The Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Linden Branch will reopen Friday at 10 a.m. Credit: Courtesy of Ben Zenitsky
The Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Linden Branch will open its doors Friday, marking a new location and chapter for a branch that has served the community for nearly 100 years.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was changed from its original date, Jan. 31, due to weather. The rescheduled ceremony will be at the new branch, located at 223 Cleveland Ave., Friday at 10 a.m.
According to the book “Columbus Metropolitan Library: Celebrating 150 Years” by CML’s Local History & Genealogy team, the Linden Branch opened in 1928 as one of CML’s first four branches. The branch has relocated four times, most recently to 2223 Cleveland Ave. in 2004; this is its first renovation since then.
“This is a community we’ve been invested in for almost 100 years, and we are thrilled to be able to reinvest in this community with a brand-new, 21st-century library,” said Ben Zenitsky, media specialist for CML.
The new branch doubles the former space’s previous size, totaling approximately 27,000 square feet, according to a CML press release.
Lauren Johnson Peace, manager of the branch, said its new additions are geared towards a younger audience.
“[The new branch is equipped] with more space for School Help, Ready for Kindergarten, Reading Buddies and other services designed to impact young minds,” Johnson Peace said.
Johnson Peace said the new location will have broader access to technology and more public meeting spaces, including 10 study rooms.
According to a CML press release, the temporary Linden Branch on Jefferson Avenue was closed permanently Jan. 17. Customers were encouraged to sign their names on a panel that will be installed in the new branch, a tradition that has followed CML’s renovations since 2014.
Zenitsky said libraries play an important role in building community, especially in Columbus.
“Libraries should be considered miracles because they really are,” Zenitsky said. “What they do for communities is uplift them and transform them.”
According to Zenitsky, CML has renovated 18 of its 23 locations, offering unique and eye-catching public spaces across the city. He said construction on the new branch began in April 2024.
“Before, libraries were really about housing and protecting print materials — they still very much are — but now we have so much more flexibility with how these buildings can be designed,” Zenitsky said. “When you drive by or walk by, you will see inspirational, iconic, beautifully designed public spaces and that is certainly the case with our new Linden Branch.”
Zenitsky said the Linden Branch continues to serve as an anchor for the community, nearly 100 years after its initial opening.
“Public libraries are democracy’s greatest promise fulfilled,” Zenitsky said.
According to the library’s website, the new branch hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
