Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Warren Public Library Director Kelli Knapp points out one of the historic photos included in an exhibition currently on display at the Wetmore Gallery that details the 150-year history of the library.

The challenge of capturing 150 years of history in one exhibition is a daunting one.

But that’s exactly what the Warren Public Library was able to accomplish with an exhibition that will be on display through Nov. 18.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Warren Public Library.

“We knew it was important to tell a story,” Julie Miller, communication and outreach librarian, said. “While we’ve picked Oct. 16, 1873, (a library) had been in the works since the 1830s.”

The exhibition is the result of hours and hours of work by Miller, Reference Librarian Jenn Knisley and volunteer Kitty Hagberg.

“(They) did a phenomenal job with it,” Library Director Kelli Knapp said.

The effort started back in January and has culminated in the Library’s first exhibit in the Wetmore Gallery since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Miller said she was “thankful libraries are good keepers of records. It’s been interesting for us to piece things together.”

What we now know as the Warren Public Library was initially located at the Struthers Library Theatre, a gift to the community from Thomas Struthers.

The current library building, which has been expanded and rehabilitated over the years, dates to 1916. It was designed by Warren and Wetmore, the same firm that designed the Grand Central Station Terminal in New York City.

The process of pulling together a vast amount of material for a presentation like this brought some surprises and some things that just stood out.

For Knisley, that included photos of the original 1916 entrance to the Library, something she had been unable to picture today.

She also explained that the Library published its own newspaper for a time – the Warren Library Loan Daily.

That publication looks – by design – much like the Warren Mail which was the dominant paper in the community in the second half of the 19th century.

Miller said the process uncovered a few envelopes of photos that appear to have been taken for the newspaper.

“It’s always interesting to go back” she said, and look at “how they were.”

The exhibit brings library history to the current day and Miller pointed out the drastic differences in fashion, hair styles and computers that are evident from the 1980s and 1990s to today.

Knapp highlighted how the library became involved in World War I and World War II by sending books to the soldiers.

Miller added that the library thrived during the Great Depression.

There were “hundreds a day in here, hearing newspapers (and) books on job skills. And it was free.”

The exhibition also highlights historic challenges in library funding.

Knapp said state funding was cut by at least 30 percent in the early 2000s and, while the commissioners have increased what the county contributes in recent years, the Library still receives less from the county than it did in the 1970s.

Many special books and items have been incorporated into the exhibition, as well as some displays that are “touch-friendly.” That includes a shovel used to break ground on work in 1984 that Hagberg purchased somewhere else and brought back to Warren.

The process of assembling the exhibition has also shed light on a gap in the archive that could spur an additional project.

“We have all these great photos up to 2000,” Miller said.

From 2020 on? All the photos are digital. “We don’t have physical photos,” she added.

Knapp said there’s discussion about “putting some focus on getting printed photos” from 2000 onward as a way to ensure there’s continuity in the archive.

The exhibition is dedicated in the memory of Barb Tubbs, who worked at the Library for over 50 years and passed away in 2021.

“She was very big on doing shows in the Gallery,” Miller said, stressing that this is a way to honor her. “(We) miss her a lot,” she said.

The exhibition is open through Nov. 18 whenever the Library is open – 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.