The year was 1830.
Andrew Jackson was president of the United States.
The Oregon Trail was just starting to be used to expand settlement to the west coast.
And the first discussion took place in Warren County about starting a library.
As part of the library board's education, the current board of Warren Public Library listened to Director Patty Sherbondy, who shared the history of the library during last Monday afternoon's meeting.
It all started in 1830 when members of families with local prominence such as Wetmore, Struthers, Scofield and Hazeltine discussed its formation and drafted a constitution a year later. The same constitution 182 years old and hand-written is still the constitution of the library.
But it took some time to get the concept off the ground.
In 1842, the Warren Academy started the collection and eventually morphed into the first library, which was opened in 1872 at the YMCA.
The current Warren Library Association entered the scene one year later in 1873. Sherbondy said that the library was incorporated in December of that year and the incorporation is considered the "official birthday of the library."
In 1873, the library could by found on the second floor of the Carnahan building with Dr. Hazeltine as the librarian.
Shortly thereafter, the Struthers family donated land, where the Struthers Library Theatre sits, to build a library and a theatre - which was originally intended provide financial support and raise money for the library.
Sherbondy said that the arrangement didn't work from a financial perspective, but "was ahead of its time."
When the library was at the Struthers, it was located on the second floor. Space eventually became a problem, and the library moved to its current location in June 1916 on land donated by the Jefferson and Wetmore families.
To celebrate the journey, the library board discussed ways to celebrate the association's 140th birthday, which will be next year.
"Next year is a big year for the Warren Library," Sherbondy said, explaining that the birthday could be celebrated at the annual meeting on Dec. 11, the day in 1873 when the library was incorporated by the Court of Common Pleas.
"Kick it off early...(hold a) big event on the birthday" board member and Warren County Commissioner John Eggleston said.
Plans for the celebration will be developed over the next several months.