Unboxing the Mary Helen Beatty Collection

Recently unearthed box of artifacts belonging to librarian Mary Helen Beatty will be opened for the first time in 50 years. Who knows what we will discover? Facebook Live Event.

Mary Helen Beatty (1891-1968) loved libraries. She worked for two years as assistant librarian at Ravenna High School before graduating in 1911. She assisted the Ravenna Public Library when it first opened in 1915. Our original location was in the Alcorn Building at the corner of Main and Meridian Streets.
In 1944, the Robinson Memorial Hospital Women’s Association started a mobile library that brought books to patients. Mary Helen supervised the mobile library. Books were purchased and cataloged by Reed Memorial Library staff. Patients kept the books as long as they wanted, and returned them before leaving the hospital. This photo from 1948 shows Mary Helen with the mobile library book cart. This box of her belongings was recently discovered. Who knows what we will find? Artifacts on loan from the collection of the Portage County Historical Society Museum.

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