Summit Library (registration required). If they do this, they will be following in the footsteps of the former Dayton-Montgomery County Public Library and Public Library of Columbus and Franklin County (now just Dayton Metro Library and Columbus Metropolitan Library).
By statute, Ohio libraries can name themselves anything they want; no one except the local library boards has oversight over that. So the names can change. The Mackenzie Memorial Library is now Madison Public Library (like in the Music Man!), and the Taylor Memorial Public Library is now Cuyahoga Falls Library. So I'm not surprised to learn that trustees of the Akron-Summit County Public Library are considering shortening their name to Akron Summit Library (registration required). If they do this, they will be following in the footsteps of the former Dayton-Montgomery County Public Library and Public Library of Columbus and Franklin County (now just Dayton Metro Library and Columbus Metropolitan Library).
