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.