Mildred Sandoe, Library Organizer

Mildred Sandoe (April 20, 1900-February 23, 1994) was not the first library organizer at the State Library of Ohio but was the one most remembered. Sandoe wrote The County Library Primer, used by many library directors and board to develop their service on a county-wide basis.

Mildred Sandoe began her career at the Dayton Pubic Library in the early 1920s. There she met Helen Hooven Santmeyer, author of And Ladies of the Club, who was also working there. The two became life-long friends.

Sandoe became the director of the Grandview Heights Public Library in 1924. In 1931she went on to become director of what is now the Mansfield Richland County Public Library. She began the library’s first bookmobile program with five city stops and 75 county school stops.

As the State Library Organizer, Sandoe worked with libraries throughout Ohio, developing county-wide library services, including bookmobile programs. She is recognized by the Auglaize County Libraries, the Perry County District Library, and the Lorain Public Library for her assistance in helping them become county library systems and receive state aid.

Mildred Sandoe was a consultant for a 1964 study of library services for the state of New Jersey.

She was inducted into the Ohio Library Council’s Librarian’s Hall of Fame in 1972.