Avon Branch Library

History:

Avon's first library service was a bookmobile stop provided by the Lorain Public Library System. The community eventually wanted a more permanent location. The Avon Friends of the Library worked with the Lorain Public Library System administration to help raise money to renovate the Old Town Hall building in Avon to use as a library. (The building still stands today at the corner of Stoney Ridge and Detroit Road. It now houses the Avon Historical Society.)

The Avon Branch Library was opened in the Old Town Hall building in 1956. During that time, the library was opened three days a week - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for a total of 20 hours a week. The branch closed each day for an hour lunch or dinner break.

In a few years, the Old Town Hall location became too cramped to hold the library's collection and perform all the library's activities. In 1962, the Avon Branch Library opened an extra day each week, on Mondays, to be open 26 hours a week. Soon the Friends of the Avon Library and the Lorain Public Library System administration began to look for a new site. A new location was found in the plaza behind Pappo's Pizza on Detroit Road. It took three years, but in 1968 the "new" library was ready. This location served the Avon community for the next 10 years, but once again the Avon Branch Library's quarters became too cramped. In 1983, the Lorain Public Library System then rented space for a larger Avon Library Branch from Vasu Communication on Ridgeland Drive. The Ridgeland location had 3,800 square footage and was remodeled to function as a library.

In 1991, a community group began to look for a permanent Avon Branch Library location that the community would own. The current property on Harvest Drive was considered along with other locations in the city. A citizen's committee and the Lorain Public Library System administration decided that the Harvest Drive location was the most central location for a new library building for Avon.

On June 13, 1994, the staff opened the new Avon Branch Library doors to serve the community in a 10,400 square foot location. The branch is now open seven days a week during the school year to provide a total of 59 hours a week of library service for the community. The new Avon Branch Library has a spacious room available for library programs and community group meetings.

The Avon community has been very supportive of library services. The citizens have passed operating levies in 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006. This money supplements library support received through the Library and Local Government Support Fund (LLGSF) provided from the state income tax. The local operating levy helps the library to provide the staff, materials, and technology that support the Avon Branch.