• A Riverfront Panorama sets the stage for the almost accidental creation of the Library.
• Lawyers and Librarians unwraps the tangled tale of how one of the finest Library systems in the nation dodged 150 years of tax revolts, lawsuits, wars, and depressions to emerge as a dynamic, vital county-wide system with a Main Library and 41 branches.
• The Librarians chronicles the great achievements and occasional setbacks of those who’ve led the Public Library from its earliest lamp-lit beginnings to its cyber-connected present.
• Deposit Stations highlights some of the deposit stations that were once scattered throughout the county in post offices, general stores, and schools.
• A Virtual Tour of Old Main offers a glimpse into the past with photographs of the interior of the ‘old’ Main Library, which was demolished in 1955 after eighty-five years of operation.
• Building Main outlines the Library’s evolution as it moved up Vine Street.
• A Pen and Ink Chronograph of Vine Street illustrates the Library’s evolution from antebellum Cincinnati to the dawn of the 21st century.
• The Collections explores how the Library built the second largest public library collection in the country.
• Branching Out provides a brief history of how the Library expanded its services to meet the needs of the growing constituency throughout Hamilton County.
• A Model Library: Andrew Carnegie Sends Greetings to Cincinnati recounts how the generosity of the philanthropist funded the construction of nine magnificent branches.
• A Bookmobile Idyll documents the evolution of what was once a cutting-edge library service.
• The Work describes the wide range of services performed by dedicated Library staff members over the years.
• Epilogue uses the lives of three board members—Rufus King II, James Albert Green, and Joseph S. Stern, Jr.—as human benchmarks against which the Library’s 150 years of struggle and service can be measured.