# Wagnalls Memorial Library

Wagnalls Memorial Library is an American public library in Lithopolis, Ohio. Dedicated by Mabel Wagnalls Jones in the memory of her parents, Adam and Anna Willis Wagnalls, who were both born in Lithopolis, Mabel gifted it to the perpetual use of the people of Lithopolis and Bloom Township, Fairfield County, Ohio.

## History

Adam Willis Wagnalls never forgot the modest village and the humble home of his childhood in Lithopolis. It was his desire to build here a memorial there that might testify to the people of this city his interest in their welfare and his desire to afford to others opportunities for education and culture that he did not have in his childhood. The building was approaching completion at the time of his death in September 1924. In this work, he had the sympathy and assistance of his daughter, Mabel Wagnalls Jones.
Completed in 1925, Mabel dedicated the building to her parents, Adam and Anna Willis Wagnalls, who were both born in Lithopolis. The building and its contents were gifted to the perpetual use of the people of Lithopolis and Bloom Township, Fairfield County. It was free from all encumbrances. An ample endowment provided for its perpetual maintenance. It imposes no financial obligation upon the local community or the state.
In the 1920s, Bloom Township school officials eliminated reading of the prescribed pupils' reading circle books from the course because of the great abundance of children's books that the library furnishes. The educational influence was evidenced in the growing ease and familiarity with which students made their selections, observed the rules in their behavior, and adapted themselves to the regulations of a well-ordered library.

## Architecture and fittings

The building was designed by Ray Simms. It is of Tudor-Gothic architecture, constructed of native Lithopolis freestone. The cost was US$500,000.
Initially, the library held 10,000 volumes with shelving space for about 20,000 volumes. Life-size paintings of Anna and Adam Wagnalls were hung on the walls. Massive oak tables, comfortable chairs, restful furnishings and artistic decorations are part of the reading room.
The tower contains paintings, valuable manuscripts, and autograph letters from people eminent in various fields of activity. The collection of O. Henry letters, reproduced in Letters to Lithopolis, from O. Henry to Mabel Wagnalls, are permanently preserved there. The manuscript collection left by Mr. Wagnalls is also permanently preserved in the tower. The four walls of the Edwin Markham room are covered with framed manuscripts of him. Another room in the tower honors John Ward Dunsmore.
Memorial Hall has a seating capacity of 500 chairs. The massive oak-beamed ceilings, mellow-toned walls, and lit interior provide a setting for the stage. The rostrum is high, overlooking the organ console, with a large Welte Philharmonic reproducing pipe organ. The proscenium arch is a work of stucco, resembling carved oak. Curtains, floor covering, and walls are in brown and tan. The reproducing grand piano occupies the central right side, with antique furnishings to complete the setting. On the rear wall Mozart at the piano, a painting by Dunsmore, is flanked on either side by tall torchieres. The Welte-Mignon reproducing piano either plays or responds to the touch.
A film projection room is in the rear of the hall. The basement floor is large social room, equipped with tables, chairs, dishes, kitchen and accessories for the holding of community social meetings.