Lorain Public Library - North Ridgeville Branch

History :

Lorain Public Library first began delivering service in North Ridgeville with its bookmobile in 1939. In 1958, the first North Ridgeville Branch Library was opened in a storefront in the Tran Building on Avon-Belden Road.

As the town and the library usage grew, the storefront building became over-crowded, and the branch was moved to the Old Town Hall on Center Ridge Road in September 1977. This 1,800 square foot city-owned building was provided rent-free by the City for twelve years. Once again, the library building became overcrowded as the city's population grew, and as public libraries began to offer a variety of new services and materials.

In 1988, the Lorain Public Library Trustees explored a variety of sites to relocate the branch, and the site at 6401 Jaycox Road was selected - a 5,000 square foot former bank building. The library was moved from the Old Town Hall to its new facility in September 1989.

In 1998, a Citizen Task Force was formed to decide the future of the branch library that had now completely outgrown the facility on Jaycox Road. The Citizen Task Force worked with an architect and decided that a new facility should be built. Thanks to the community's support of an operating levy in November 1999 and the donation of land by the City of North Ridgeville, a 27,500 square foot building was constructed at 35700 Bainbridge Road. This $4.7 million building project was funded through the Library and Local Government Support Fund (LLGSF), borrowed funds using LLGSF tax anticipation notes, and the ability to set aside funds thanks to the passage of a levy by the citizens of North Ridgeville. Grand opening of the new building was May 4, 2003.

In August 2004, voters again passed a levy to support the operation of their branch library. This money supplements library support received through the Library and Local Government Support Fund (LLGSF) provided from the state income tax.