Miss Mary McCann, Longtime Head Librarian of Sandusky Library

Mary McCann was a 1923 graduate of Sandusky High School, and served as the secretary-treasurer of her class. A verse next to her senior picture in the 1923 Fram read, “She was as tidy as a cherry blossom and her steady, frank , blue eyes looked out from the intrepid depths of an unshadowed soul.” Miss McCann was a graduate of the Western Reserve University, now known as Case Western Reserve University.

The Sandusky Star Journal of June 9, 1939 reported that Mary McCann had been appointed the Head Librarian of the Sandusky Library effective September 1, 1939. During her tenure, around1949, the library acquired a Bookmobile that took library books out to residents of Erie County who were not served by other libraries. The Bookmobile was in operation through the early 1970s.

During World War II, Miss McCann served as a Junior Hostess at the U.S.O. in Sandusky. For many years, she was often the featured speaker at Sandusky area clubs and civic organizations. Her professional accomplishments were recognized in several professional library periodicals, especially regarding the popular film showings at the Sandusky Library in the 1940s and 1950s. In the February 19, 1954 issue of the Sandusky Register Star News, Miss McCann stated that there had recently been a shift from reading for pleasure to reading for information. She said, “ The old idea of a library as a place where women and children got story books to read has gone out with ‘Silence’ signs. Nowadays people call for useful information, questions, how to make or do things, facts, technical books, and so on. However a good book, read for pleasure, is still the library’s greatest gift to its patrons.”

Miss McCann retired as Head Librarian of the Sandusky Library in 1976. On June 19, 1991, she passed away at the Huron Health Care Center. She was buried at Oakland Cemetery, near her parents, James and Lizzie (Kratz) McCann. Miss McCann had been one of the founding members of the Erie County Historical Society. She was a member of Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, the College Club, Women's Civic Club, the Harlequins, Ohio Library Association, North Central Arts Council, Sandusky Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Sandusky Business Women's Club.

Miss McCann is pictured below with several other Sandusky Library staff members in the 1940s.