History of the Library

History of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio
By Alan Hall, Director Emeritus

Library service began in Jefferson County, Ohio in 1815 with the establishment of the Steubenville Library Company in Michael 
Johnston's Drug Store on 3rd Street. The subscription library was open one day per month to those purchasing memberships.

In 1830, a young Edwin M. Stanton opened a circulating library in his home while serving an apprenticeship at the Turnbull 
Bookstore. Books were loaned for 10 cents per volume.

The City Library Association was formed in 1845 with 450 volumes and continued until it closed in 1857. Without continued 
funding and supervision, early subscription libraries came and went and interest waned.

The books from the Association were moved and added to the books of the school system and housed in the Scott Building on 
4th Street until the Odd Fellows Building was opened, and the library collection was moved there.

All of the collections were moved to the New City Hall at 3rd & Market Streets when it opened in 1884 in an upstairs room, then 
boxed for future use elsewhere.

Rev. Dr. A.M. Reid, the Superintendent of the Steubenville Female Seminary which operated from 1829-1899 and educated 
thousands of women over those years, wrote a letter to Mr. Andrew Carnegie regarding funding of a public library for 
Steubenville.

On June 30, 1899, a letter was received from Carnegie's Skibo Castle in Scotland recounting the two weeks that a young 
Carnegie spent in Steubenville in 1850 learning to run the telegraph. He also pledged $ 50,000 for a new public library if the 
town of Steubenville would provide the site and $ 4,000 per year for operations. Steubenville therefore became the first Ohio 
library to be funded by Carnegie, joined by East Liverpool and Sandusky.

The Pittsburgh architectural firm of Alden & Harlow was hired, and construction began on the site of the Estate of Joseph Sarratt 
at 4th & Slack Streets. Carnegie donated an additional $ 12,000 and the new Victorian-Romanesque building opened March 12,
1902. The design was similar to the Oakmont (PA) Library under design at the same time, and the building draws some design 
features from the 1888 Cambridge (MA) City Hall, also designed by Frank Alden.

Officially called the Carnegie Library of Steubenville, the building was a success but by the 1920s all Ohio libraries were having 
operational issues due to a lack of operating funds. In 1933, the new Intangibles Tax for public libraries in Ohio was approved 
and the State Library of Ohio studied library services to expand the availability to all Ohio citizens.

On January 1, 1936, the library was expanded to the Carnegie Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, with WPA fund used 
to establish countywide service through the use of branch libraries and Bookmobile Service.

The Main Library was renovated with expansions constructed in 1948, 1952, and 1963 as services were provided countywide. In 
1956, the original clay tile roof on the MainLibrary was replaced with a slate roof, and the deteriorated top-of-the-tower was
removed.

In 1962, the name "Carnegie" was changed to Public Library of Steubenville andJefferson County to recognize that tax monies 
were supporting the library system.

In 1987, the library system utilized Federal LSCA funds, donations, and a capital account to construct the Schiappa Branch 
Library. In 1990, additional Federal LSCA funds were used to construct a new Toronto Branch Library. A new building was 
constructed for the Dillonvale-Mt. Pleasant Branch Library, and renovations were performed at the branch libraries in Adena, 
Tiltonsville, and Brilliant in the following years.

A capital improvement fund was established to renovate the Carnegie Main Library to make the facility ADA-Compliant 
(Americans With a Disability Act) as it was the last Ohio public library to be inaccessible. In 2014 the architectural firm of 
Valentour, English, Bodnar & Howell of Pittsburgh was contracted to review the building and determine options to make it 
accessible to all.

Construction began on the $ 4.0 million project in 2017 with the Main Library closed for 18 months as the garage and annex 
were demolished and a new addition compliant to regulations of the National Register of Historic Places were followed in 
designing a new addition with a new entrance onto Slack Street. A community meeting room, new reference and computer room, 
a new Bookmobile service area and garage, and new children's library were added with a 2-story atrium connecting the 1902 
Carnegie building to the new building. The book stacks and audiovisual area were returned to the main floor of the Carnegie 
building with its restored marble floors. Administrative offices for the library system, and work areas for technical services for the 
system were located in the renovated lower level of the Carnegie building.

The State of Ohio repealed the Intangibles Tax in 1985, replacing it with the Public Library Fund which receives a percentage of 
the state general revenue fund, to fund the 251 Public Library Districts in Ohio. In 2010, the residents of Jefferson County 
supplemented the reduced state fund with a 1 mill local levy to fund operations of the Main Library, 6 Branches, and Bookmobile.

LIBRARY SYSTEM HEAD LIBRARIANS/DIRECTORS

CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE
1899-1935 (Opened March 12, 1902)

CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY 1936-1962  

PUBLIC LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY 1962

NOTES: Neidengard, Griffith, Kovalan, and Gray had worked at the library in other positions before their listing. Hall became Assistant
 Director from 09/01/2018 until 05/01/2019 to manage the Main Library renovation prior to retiring.

LIBRARY SYSTEM BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES

CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE
           Municipal District Library - City of Steubenville - 6 members
           Established October 1, 1899 - Mayor appoints Board Members

CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY
          Municipal District Library - City of Steubenville - 6 members
          [County Extension Center by the State Library of Ohio]
          Established January 1, 1936 - Mayor appoints Board Members

PUBLIC LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY
            [Name change only in 1962]

PUBLIC LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY
            [State Laws in 2012-2014 changed Municipal District Library to 7 members, and Service Area of Library System designated as 
           geographic boundary of Jefferson County, Ohio. Ohio Attorney General ruled that board members could be from "anyplace in Ohio"]

PUBLIC LIBRARY OF STEUBENVILLE AND JEFFERSON COUNTY
           By action of the State Library of Ohio as per Ohio Revised Code, acting on a Resolution from the Board of Library Trustees; the Library
           System was Converted to a County District Library with 7 members on the Board of Library Trustees, appointed by the Board of County
           Commissioners and the Judge Of the Court of Common Pleas as per Ohio Revised Code.  All terms of members of the Board of Library
           Trusteed ended to be appointed to sliding year terms as outlined in the Ohio Revised Code so that a board member would be appointed 
           each year after the 7 year transition.

*Died in office