Members-only library a hidden gem

A bit apprehensive, my husband and I entered the Mercantile Building at 414 Walnut Street in Cincinnati. We were alone inside the lobby, save for a woman dressed in a navy blue jacket and matching pants, her attention apparently captured by something inside a shop window.

We were searching for a membership library we learned was located on the 11th and 12th floors of the building. We wanted to visit this unique institution, but we weren’t sure if it was open to the public.

Attempting to appear confident in our actions, my husband and I stepped in front of the elevator to our left.

“Are you looking for the library?” inquired the woman dressed in blue.

Busted, I thought. She’s going to make us leave when she finds out we are not members.

“We are,” I confirmed, even though my admission might mean we would be turned away.

“Take the elevator,” she said pointing behind us. “Eleventh floor.”

Grateful for her assistance, we thanked her and proceeded to secure the elevator. When we reached the 11th floor, the doors opened to a small foyer. On one side, stairs led both up and down. On the other, floor-to-ceiling windows and a glass door stood between us and the library.

After briefly examining the books on the shelves outside the elevator, we entered the library. Directly in front of us, an imposing statue of a woman with her index finger to her lips greeted us. Behind her, three members of a young family made themselves comfortable on the leather couch and accent chair.

To our left, the hardwood floor stretched out and anchored a series of nooks tucked away among rows of book-lined shelves. Individuals seated at oak tables focused on the laptops in front of them.

Antique oak counters stretching the length of the room provided a home to current magazines. In the far right corner, a young lady played current hits on the piano while a companion sat nearby, head nodding, her phone pointed at the musician.

All around, oak and leather furniture dotted the open room. Busts of author Harriet Beecher Stowe, statesman Henry Clay, President Abraham Lincoln, playwright William Shakespeare, poet Robert Frost and more played prominently on the shelves throughout.

As I made my way through the library and toward the circulation desk, a gentleman moved out from behind his computer and approached me.

This is it, I thought. He’s going to ask if we are members, and when he finds out we are not, he’s going to ask us to leave.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he welcomed me and proudly offered some significant history on the members-only library. It was founded, he said, in 1835 when several Cincinnati merchants and clerks pooled their books together to share. After suffering fires in two previous locations, the library has been in its current spot since 1904.

In addition to being a resource of over 80,000 books for its members, the library hosts several discussions and lectures, open to the public, throughout the year. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Herman Melville are included among previous guests.

As hidden gems go, this Mercantile Library is certainly one of the most incredible we’ve had the opportunity to experience. I’m glad we took the chance to find it, and I’m thankful our efforts were warmly welcomed.