History of the Highland Branch Library The Friends of the Hinckley Library formed in February of 1964 to start a library building fund. The Friends convinced the library board that their community needed a library, and a room in the town hall was offered as the first Hinckley library. Many volunteers helped outfit the room. It opened in March of 1965 with 4000 books on the shelves.
The first librarian was Barbara Thomas. Town Hall was the library's home for nearly ten years. In 1974 the Friends leased, for $1 a year, the old Stouffer homestead (originally owned by the grandparents of the late Vernon Stouffer, founder of the hotel and food corporation) on the corner of Routes 3 and 303. Community businesses and organizations took on the large project of renovating one of the oldest homes in Hinckley , supplying materials and volunteer labor for scraping, sanding, patching, and painting. The 'new' library opened in 1975.
While located in the Stouffer house, the Hinckley Library was reportedly home to more than just books. The legend goes that a young woman in a blue dress was often observed through a library window after hours when the building was locked tight. A man in a hat was also reportedly seen peering through the bars of the stairway when there were no men in the library. The stories were published in Haunted Ohio III and featured on News Channel 5.
In November 2003 the Stouffer house location closed due to deteriorating conditions of the building. For several months library service continued through Bookmobile stops and programming held at Hinckley , Sharon and Granger town halls. In May 2004 the Hinckley Library re-opened in a new location at 1315 Ridge Road , Hinckley. In February of 2008, the Hinckley library closed in preparation to move to the new Highland branch building. The new Highland branch library opened in March of 2008.
The Highland Library is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.. and , Fridays and Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Highland Library is not affiliated with AmericanTowns Media
