The Coshocton County Beacon September 30, 2021 | Page 46

46 • The Beacon September 30 , 2021

By Marianne Austin

The West Lafayette Branch Library will celebrate its 85th anniversary on Sunday , Oct . 10 , but the occasion was marked early with a special event .

Jennifer Austin , director of the Coshocton Public Library , which includes the West Lafayette Branch Library , thanked everyone for coming on a cold , rainy evening for a celebration of 85 years of service and recognized members of the library administration and board .

Shelley Batchelor , president of the library board , read and presented a proclamation to Austin from Sen . Jay Hottinger honoring the West Lafayette Branch Library on its anniversary , commending them for fostering education , culture and achievement by providing a variety of programs and services .

Boy Scout Troop 419 with Scoutmaster Jimmy Miller presented the colors , and Keeley Carter from Ridgewood High School choir sang

the national anthem . The choir sang “ Stories of my Life ” and performed “ Irish Blessing ” at the close of the evening .

Branch manager Andrea Smith organized the event . She has served the community at the library for 34 years .

“ Let ’ s take a trip down memory lane ,” she

said . “ The history of the library has been very rich . The library has always been on Main Street . It took the efforts of a committee of local citizens consisting of Mrs . Russell Berlean , Mrs . Josephine Carr , Mrs . R . L . Rehard and Harold Pence , along with many community service organizations and individual volunteers working together to provide the funds and services needed to supply books

and equipment for the library . Shelves and racks were built by the West Lafayette High School industrial arts class . The West Lafayette Branch opened Oct . 10 , 1936 , in a vacant basement room in the West Lafayette School building on Main Street behind where the Dairy Hut is now .

“ Mrs . Jerry Newman was the first librarian , followed by Mrs . Elmer Kobel , Mrs . Carl Hawk , Mrs . Harvey Buker , Mrs . Walker Babcock , Nellie Guilliams , Margaret Lowe , Linda Yoder , and presently Andrea Schweitzer Smith . Nellie Guilliams served as branch manager for 42 years , with a total of 64 years of library service .”

In August 1946 when the basement classroom was needed by the school , the library moved to a rented room on the south side of Main Street in the Rehard Building , located at 117 E . Main St . The branch library stayed in that location for 29 years . The branch collection in 1946 included 3,000 volumes .

In October 1975 the library was relocated

again to 108 E . Main St . At that time the library collection was increased to more than 7,000 books , and the library broadened its materials to include books on cassette and videocassettes . The building provided space for story time sessions , which were and are still quite popular with local children .

Jane Ann Eickleberry shared memories of when she worked at the library . “ When we were in the library , Glaziers barbershop was on the left . The library was on the right , and when you walked in , it was a long building in a bit of an L shape . At the time , where Ridgewood General Store is now was Deals clothing . The diner was next , and it is still there . Next , where the parking lot is was a

The West Lafayette Branch Library will celebrate its 85th anniversary on Sunday , Oct . 10 , but the occasion was marked early with a special event . grocery store . The rear building was the library , then a house and an alley . And when I was a child , I lived on Russell Avenue , so I was about a half a block away .

“ I spent my childhood walking up and down that alley to go to the library . I was thrilled when I got a chance to be a page at the library . Diane Regula was the page before me . We all started in the 1960s , and we all started out at 50 cents an hour . I was there through my high school years , graduated in 1973 , and went on to Kent and have a degree in library science and a master ’ s in library information science — after being there and working with Nellie , she is the heart and soul of the library .”

Debbie Sheets , a longstanding patron , supporter and retired educator , shared her memories . “ I remember going to the same library as Jane Ann . Being a little kid at that time , I can still visualize the books , and I read a lot in those days . When I went to college , they were getting ready to move the library across the street . When I was in high school , that building used to be a pizza shop across the street , and that is where we went to hang out and listen to music . When my dad told me they were going to move all the books over to the pizza shop and that was going to be the library , I just could hardly believe

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