Glass at the Library Franco Vitella We all know Toledo’s “Glass City” moniker and the Toledo Lucas County Library has a rich connection to the industry that built our city. From the beautiful Vitrolite murals at Main Library to the stunning fl oor to ceiling windows of the Mott Branch Library, glass plays an important role in the architecture, ambience, and general good vibes you get when you walk into a Library location. After a pandemic year, now is a great time to venture back into your favorite library to take in that architecture, cozy up in a comfortable chair, and spend a lazy day reading. Of course, if you need some suggestions, here are a few items of note that speak to the history of Toledo’s glass industry. The Art of Glass: Toledo Museum of Art by Jutta-Annette Page and Stefano Carboni This catalog from our friends at the Toledo Museum of Art views glass through the lens of the art world, highlighting glass pieces from the museum’s collection and essays that put the work in context, all while calling attention to the unique contributions Toledo has made to the medium of glass art. The Glass City: Toledo and the Industry That Built It by Barbara L. Floyd Barbara L. Floyd is the University Archivist and Director of the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections at the University of Toledo. In this history of the glass industry and the city it built up, Floyd details the meteoric rise of the industry and economic devastation caused by what happens when a single industry town is impact by shifting economic forces (of note, while Toledo might be known as the Glass City, 45% of all glass is now manufactured in China). Fire & Sand; The History of the Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass ComThe House That Glass Built The documentary fi lm, which originally aired on WGTE in 2008, focuses on Toledo’s glass industry, the studio glass movement, and the philanthropy that put Toledo on the glass art scene map. pany by William E. Fairfi eld If you want to take a deep dive into the history of one specifi c glass company and how it transformed Toledo and industries even beyond glass, Fire & Sand explores the trajectory of the Libbey-Owens-Ford Company from its beginnings in the early 1800s as the New England Glass Company and its relocation to Toledo and everything that happened after. Page 15
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