Clark County Public Library - Main Branch

History: 

The Clark County Public Library had its first real beginnings around the year 1841 with what was then known as the Springfield Lyceum. Various short-lived Library Associations followed and the library found a more permanent home on the second floor of Black's Opera House. The library housed 3,300 volumes when it opened to the public at this location in 1872. As patronage and the collection expanded, the need for yet another move set in and the library relocated in 1877 to the second floor of the Union Hall Building, which was situated on what is today Fountain Avenue.

Local entrepreneur Benjamin Warder gave the library a new location on the south-west corner of East High and South Spring Streets in 1890 with a building constructed in memory of his parents, and dedicated to the people of Springfield. This location now houses the Warder Literacy Center. Library service continued to expand and grow at this new location. The year 1936 saw the first Bookmobile service to the area, with a homemade trailer that could carry 500 books. The 1950's and 1960's brought about the expansion of the library in the form of branches at Park Shopping Center, Southern Village Shopping Center, and in the villages of Enon and South Charleston

The Main library moved to its new state-of-the-art facility on Fountain Avenue in 1989. Since moving to this new location, the breadth of our services and programs has increased to better serve the needs of the community. Our two bookmobiles cover 41 community stops, 7 schools, 14 daycare centers and 5 Head Start Programs. This is in addition to the 5 library locations throughout Clark County. This broad spectrum of locations allows our materials and services to be more accessible to all Clark County residents. We circulated over 1 million items from our collection. The Clark County Public Library offers many cultural and educational programs throughout the year at all of our branches. The Speaker Series brings national and regional authors, artists and lecturers to Springfield. Past participants include Maya Angelou, Dave Barry, Mary Higgins Clark, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Elie Wiesel. Our annual Summer Reading Program is always a big hit with the kids and the annual Film Festival and the Adult Reading Discussion Group are equally popular programs. We also offer Internet and genealogy "how to" classes throughout the year. For all of your resource needs the Clark County Public Library is "The Information Place."