News

It’s been great hearing from many readers who tell us they’ve really been enjoying our special year-end blog, 90 Years . . . 90 Books, in which we’re taking a look at books by 90 Ohio authors that have been published since Ohioana was founded in 1929. So, since the magic number is 90 – our third entry will focus ... Read More

Thanks to everyone who responded so enthusiastically to our first 90 Years, 90 Books blog! So here we are, with the second entry in our list of 90 books by 90 Ohio authors that have been published since Ohioana was founded in 1929. As with our first list, some of these books and their authors may be unfamiliar, while others ... Read More

Each year for the past six years, we’ve done a series called 30 Days, 30 Books, in which we will feature one Ohioana Book Award finalist a day. It has become very popular with readers, who tell us how much they look forward to it every spring. So, to put a fitting epilogue to Ohioana’s 90th anniversary, we decided to ... Read More

The Ohioana Library Association was founded by Martha Kinney Cooper, First Lady of Ohio; the first book in Ohioana’s collection, History of the Western Reserve, was donated by its author, Harriet Taylor Upton; Ohioana’s first executive director was Florence Roberts Head, who helped Martha Cooper found the library. These are a few of the extraordinary women who are responsible for ... Read More

Fifty years ago this summer the course of history was changed forever. On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. This pivotal moment came after decades of preparation and planning and was a true feat of science and engineering – a remarkable achievement. The whole world watched on as the moment was ... Read More

Happy Halloween! Here in Ohio, we enjoy all things spooky. Did you know that Ohio is the state with the most annual haunted house attractions, with 111 in total? It seems that we love being scared, and that goes for our literature as well. If you’re looking for a good book to scare you on Halloween night, look no further. ... Read More

This year marks Ohioana’s 88th year in operation, and during that time Ohioana has had plenty of time to grow, adapt and, of course, collect literature from Ohio authors. Ohioana’s collection now includes more than 45,000 books, 10,000 pieces of sheet music, and approximately 20,000 biographical files on Ohio writers, musicians, and artists. The best news? Any of these items ... Read More

It’s here! Spring is here! On Monday, did you run outside and beat on the ground with a stick to tell the earth to wake up? And some daffodils were blooming on Monday. Did you pick one and eat it? No? *Whew!* Good move! They’re not edible! Although someone at Ohioana did indeed eat one and nothing bad happened. It was planted on top of ... Read More

March is a month when we remember fate and destiny. Or the lack of fate and destiny. Sometimes, things just happen. March 15 is famous for being the Ides of March, or the middle of the month. It’s the day that Julius Caesar was assassinated by members of his senate. It’s memorable to the English-speaking world because of William Shakespeare’s ... Read More

Black History Month was much shorter when it began in 1926: it was only a week long. The celebration was the brain child of historian and educator Carter G. Woodson, who spent quite a bit of his youth in Huntington, West Virginia – one of Ohio’s neighbors to the south. February was chosen since it’s also the month of Abraham ... Read More