Celebrating 100 years of Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library

Join us in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Willoughby Library and the Willoughby-Eastlake Library system in 2009. The library system has grown from Willoughby Library in 1909, serving Willoughby Township, to four libraries, serving seven communities today.

The libraries began with 32 members of a circulating library society in 1871. Two years later, non-members were allowed to join by paying 5 cents per book per week to borrow. In 1906, the Society gave 1,400 books for a new association. When Andrew Carnegie donated $14,500 and the local citizens raised $5,575 for a library building, measuring 40 feet by 60 feet, to be built in the center of the village, it was the beginning of the Willoughby Library.

Two individuals became well-known librarians at Willoughby Library. Georgia Crobaugh served the library from 1911-1951. Electric or newly invented items were not her favorite things. Some believe her ghost haunts the library today. Dorothea Davis served the library until her retirement in 1979. She was a beloved librarian who owned a sheep farm and would bring her “lambies” for children’s programs. She even brought sick lambs to the library and kept them in the janitor’s closet.

Eastlake and Willowick Libraries had similar histories. Willoughby Library maintained station libraries in Eastlake and Willowick for about 30 years. In Willowick, the station was at Roosevelt School. As the demand for libraries grew, Eastlake Public Library was opened inside Eastlake Junior High School in 1956, and about two years later into a rented space on Lakeshore Blvd. Willowick Library moved into the former Willowick Golf Club on the north side of Lakeshore Blvd. To reach this library, the patrons and staff had to walk through a tunnel under Lakeshore Blvd.

A levy passage in 1959 allowed both Eastlake and Willowick Libraries to have new buildings constructed on Lakeshore Blvd. and
E. 305th St. Expansion of Willoughby Library occurred in 1964. Passage of a levy in 1990 allowed expansion of Willoughby, Eastlake, and Willowick Libraries.

Willoughby Hills Library, the newest in the WEPL system, opened in 2003. It was a second-generation library, since there was a library station established at Garfield School in 1985. There were three staff members, and it remained open until 1994. With the approval of a levy in 1999, the first steps toward a new library began. With the cooperation of the Willoughby-Eastlake Library and the City of Willoughby Hills, the library was located in the community center.

As the Willoughby-Eastlake Library celebrates its past, it is here to serve now and in the future.