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 The Ashtabula County District Library
System began as a subscription library association in Ashtabula City in 1813. It was
incorporated in 1896 as the Ashtabula Free Public Library. The building located on 44th
Street was built in 1903 with funds from Andrew Carnegie. A change in State Library law
permitted the Ashtabula Free Public Library to become a county district library in 1953.
An addition was added in 1958 and a new entrance and elevator in 1984. During a million
dollar remodeling project, a fire destroyed the second floor. The library, relocated
for eighteen months, received national exposure from a syndicated Chicago columnist, who
wrote a column to his readers about the fire. As a result, over 30,000 books were
donated from all over the United States. The renovated building was reopened in
March of 1992.
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 A permanent site for the Geneva
Free Public Library was secured in 1910 with funds from Andrew Carnegie and
the Platt R. Spencer Memorial Association. Prior to that date, library service for the
Geneva area had been housed in several locations around Geneva dating back to
approximately 1830. An addition was added in 1939. In 1955, the Geneva Public Library
joined the Ashtabula County District Library system. An elevator and new restrooms were
added in 1984. A new addition was added in 1989 to house the County Bookmobile. In May
1995, a bond issue was passed by the citizens in the Geneva Area City School District to
construct a new Geneva Library. This new facility is located on Sherman Street and opened
in June of 1997. |
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 The County-wide Bookmobile service began
in 1958 and was a result of the previous extension service offered by the Ashtabula Public
Library. The Bookmobile serves county residents in those areas not covered by local
libraries. Locations in the county include nursing homes, community sites, schools, and
senior housing units. |
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 A Literacy Office, established in conjunction with the Literacy Volunteers of
America / Ashtabula, Kent State University, and a Title VI grant, was opened in 1985. The
office became the Ashtabula County Literacy Coalition
and is located at Kent State University Ashtabula Campus Library. |
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 The Ashtabula County District Library is also a member of the Council of
Ashtabula County Libraries, which passed, in 1993, a levy to automate the eight individual
Ashtabula County libraries. The project to automate the Ashtabula and Geneva Libraries was
completed in Fall of 1996, and the County Bookmobile was automated in the Summer of 1997.
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