By Theresa Garee and Carol Gaal

Depending on which area of central Ohio you are from, you may have heard of The Wagnalls Memorial Library. A library built with the monies and kindness of one family for a community to cherish in the town of Lithopolis, Ohio.

The Wagnalls family made their fortune with the Funk & Wagnalls Publishing company. Adam Wagnalls and Isaac Funk co-founded the company in 1876, best known for their dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Mabel Wagnalls Jones wanted to find a way to share her parents’ love of the Lithopolis village her parents, Adam and Anna Wagnalls, grew up in.

“Mabel knew it had always been Anna’s dream to do something for the little village which had never had anything done for it and to provide opportunities not available to her as a child,” the Wagnalls library website says.

The history of the Wagnalls Memorial Library began when Mabel built the initial library, theater, social hall and two towers and handed the deed over to the town.

The Wagnalls Memorial is in operation to this day with library, theater, and event rooms for rent.

In addition, visitors can attend a tour with Mabel. Mabel is presented by Wagnalls historian Carol Gaal.

After 10 years of portraying Mabel and sharing her story through a two-part monologue, Gaal was able to recently take her presentation on the road to Lakeside Chautauqua where she presented “The Amazing Mabel Wagnalls & the Beautiful Wagnalls Memorial” during the community’s lecture series coined Lakeside University.

“That’s the farthest Mabel has gone now,” Gaal said.

The presentation went well and 50 attendees asked questions about Mabel’s life, her building of the library, treasures at the Memorial and her friendship with Harry Houdini.

Gaal loves sharing the story of Mabel Wagnalls and The Wagnalls Memorial. If you are part of a group who would like to have Gaal present Mabel Wagnalls monologue, please contact the library at 614-837-4765.

If you would like to travel to meet Mabel at Wagnalls, she presents every first Thursday at 7 p.m. Private tours are available as well, please call the library.