Redford Township District Library

Mission:

It is the mission of the Redford Township District Library to provide public library services to the community of Redford as a whole. It will procure and make available to the general public quality materials and services, which fulfill the informational, cultural, recreational and educational needs of the entire community in an atmosphere that is friendly, welcoming, respectful and businesslike.

History:

Library service began in the 1920's, provided to the citizens of Redford Township by Bookmobiles. Through citizen efforts, work toward a Redford Township Library began in 1945 when the first library board was appointed.

The library was first housed in the fire hall where it remained until March 1949, when it moved to a small building on Five Mile Road near Beech Daly. Larger quarters were provided in a building across from the Township Offices and the library moved again in March 1956. Many local organizations helped provide more books, equipment and special services during this year, all of which were financed by a community card party that gave all of the proceeds to the library.

Ground was broken for the new library in July 1961 and on Sunday, May 20, 1962, the Redford Township Public Library was dedicated. In 1966, an addition, funded by Library Services and Construction Act and local matching funds, was completed, bringing the library to it's current size of 14,650 square feet. The library remained virtually without renovation until 1992, when the Township, Friends of the Library, staff and community as a whole, using "sweat equity" and matching funds from the Department of Commerce Equity Grant Program, joined together to make a "User Friendly Library".

Changes continued over the next few years using grants and matching funds from the State of Michigan, Chrysler Corporation, Department of Forestry and others. Usage grew dramatically and it was soon decided that a larger, more modern library was needed to meet community needs and demands. A group of citizens, along with the Library Board and Friends of the Library, decided to form a district library with a dedicated millage voted by the citizens of Redford. This source of funds could only be used to provide library service to the community. In May 1994, a district library was formed. In August 1994, citizens of Redford voted the library a 1 mil operating fund in perpetuity. The library expanded its hours and services to the community and continued to actively seek ways to become more involved in projects that benefit the whole community.

New plans were formulated and the new District Library Board began looking for a place to construct a new library to better serve the citizens. Five different sites were investigated and ultimately found inappropriate or not available for constructing a new library. Presbyterian Village of Redford approached the library in June of 2002, with an offer of 2.5 acres of free land on which to build a new library for the community. The Board met and quickly said, "Yes". Plans were formulated for an $8.5 million bond campaign to finance the building of a new facility. The campaign was a success and ground was broken on May 28, 2003 for the new Redford Township District Library.

The new 65,000 square foot, state of the art library opened its doors on August 23, 2004. More than 7,300 people used the library during the first week we were open! Mrs. B's, the new library cafe, will open in September. On September 19, 2004, we will dedicate the new library to the citizens of Redford, who provided funds for operations and the new building.

The Library Board and staff wish to thank the citizens of Redford for their support; the architectural firm of Merritt, McPherson and Cieslak; the construction firm of McCarthy & Smith, especially our great construction manager Jerry Welch; and Chris DeBear and Jennifer Hueston of Library Design Associates, who designed and furnished the library interior.