News

Announcing the 2024 Ohioana Book Festival Authors and Illustrators! We’re back! Yes, the Ohioana Book Festival will once again be LIVE and IN PERSON this April . . . and you’re invited!  Join us as we present our 18th annual celebration of Ohio books, authors, and illustrators at the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Main Library on Saturday, April 20, from 10:30 a.m. ... Read More

This historic photograph was taken on December 29, 1930, in what was then the Governor’s Mansion in Columbus. It shows Ohio First Lady Martha Kinney Cooper a year after she founded the Ohioana Library in October 1929. Her vision: to create a special library dedicated to collecting, preserving, and celebrating books by Ohio authors and about Ohio subjects. The 350 ... Read More

Ohioana Library is pleased to announce the finalists for the 82nd annual Ohioana Book Awards. First given in 1942, the awards are the second-oldest state literary prizes in the nation and honor outstanding works by Ohio authors and illustrators in five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature, and Juvenile Literature. The sixth category, About Ohio or an Ohioan, ... Read More

The Ohioana Library is pleased to announce the finalists for the 81st annual Ohioana Book Awards. First given in 1942, the awards are the second-oldest state literary prizes in the nation and honor outstanding works by Ohio authors and illustrators in five categories: Fiction, Poetry, Juvenile Literature, Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature, and Nonfiction. The sixth category, About Ohio or an ... Read More

For the virtual 2021 Ohioana Book Festival, we partnered with illustrator and paper engineer Merrill Rainey to create a fun contest for kids featuring his two books, Color, Cut, Create – Dinosaur World and Horse Ranch. The contest kick-off took place during the virtual festival weekend and included a live discussion and Q&A with Merrill. (There’s still time to join ... Read More

The passing of Toni Morrison in August 2019 at the age of 88 opened a floodgate of tributes from around the world. The native of Lorain, Ohio, had climbed heights no other American writer of the past half-century had achieved, winning every major award from the Pulitzer Prize to the Presidential Medal of Freedom and, in 1993, the Nobel Prize ... Read More

The 14th annual (and 1st virtual) Ohioana Book Festival is now history! Thank you to everyone who played a part in making it happen: our sponsors, especially Presenting Sponsor, Ohio Humanities; major sponsors the Greater Columbus Arts Council, The Reinberger Foundation, Honda of America, Mfg. Co., Inc., the Tom E. Dailey Foundation Inc., the State Library of Ohio and the ... Read More

The Ohioana Library Association is excited to announce a new program that will connect readers and Ohio writers and shine the spotlight on Ohio’s unique role in shaping culture and literature worldwide – the Ohio Literary Trail! Ohioana compiled the trail map with more than 70 sites across the Buckeye state, paying tribute to the authors, poets, illustrators, libraries, and ... Read More

It’s that time of year again! The Ohioana Library is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 Ohioana Awards. Each year, juried awards are given to books in six categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, About Ohio/Ohioan, Middle Grade/Young Adult Literature, and Juvenile Literature. Fans have the opportunity to make their voices heard by selecting the Readers’ Choice Book Award from ... Read More

Earlier this spring, we announced postponement of the 2020 Ohioana Book Festival from April 25 to August 29, in the hopes that the COVID-19 crisis would be in the process of passing and it would be safe to meet in large groups once again. Unfortunately, as we’re sure you are all aware, this has proven to be an unprecedented, and ... Read More