Westside Messenger - April 23rd, 2023

PAGE 16 - GROVE CITY MESSENGER - April 23, 2023
www.columbusmessenger.com
SUMMER BLAST!
ELVIS
featuring
Mike Albert
and the Big E Band
Saturday
June 10, 2023
VILLA MILANO
1630 Schrock Rd. By Linda Dillman
Staff Writer
Dinner/Show Tickets $ 58.00
Tickets by Phone: 614-792-3135
THURSDAY, JUNE 8 TH @ 12:05 PM
CLIPPERS VS. LOUISVILLE BATS
Tickets are $6 RESERVED and $5 BLEACHER SEATING
LUNCH PROVIDED FOR FANS 60 AND OVER WITH TICKET PURCHASE
Make checks/money orders payable to Columbus Clippers and mail to:
Columbus Clippers Aenon: Spencer Harrison
330
Hunngton Park Lane, Columbus, OH 43215
Orders
can be emailed to sharrison@clippersbaseball.com
For cket quesons, call (614) 462­5250
Ticket orders must be received by the Clippers before June 1st, 2023
www.clippersbaseball.com
Visa • Mastercard • Discover
NO REFUNDS
Photo courtesy of the Columbus Metropolitan Library
The Columbus Metropolitan Library’s 150th birthday celebration featured a birthday
“cake” made of books.
Serving the community for 150 years
Little did the organizers of the first
Columbus Public Library–housed in a single
room in city hall in 1873–know their
efforts would blossom into the multibranch,
multi-programming Columbus
Metropolitan Library (CML) system of
today.
In March, CML celebrated its 150th
birthday from the Main Library to the
Hilltop, Canal Winchester, and beyond.
The architecturally rich Main Library,
located at 96 S. Grant Avenue in
Columbus, was built in 1907 through a
$200,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie and
expanded throughout the years, evolving
into the modern complex of today with a
newly renovated east plaza opened last
year.
In 1928, the Columbus City Council
appropriated $30,000 for the library to
build its first branches–Hilltop, Parsons,
Linden, and Clintonville.
“Our Hilltop branch just reopened in
2021 after a major transformation,” said
CML Library Media Specialist Ben
Zenitsky.
Today there are 22 branches, with the
newest one in Gahanna, which opened on
March 4. In 1950, bookmobile services
started throughout the central Ohio area
and the Martin Luther King branch was
the first in the nation in 1968 to be named
after the civil rights leader.
Computers were first put into service in
1977 and First Lady Barbara Bush helped
dedicate a Main Library expansion in
1991. The library system stopped charging
fines for overdue books and materials in
2017 to remove access barriers.
The 150 year celebration did not begin
and end last month. It continues throughout
the year at the Main Library and all its
branches, along with Partner Days with
free or discounted admission to events,
museums and musical events.
The Sesquicentennial Passport program
enables customers of all ages to pick up a
booklet at any CML location and complete
activities around the city to earn stamps
and prizes.
A new Columbus Book Festival takes
place at the Main Library and Topiary
Park July 15-16 and features national and
local authors, vendors and programs.
CML also offers a Culture Pass program
where cardholders can check out passes for
admission to Columbus Clippers Sunday
games, Museum of Art, Ballet Met,
Columbus Children’s Theatre, Symphony
Masterworks performances, Franklin Park
Conservatory, Ohio History Center and
Ohio Village, and the National Veterans
Memorial and Museum.
The library provides K-12 students with
free homework help through a live chat
feature on its website,
columbuslibrary.org. CML staff members
are available to directly respond to students’
questions and refer them to many
free resources. The digital service is available
Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.
through 4 p.m.
“From our humble beginnings in one
room to the profound gift from Andrew
Carnegie to build the main library, from
civic support that formed our first branches
to community support that builds 21st
century libraries, we owe much of our present
to the work of so many in our past,”
said CML CEO Patrick Losinski. “Today
we stand on the shoulders of dedicated
staff and community members who have
come before us–trailblazers who have
forged pathways for us to become the
library we are today, and the library we
aspire to be in the future.”