Powell Liberty Historical Society

(This article is based on research done for the History Page of the Powell Liberty Historical Society’s Spring 2021 Newsletter)

Residents of Powell did not have an official library until 1993 when the Delaware County District Library opened a 5,500-square-foot branch on South Liberty Street. The population of Powell was about 2100 at that time. Many Letters to the Editor in 1990 urged voters to pass the $4.5 million bond issue, which also called for a branch in Ostrander and expansion of the downtown Delaware Library.

There was some delay in selecting the building site because the location on North Liberty Street that was first offered by the city, the land where Adventure Park was eventually developed, was deemed unacceptable as it was felt the new library needed to be visible from the street. Village officials then offered land in a 10-acre park on the east side of South Liberty Road north of the railroad tracks, and in 1991 the Delaware County Library Board signed a 99-year lease for $1 a year.

As an avid reader and a librarian, I was immediately attracted to this beautiful, inviting library when my husband and I moved to Powell in 2000. When I retired in 2008 after having worked at the Bexley Public Library for 25 years, I loved taking my granddaughters to story hours there and to the nearby park afterwards. I began volunteering with the Powell-Liberty Historical Society about 12 years ago and I learned that the Martin-Perry House was originally considered by Delaware County District Library officials as a possible location for a small library at one time, but that never came about. Today the Martin-Perry House has a Library/Research Room that houses many local histories, family genealogies, albums, school yearbooks, and memorabilia for our Society’s use and also for public viewing by appointment.

Powell residents have always had a strong love of books and learning. As early as 1905 Powell resident Rachel Sharp started a grassroots effort to establish a Reading Room on the second floor of her husband Peter’s mercantile business located on the northwest corner of Olentangy and Liberty Streets. It was “open to all persons well-meaning and well behaved” and Rachel recorded in her “Powell Reading Room” composition book the many small monetary donations, various furnishings for the room, and the titles of at least 55 donated books, mostly classics and history books. We don’t know how long the Reading Room lasted.

By 1921, the hardware store on the northeast corner of Olentangy and Liberty Streets was operated by Julian Sharp and son-in-law, Donald Canfield. I talked with lifelong Powell resident Marge Bennett, who is 96 now, and remembers that during World War II the hardware store had a couple of shelves of books which served as a small lending library. Owner Don Canfield would tell customers “Choose a book with a red cover as they are the best ones.”

A new Carnegie Library was built in Delaware in 1906 after beginning as a women’s reading club. It was one of only two Carnegie Libraries built in Ohio. Worthington had a school district library established by 1925, so libraries were available to Powell area residents if willing to travel.

Marge remembers her father getting a Worthington Library card and bringing home books, including comic books, for her to learn to read. Marge and her young cousins would choose books as Christmas presents for each other from the Sears Roebuck catalog but would quickly read the books before wrapping them. As she grew older, Marge was encouraged to read some of her parents’ books including those by naturalist author Gene Stratton-Porter and travelogues by Lowell Thomas and Richard Halliburton.

Books were treasures to be handed down from generation to generation. Marge showed me a book with an intriguing title “Ten Nights in a Bar-Room and What I Saw There" by T. S. Arthur, first published in 1854. The book had belonged to her uncle, Ross Gardner, and inscribed inside the cover was, “Ross - May 28, 1902.” The book was highly regarded as an early advocate of temperance.

Incidentally, Ross Gardner’s grandfather and Marge’s great grandfather, Jonathan T. Gardner, once owned the land where the current Powell Library stands. In 1878, he deeded two small lots for the right-of-way to the Toledo and Columbus Railroad.

Marge helped her own children become early readers by buying them several Little Golden Books and the Childcraft How and Why Library, a 15-volume encyclopedia set for young people. The Delaware County Library bookmobile made stops at the Powell School when Marge’s daughter, Sherry, went to grade school there.

Marge would invite the Bookmobile staff to park at her house near the school afterwards for a lunch break so that Marge could have use of the Bookmobile, too! Sherry’s fifth grade teacher Mrs. Rice also started a classroom library by having her students bake goods for bake sales to earn money. Then she took her pupils to a bookstore in downtown Columbus to buy their favorite books with the proceeds, thus starting the first classroom library.

Bookmobile stops were also enjoyed by students at other area schools including Hyatts. After 1952 when the four area schools were consolidated and the central Olentangy Schools complex was built on Shanahan Road, the bookmobile stopped there until the elementary, middle, and high schools started their own libraries.

In 1986 before the Powell Branch Library was built, the Delaware County Bookmobile made a two hour visit once a month at the Powell United Methodist Church.

The opening of the Powell Library Branch in 1993 was a dream come true for residents of all ages. Childrens story-hours were especially popular with all the young families moving into the area because of the good Olentangy Schools. As Powell’s population grew the need for another library in the northern part of Liberty Township became apparent. By 2000, Powell had obtained city status, and by 2018, Powell’s population reached 13,309. That year voters approved a 15-year renewal of the district's 1-mill levy in 2018. Groundbreaking occurred in November 2020 at the northwest corner of Home and Steitz Roads for a new three-story 42,000 square feet library, the second location to serve the needs of Powell, Liberty Township, and Concord Township. The Liberty Library Branch formally opened in March 26, 2023. DCLC board president Michael Butler had said of the planned library “We’re going to be the showcase in Ohio.” Visitors have been amazed at all the forward-looking features of the new Liberty Library including a maker studio.

Local libraries and the services they offer have definitely changed over the years, from quiet reading rooms to media-filled community centers, but the primary objective of fostering life-long learning remains the same.