The Putnam County District Library Columbus Grove Location

317 N. Main St.

Columbus Grove, Ohio 45830

419-659-2355

Mon. 2-8, Tues. 9-6, Thurs. 9-6, Sat. 9-3

A Short History of The Putnam County District Library Columbus Grove Location

The first mention of library service to the Columbus Grove area was a book service that was started in the schools in 1936.  The Columbus Grove Library started as a substation in the township building on West Sycamore Street.  Books were taken from the main library to the substation twice a month.  The substation was open 2 days a week for a total of 12 hours and run by the National Youth Association (NYA).

In August of 1940 the branch was closed because the NYA was disbanded.  However, in September that year, Herbert Jones agreed to keep the books in the Grove Dry Cleaning Store on High Street.  The books then moved to the Girl Scout Headquarters located in the upstairs of the Maple Building.  In 1953 the library moved downstairs and used a room donated by the Columbus Grove Council.  Lastly, the library leased a 27x80 foot room from Baer's Shoe Store (it formerly held a pool hall) and an open house was held January 1965.

In September 1972, the branch moved to the building formerly housing the Northwest Fuel Injection Company located on Sycamore Street and celebrated with an open house on the 24th.

The Columbus Grove Council proposed including the library facilities in their new Community Building that would also house the EMS building.  They started moving into this new facility December 22, 1978 with an open house held April 29, 1979 and the branch still resides there today.

Funding for the Columbus Grove Library is provided from the operating budget of the Putnam County District Library.