Sandra Zaffarano is the Library Manager at the Middleville Free Library, and enjoys reading when she can.

“Believe it or not, it’s harder as a librarian to read. You don’t take time to read for yourself. You’re looking for books for other people and looking for books to buy and other things,” she said.


What You Need To Know

  • The Middleville Free Library was founded by Ella Edsall and her husband, Irving, in the early 1900’s

  • Ella is regarded as the “driving force” behind the library

  • The library is still operating today

Rewind 100 years ago and you’ll find another woman in Middleville who loved to read, Ella Edsall. Her story is shared in the “Women of the Kuyahoora Valley” book, which says she founded the Middleville Literary Union with her husband, Irving, in 1898.

“She wanted to get people together and talk about current events, and that was what the study group was and talking about writers, and current events, and women’s suffrage. She was like, ‘We really need to share this with other people,'” Zaffarano said.

Edsall wanted to form a library. She was able to raise enough money for a provisional charter. Zaffarano says that’s a legal document allowing a library to operate temporarily.

She says, back then, you needed $100 worth of property for a provisional charter, and $1000 worth of property for an absolute charter - making a library permanent.

“The absolute charter unfortunately didn’t come in until a year after she died,” Zaffarano said. “She had moved out of the area in the early 1920s. Her husband died in 1924.”

The library has changed locations over the years, but Zaffarano says one thing that hasn’t changed is the goal of educating people so they can have informed discussions.

“I hope that she would be proud that we kept her original love of books - and the wanting to share the knowledge - that part of it alive for her,” Zaffarano said.