The Louisville Public Library is located in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, United States. The

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

serves the residents of Nimishillen Township and the city of Louisville. Since October 1969, the library has been located at 700 Lincoln Avenue.

History

The Louisville Public Library was founded in 1935 as part of the former Louisville Middle School, at first operating only within school hours and closed during the summer. After the library's collection outgrew the middle school space and a former home, the library moved to its building at 700 Lincoln Avenue in 1969. Since then, the library has grown its collection to include audiovisual materials and

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s. In December 2021, the library was able to set up a hot spot program through a grant they received. It was to give hot spots for internet to those adults and children who are in school. As of January 2022 the library has 200 hot spots and is looking for funding to keep the program running.

Services

The Library offers a free summer reading program to all patrons, consisting of challenges and awards for reading during the summer. During the week, the Library has a video gaming session, a

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

-based learning and craft course, summer camps such as the

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-funded Rocket Girlz. Additionally, adult-themed programs are offered to patrons, with a food-themed book club and chair yoga on a monthly or weekly basis. The library offers e-cards for use in ordering materials online or for reserving other digital materials. Through the online consortium

SearchOhio SearchOhio is a consortium of public libraries in the state of Ohio that provides borrowing access to more than 10 million library items, including books, movies and music, providing easy access to information and rapid delivery of library material ...

, the Library participates in a collection of about 49.5 million books and materials.

Sensory Space

The Louisville Public Library opened the U.S.’ first free public Sensory Space in October 2018. The Sensory Space, named the Discovery Center, provides patrons with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

a means to learn and play with interactive sound boards and a projected image touch mat. For under-stimulated children an interactive balance beam and a colorful mirror. To stimulate sound awareness a sound bed is connected to the audio system.

Library Lab Makerspace

Following a trend among public libraries, the Louisville Public Library has a

Makerspace A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, sci ...

with

3D printers 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

, a laser wood engraving machine, and other equipment for patrons to create their own designs for personal or business use. The Makerspace assesses charges based on costs of materials needed for the design. Lastly, an embroidering machine is available for use in any craft.

References

External links

Louisville Public Library Website
{{authority control Public libraries in Ohio Buildings and structures in Stark County, Ohio Education in Stark County, Ohio