Innovations
As the bookmobiles aged and became difficult to repair, the library began to experiment with new kinds of branches. Morse Road Branch, the precursor to the Karl Road Branch, opened on June 9, 1968. Instead of being a neighborhood branch, Morse Road was the first branch to test out the concept of an “area branch,” a larger branch serving a larger region of the city. It had a more complete reference collection than neighborhood branches, making it possible for customers to get all their resources and services there, without needing to go to Main Library. A moveable library, known as the Portable, was built for Gahanna in 1969, with the understanding that it could be moved to serve other regions where the bookmobile was no longer enough to meet demand. Permanent space for the Gahanna Branch became available at Gahanna’s new municipal complex in 1970, and the Portable was moved to Dublin in 1971. Bookmobile circulation declined steadily as customers began using these new branches instead.
In addition to new kinds of branches, ideas about how to better support communities were also developing. The Eastside Advisory Council was created to ensure that the new Eastside Branch would serve community needs. The council worked with the library and the architect, Leon Ransom, Jr., to get these needs addressed before the branch was built. This resulted in a Black Heritage Room and a large multipurpose space, among other recommendations – including a new name. At the groundbreaking, the Eastside Branch was renamed for Martin Luther King, Jr., making it the first public library in the nation to be named in his honor.
