Grafton-Midview Public Library

A Brief History of the Grafton-Midview Public Library

In the early half of the 1940s, Harriet Spitzer spearheaded efforts to organize a free public library to serve the Grafton area.  The Grafton-Midview Public Library was chartered as a school district library in 1944.  The library was first housed on the second floor of Grafton School on Elm Street, followed by a later move to the first floor of the school.  In 1971, the library relocated to a vacated bank building down the street and around the corner at 983 Main Street -- purchase price: $1.00!  In 1991, a new addition, with a renovation of the existing building, expanded the library's total square footage from 2,078 to 11,873.

The Grafton-Midview Public Library, one of seven independent public libraries in Lorain County, is located in the southeastern section of the county in northeastern Ohio.  Its service area includes approximately 24,000 residents in Grafton Village, Grafton Township, Eaton Township, and parts of Carlisle Township and Elyria.

The Grafton-Midview Public Library has been automated since 1991 with software from The Library Corporation (TLC).  In 1997, the library upgraded to TLC's Library.Solution application; the online public access catalog -- is available at the website.  The library's Internet service provider is OPLIN, the Ohio Public Library Information Network which provides Internet access via T-1 lines in over 250 public libraries/library systems in Ohio.