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HISTORY OF THE
DECKERVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY
The
Deckerville Public Library building was
first an Episcopal Church built in 1880. It was a pre-fab
building that came by
ship
and then was transported by wagons to the present site.
In December of 1923 at the Women's Club meeting a motion was made to establish a
library for the village of Deckerville. Consequently, a meeting of the Board of
Managers was held at the Farmer's State Bank of Deckerville on July 21, 1924.
The
Meeting was called to order by the president, Mrs. George B. Forrester with eight
members present. It was moved by Mrs. Clement and seconded by Mrs.
McClusky that the library be called The Deckerville Public Library. A
corporation was formed with $326.31 in the treasury.
It was moved to pay the Diocese of Michigan $250.00 for the Episcopal Church and
lot. The Women's Club invited the Hypatian Club to join them in the
establishment of the library. They worked together raising funds and at
the end of a year had 300 books.
The corporation lasted for 21 years, and then it was proposed to turn the
library over to the village to be used as such for at least 25 years.
On November 5, 1945, at a Village Council meeting, the terms and conditions were
accepted. On August 15, 1946 the library corporation was dissolved and the
library became village property.
In 1966 a renovation of the library was begun. It was modernized to its
present state except for aluminum siding which was added in 1970. The
landscaping was done in 1972.
In 1980 an addition was built onto the library which tripled its size. It
was designed in the same style as the original building.
Now in 1999 our library is fully automated and our collection is over
15,000. We have an on-line catalog for our patron's to search our collection
while they are at the library. In the future we will have an on- line
catalog for people to search while they are at home and on the internet.
We have come full circle and are in need of more space once again. Come back
often to see how we are progressing.
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