Award-Winning Library
Columbus Metropolitan Library has long been recognized as a leader in library services. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded the library its highest honor, the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, in 2011. A year earlier, Library Journal named Columbus Metropolitan Library “Library of the Year” at a reception at the American Library Association Conference in Washington, D.C. The library first won the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award in 1978, then again in 1979, 1992, 1993 and in 2017 for the Great Libraries Create campaign that raised $21.5 million.
Columbus Metropolitan Library is also recognized for its stewardship of public funds. It routinely receives the Auditor of State Award with Distinction, and has been awarded the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for over 35 years.
The library’s commitment to inspirational architecture for its new libraries has resulted in numerous awards. Driving Park Branch (2015), Northside Branch (2018) and Main Library (2019) won the Columbus Landmarks Foundation’s James B. Recchie Design Award.
Johnathan Barnes Architecture and Design (Whitehall Branch, 2017) and Moody Nolan Inc. (Martin Luther King Branch, 2015) won American Institute of Architects (AIA) Merit Awards for their designs.
