Bill designating state-wide Toni Morrison Day moves forward

A bill designating Feb. 18 as Toni Morrison Day cleared committee Wednesday. House Bill 325, introduced by Reps. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, and Stephanie Howse, D-Cleveland, unanimously cleared the chamber's State and Local Government Committee on Wednesday afternoon. Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony Wofford Feb. 19, 1931. She grew up in Lorain, setting her first novel "The Bluest Eye" in the International City. She died Aug. 5, 2019, at the age of 88. During her lifetime, she wrote 11 books, won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, among a host of other accolades and awards. The bill has garnered support since its introduction in late August, including supporting testimony from Cheri Campbell, of the Lorain Public Library System, along with representatives from the Toni Morrison Society and Ohio State Department of English. On Wednesday, Jay Smith director of government and legal services for the Ohio Library Council offered additional support. The Ohio Library Council represents the more than 250 public library systems in the state. Smith noted the Lorain Public Library system's commemoration of the city's famous native daughter, including Morrison's namesake reading room at the Main Branch in Lorain. The library plans to host a rededication ceremony for the reading room Feb. 18. Locally, the Lorain County commissioners designated the author's birthday as Toni Morrison Day in the county last fall. Miller noted Wednesday evening the bill passing unanimously "should be a good indicator it will get to the floor." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter @CWoytach.