Medina County District Library reflects on 2025, digitizing Medina County history with grant funds

MEDINA — Medina County District Library is working alongside local historical societies to create digitization plans through the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant funding. The library was awarded $100,000 through the institue's National Leadership Grant for Libraries for 2025, which was noted in the Medina County District Library's 2025 annual report. Medina County District Library Executive Director Julianne Bedel said the grant funding is dedicated to preserving Medina County's history by having library staff work with local historical societies to inventory collections and develop digitization plans. The grant also supports the Medina County District Library's expansion of its digital lab with equipment to help initiate the historical societies' digitization plans, the annual report states. "The library is just to be a support and a partner organization to make sure they've got plans for maintaining those materials," Bedel said. All collections scanned through the grant program will be available to the public through the Medina County Memory Project. Bedel noted that Family History and Learning Center Manager Lauren Kuntzman has worked closely with the historical societies and has been integral to the project. The Medina County District Library's 2025 annual report states that the Family History and Learning Center added a full-time librarian position to accommodate demand. Additionally, the staff expanded digital resources by publishing five new collections, which contain more than 2,000 images, along with digitizing 41 yearbooks and adding 706 pages of historical newspapers. In 2025, about 3 million items were checked out from the Medina County District Library. Of the checkouts, 59 percent were physical items compared to 41 percent of e-media items. In 2024, the Medina County District Library reported that 37 percent of its checkouts were e-media. In 2019, only 14 percent of its checkouts were e-media. The Medina County District Library issued 8,602 new library cards in 2025, as compared to 2024's 7,528 new library cards. The library also issued 2,272 new e-cards in 2025, as compared to 2024's 2,153 new e-cards. In other news, residents throughout Ohio share support for public libraries, according to a poll conducted in January. The Ohio Library Council and Ohio Township Association recently conducted a poll to better understand state residents' public opinions. According to the poll results, 90 percent of Ohioans say public libraries are important to the community, and 87 percent believe they get their money's worth in services from their local libraries for the taxes paid. Bedel said that it's one thing to hear positive remarks from Medina County District Library's patrons, but it's another to hear that from those who chose to participate in the poll research. "To hear that from our voters was frankly, going along with what we see with our usage patterns and feedback that we hear from our local folks here in Medina County," Bedel said. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.