Medina County District Library history

1933 - The Franklin Sylvester Library voted to extend the borrowing privileges to all Medina County residents, excluding Wadsworth, which already had a library.

1947 - In December, the County Budget Commission approved $9,300 for the purchase of a bookmobile to serve the county’s rural areas.

1948 - The bookmobile was debuted at the County Fair and began servicing outlying areas.

1950 - Local organizations in Lodi started working on a campaign to have their own library.

1958 - A second bookmobile was acquired.

1960 - The Friends of the Brunswick Library was incorporated and raised money to open a small library on Pearl Road.

1961 - The Seville Community Library was established.

1964 - The Friends of the Hinckley Library formed to start a library-building fund.

1965 - The Brunswick Library moved to the Brunswick Shopping Center under the bowling alley.

The Lodi Library moved into its new quarters in April of 1966.

1972 - A 5-year levy passed by Medina residents allowed for expansion of the Medina library.

1974 - The Friends of the Hinckley Library leased the Stouffer homestead on the corner of Routes 3 and 303.

The Hinckley Library opened in 1975.

1976 - The former Elliott Funeral Home was purchased by the Friends of the Lodi Library and the Medina Library Board.

The Lodi Community Library moved to its new facility in 1977.

1979 - Land on Center Road was donated and voters approved a bond issue to finance construction of a new Brunswick Library.

1980 - The 20,500-square foot Brunswick Library opened in December, with 70,000 volumes.

1985 - Irene Welday bequeathed $100,000 to build an addition on the Seville Library.

1986 - The Irene Welday wing of the Seville Library was opened.

1987 - Voters in Medina County passed an operating levy.

1988 - The Lodi Library building was remodeled in with money from the Mary Still Trust and donations form the Friends of the Lodi Library.

1992 - An operating levy passed and allowed for expanded hours of operation, increased staffing, expanded services, enlarging the collections and renovations at all locations.

1996 - The library debuted its first website on 47 new personal computers offering full Internet access to its patrons.

1997 - An Intellectual Freedom challenge ended with a victory at the polls when MCDL’s 10 year levy was renewed.

2003 - The MCDL bond issue passed allowing for construction and expansion of libraries in Medina County.

2004 - The Hinckley Library opened in a new location at 1315 Ridge Road.

2005 - The current Bookmobile hit the road.

2006 - The Lodi Library moved its current location at 635 Wooster Street in February.

2007 - The expanded and renovated Brunswick Library opened in September.

2008 - The renovated and expanded Medina Library was opened in January.

2009 - State of Ohio reduced funding to all public libraries in Ohio.

2011 - In November it was discovered that the new Lodi Library had major structural issues causing MCDL to temporarily close down the branch and re-assign staff.

The branch reopened in their meeting room in 2012, while the investigation continued to discover the cause of the structural deficiencies.

2013 – The Lodi Library moved temporarily into the Lodi Outlet location while reconstruction began on the permanent location.

2014 - The Lodi library moves back into the “new” repaired building.

2016 – The library is notified that they are the recipients of the Virginia Wheeler Martin genealogy collection and the funds to build a new genealogy room.

2018 - A manager is hired to oversee the construction of the Virginia Wheeler Martin collection and the Family History & Learning Center.

The Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History & Learning Center at Medina Library opened in December 2019 thanks to a $2.5 million donation from namesake and former Medina resident, Virginia Wheeler Martin.

2020 – In response to the COVID pandemic, MCDL closes its doors on March 14.