History of the White Pigeon Library

Have you ever wondered what the library looked like in earlier times?

The legend is that in the early days of the settlement, White Pigeon's library consisted of a small collection of books kept in a box in the village blacksmith's shop. The earliest date found for reference to our library is 1853.

Our first official library was located on the second floor of this two-story fire station at the corner of Chicago Road and Kalamazoo Street. The only access to the library was up the steep flight of stairs to the right of this image, which made library visits something of an adventure in wet or icy weather. The first librarian was Mrs. Margaret Hotchins.

When Mrs. Hotchins retired, she was succeeded by Miss Dorothy Lee, and the library continued to grow. In the early 1960s, the township voted to raze the old fire station and build a new one, including a room at the back of the station to house the library, on the same site. Miss Lee hosted the grand opening on April 5, 1962. The library was open for only very limited hours, and a trip to borrow books was a big event. Miss Lee, shown here sharing a book with some young patrons, retired in 1974 after twenty-eight years of service.

When Miss Lee retired, Mrs. Kathryn Kistler was hired as Library Director. By the mid-70s, the library had outgrown its space. The township purchased the former First Commercial Savings Bank building at 105 N. Kalamazoo St. to house the library, and the collection was moved across the street to its new home. For the first time, the library had separate rooms for children's services and periodical storage, and the director even had an office, although it was also the staff room, cataloging room, and storage room! Over the next twenty years, checkout was automated, hours expanded, and additional staff members hired. The library joined the Woodlands Library Cooperative, added computers, and offered Internet access to its patrons.

Due to heavy use and rapidly expanding technology demands, the library became extremely crowded by the end of the 1990s. The Library Board, Mrs. Kistler, and the White Pigeon Township Board worked together to draft a proposal to build a new fire station at the junction of U.S. 12 and Lutz Road and renovate the former fire station for the use of the library. The voters of the township passed the proposal in 1999, and renovation began in 2000. On September 17th, 2001, the library opened for business in its beautiful new home.