Lively Roots: How the Grand Rapids Public Library Found Its Footing in the Early Years

Abstract

Lively Roots:How the Grand Rapids Public Library Found Its Footing in the Early Years Colleen Alles A few days before Christmas, on December 21, 2021, the Grand Rapids Public Library will celebrate a big birthday: its sesquicentennial—150 years of providing a library free to all. Few things can last a century and a half without being open to change. This public library, established in a city that, in the 1870s, was in some ways a rival to Detroit, survived in part due to the inclusion of one key idea: a willingness to grow—changing and adjusting its operations to fit whatever the community needed at the time, and in how it could best serve its patrons in the face of logistical constraints and realities.1 Founded in 1871, the Grand Rapids Public Library (GRPL) has been a beacon in a west Michigan city with its own rich history and place as the second largest city in the state. The idea for the GRPL began several years after the end of the Civil War, when members of the Grand Rapids Board of Education agreed to combine their book holdings with those of two other organizations—the Ladies Literary Association (known then as the Ladies Library Association) and the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA).2 A library committee hired the first librarian, Miss Frances Holcomb, at an annual salary of $500, and the library was born.3 The history of the GRPL involves a number of evolutions—everything from introducing the Dewey Decimal System and eschewing traditional card catalogs for online platforms, to streaming audiobooks directly to patrons' devices. Julie Tabberer, the current head of the GRPL History & Special Collections department, notes how "the things that [End Page 127] Click for larger view View full resolution An entry from the 1872-73 Grand Rapids city directory shows the first appearance of the Grand Rapids Public Library, humbly listed among residents and businesses in the "L" section. Source: J. D. Dillenback, ed., Godfrey's Annual City Directory of Grand Rapids, Mich, 1872-3 (Grand Rapids: Daily Eagle Steam Printing House, 1872), 157. we've provided access to have changed over the years, but [access is] a constant."4 The story of the GRPL as told through its branches makes it clear that above all—and despite many types of circumstances—the library has demonstrated a commitment to growing and changing along with its city. What began above a dry goods store downtown evolved into a large institution that serves thousands of patrons annually. The library piloted branches early in the twentieth century when the idea of branches was new. It embraced traveling branches and bookmobiles when budget concerns made operating hours tricky in the 1950s. Through two world wars, the Great Depression, pandemics, economic hardships, and tumultuous social change—hallmarks of the twentieth century—the GRPL opened new branches, closed branches when circumstances dictated, and, overall, ensured its citizens access to a free library, guaranteeing a legacy of inclusion that the city hopes will endure for years to come. Impermanent Spaces In the early years, the GRPL called several downtown spaces home, changing locations every few years. Those spots included a room above a dry goods store, space in the prominent Ledyard Building, and several rooms inside city hall. [End Page 128] Click for larger view View full resolution This was the first home of the Grand Rapids Public Library. The library was on the second floor of H. Leonard and Sons dry goods store, seen here as the second building from the left. Source: Collection 18, George E. Fitch Collection, box 3, folder 3, image 248, Grand Rapids Public Library History & Special Collections, Grand Rapids Public Library (hereafter GRPL). The population of Grand Rapids when the library opened its doors in 1871 was approximately 16,000. "Like other cities across the nation, Grand Rapids had a hodgepodge of libraries and book collections, but the system stood in unconnected pieces, awaiting the glue that would fit them together," noted former city historian Gordon L. Olson.5 Print books were, of course, in addition to being more precious than perhaps they are today, available via school libraries and through the Grand...