In the heart of the City of Defiance, Ohio, the Defiance Public Library stands at the western edge of Old Fort Defiance Park, overlooking the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the architecturally distinctive Defiance Public Library has been a beloved fixture of the Defiance community since its opening in 1905. It is also one of over a hundred public libraries in Ohio that were built with funds provided by a grant from the wealthy Gilded Age industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who was a fervent believer in the necessity of public libraries to an informed American citizenry. Though he is a controversial figure today, Carnegie’s philanthropy – which by 1917 had funded the building of over 1600 public libraries across America – was foundational to the development of the renowned public library system we enjoy today in the United States. In this episode of Storied Ground, we’re paying a visit to the Defiance Public Library to discover what the unique history and architecture of one Carnegie library in a rural Northwest Ohio community can tell us about the wider legacy of Carnegie libraries in America, with guests Dr. Abigail Van Slyck, Dayton Professor Emeritus of Art History at Connecticut College; Cara Potter, Director of the Defiance Public Library System; Taryn Lawson, Communications Coordinator at the Defiance Public Library System; and Mike McCann, Mayor of the City of Defiance.

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