Community Support and Consolidation
Neighborhood branches were still being added in the 1970s, including Driving Park and South High, but financial constraints delayed or prevented many needed branches. One potential branch in the Noe Bixby area was greatly desired by a quickly growing community and had support from library leadership, but there wasn’t enough in shrinking and contested state funds to make it happen. Many existing branches in leased buildings were threatened with closure by the mid-1970s, including Hilltonia, Hilliard, Franklinton, Shepard and Northside, despite great community use and outcry. Increased rents and longer lease terms made it difficult for the library to keep and maintain these existing branches and the library began to move towards ownership of their branch buildings. Grant funding, community support and the library’s first levy ensured the survival of these branches.
After a 1986 levy was approved by voters, some neighborhood libraries were consolidated and combined into larger regional libraries. Clintonville Branch, one of the original four branches, was combined with Beechwold Branch in 1988 to make the new Whetstone Branch. Other smaller branches were combined too, including Hilltop with Hilltonia, and Reynoldsburg with Channingway. As Columbus grew outwards, Morse Road, which started the trend towards larger branch libraries, needed to be replaced with a larger building, and was moved to Karl Road in 1988. In 1991, Southeast became the first new branch since 1974.
