Merlin Wolcott, Library Director in Several Ohio Libraries

Merlin Wolcott in the 1950 BGSU Key

Merlin Wolcott was a son of Melvin and Adelia Wolcott. He and his twin sister Merriam Wolcott Washburn were born in 1920; they grew up on Shelby Street in Sandusky. As a youngster, Merlin was a frequent patron of the Sandusky Library, and worked one summer at the library during his college years. 

After earning a library degree at Kent State University, Mr. Wolcott went on to become the director of several Ohio libraries including Elyria, Avon Lake, and Canton. As part of his requirements for the degree of Master of Arts from Kent State University, he wrote a thesis titled The History and Development of the Sandusky Library Association, Sandusky, Ohio in 1953. A bound copy is on file at the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

The thesis covered the history, growth and development of the Sandusky Library from its earliest years to the early 1950s. In the publication, he pointed out that the Sandusky Library, which opened on July 3, 1901, looked similar to a medieval castle. He stated that the library represented the ultimate ideal of the “university of the common man.”  Mr. Wolcott also discusses the earliest libraries in Sandusky, including the Portland Library Association and the Lyceum from the 1820s, and the Philomathesian Society that grew out of the Young Men’s Debating Association in 1840. He went on to cover the Ladies Library Association that met in 1870 for the purpose of forming a library association, and the Library Association of Sandusky which was incorporated in 1895.  In 1896 the Ladies Building Fund Association was organized, and two years later the Association purchased property at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Adams Street. The philanthropist Andrew Carnegie gave $50,000 for the library building and equipment, with the stipulation that no part was to be used for maintenance.  The original building was constructed with blue limestone from the Wagner Quarries, caps and sills in Berea sandstone, and the base in Columbus limestone.

Mr. Wolcott provided statistics about the Sandusky Library between 1921 and 1951. Today the Sandusky Library owns over 200,000 items, which include books, periodicals, DVDs, compact discs, books on tape, and e-books.  A host of online research databases provide instant access to information to library patrons twenty four hours a day.

Merlin Wolcott died in 1993 at the age of 73. He was a World War II Army Veteran, a member of Grace Episcopal Church, the Mayflower Society, the Descendants of Henry Wolcott, Masonic Lodge, the American Library Association and the Ohio Library Association. Mr. Wolcott had a deep interest in family and local history. He was a direct descendant of Benajah Wolcott, the first keeper of the Marblehead Lighthouse.

Maryette Goodwin Mackey, Educator

Maryette Goodwin was born in 1865, the daughter of Sandusky attorney Homer Goodwin and his wife, the former Marietta Cowles. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1888, and married attorney Denver John Mackey in 1892. In the early years of the twentieth century, Maryette Goodwin Mackey served on the Board of Trustees of the Sandusky Library Association. By 1910, Mr. and Mrs. Mackey were residing in Los Angeles County, California with their two young daughters, Florence and Margaret.

In 1908, Maryette Goodwin Mackey and her sister in law Mary Mackey Stuart co-authored the book, The Pronunciation of 10,000 Proper Names. 

In 1924, the Handbook of Proceedings of the California Library Association listed Maryette G. Mackey as the Principal of the Foreign Extension Department of the Los Angeles Public Library. During her tenure, she wrote this article:

Mrs. Maryette Goodwin Mackey passed away in California in 1933. She seems to have been connected to books and libraries for most of her life.

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.