The first recorded minutes of the Forest-Jackson Public Library were dated December 31, 1936.
The first library was in a room above Simpson's store (downtown on the north side of Lima St.) It was first open to the public on Saturday, December 4, 1937. Hours were Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons from one to five and every Saturday evening from seven to nine.
The tables, chairs and book shelving were purchased from the Ohio State Reformatory for $240.25 and they are still in use today.
The idea for a Library in Forest originated in a round-about way.
In the fall of 1936, Martha Keiper, a Forest native, then living in Forest, went to visit Eloise Price, also a native of Forest who was teaching in the small town of Alexandria, Ohio. During her visit, it was Eloise's turn to be volunteer librarian at Alexandria's small public library. While at the library that evening, they discussed the possibility of Forest having its own public library, supported by the same intangible tax that supported Alexandria's.
When Martha went home, she contacted Dr. Mundy, one of our local doctors, who was also a civic-minded citizen. He secured the money to get the library started, and turned the project back to Martha, who set up and helped to organize the present Forest Library.
The Library moved to the south side of Lima St and then back across the street in the 1980s . The Freight House building was purchased in the year 2000 and volunteers moved the contents to that building on September 30, 2000.