About the Library

The Wayne County Law Library Association was incorporated on June 30, 1903, in Wooster, Ohio. It was organized “to acquire and maintain a library of legal books and periodicals for the use and benefit” of the Wayne County Judges, officials, and members of the Wayne County Bar Association. Pursuant to House Bill 420 which was signed into law by the Governor on December 30, 2008 , the Wayne County Law Library became a Wayne County Agency on January 1, 2010 . The Revised Code governing the new county law library structure can be found at http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/307.51

The Law Library provides legal research materials and tools for its members and statutory users and is located on the third floor of the Wayne County Courthouse in Wooster, Ohio. It contains Ohio and federal statutes, case law, treatises, legal periodicals, and legal reference materials in a number of different media forms. The Library’s collection contains more than 9,000 volumes.

The Wayne County Law Library Resources Board Primer provides additional information on the law library's administration and services.

This website is not meant to provide legal advice, but to provide information about the Wayne County Law Library. A secondary benefit is to provide links to legal resources available within the library or on the Internet. There are no attorneys or staff employed by the Library.

The Wayne County Law Library, its employees, trustees, and agents shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this website, including, but not limited to special, indirect or consequential damages or damages resulting from loss of use, data and/or profits alleged to have resulted from, or in connection with, the use or performance of this website. If you choose to download and/or use files from the Internet, you assume full responsibility from any resulting loss or damage. The presence of those links found within the library's website does not imply endorsement.

The Wooden Wheel in Front of the Windows

This is the oldest working wooden freight wheel in Wayne County, and it is believed to be over one hundred years old. Originally, this floor was a warehouse space as were the two floors below. At the end of each floor there were double doors facing the alley (where the windows are now). A cable wrapped around the freight wheel here and a smaller one in the basement was pulled by hand to lift boxes from the alley below. You can see a covered overhang outside in which the pulleys were located. A warehouseman would pull the cables until the box was opposite the double doors, pull one of the hanging ropes to hold the wheel in place and then pull the boxes inside. If you turn the wheel, you will see that the axle still turns easily. It was preserved at the request of the Historical Society, and they plan to create a plaque explaining the history of the wheel. It was also suggested that removing the wheel would have affected the architectural integrity of the wall because the apparatus was perfectly balanced within it.

Mike Senger, Former Law Librarian