 

 scan0001

 

 

 

Spies Public Library - History

 

The first Library in Menominee was as early as 1896. Housed on the second floor of the old firehouse, it was later moved to the Wilcox Building. In March of 1903, Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Spies announced their plans to donate money to build and furnish a new Library that would bear their name. The Spies' selected the architectural firm of Patton & Miller from Chicago. This firm was the same firm that designed many Carnegie Libraries. Perhaps, this is why even today people think the Spies Public Library is a Carnegie Library. We like to think Mr. Spies envisioned himself as the "Carnegie of Menominee." We are grateful for his gift of $30,000.00 to build and furnish a library for Menominee. The actual bid for the Building was awarded to the RM. Garthwait Co. of Chicago for $21,950.00. The remainder was spent on furnishings many of which are still being used today. The Spies Public Library was completed and dedicated on March 30, 1905.

 

When the Library first opened it contained 5,184 volumes and 48 periodicals. Mrs. Gertrude B. Munger was the first Librarian. During the first year of operation 24,746 items were borrowed. Each year the circulation continued to grow as more citizens used the Library. In 1918, a separate book collection was purchased to provide library service to all residents of the county. Books were kept in display trunks holding either 50 or 100 books and weighing up to 140 pounds. A Librarian would haul the trunks to the train station and board the train making stops throughout the county. Later specified locations were set up to keep the books up to 90 days. By 1929 this service had grown to 22 stations in stores, post offices, and private homes, and 53 county schools, making three times the original number of stations with almost five times the circulation.

 

When the Spies Public Library was built, a museum room was part of the project. It took until 1926, with donations from the A. L. Sawyer family and others for the room to open. It contained minerals, Indian relics, shells, coins, old books and many other miscellaneous items. These exhibits later became the basis of the Menominee County Historical Museum.

 

It was not until the late 1950's that the Library installed its own heating system. Prior to that time the Library was supplied steam by the Water works with a pipe running from the Water Works to the Library.

 

Another special remembrance people have of the Library are the pictures in the Children's Room. In 1958, Marion Kassing was commissioned by the Library Board to paint four pictures for the Children's Room each picture to cost $36.00. Those four pictures are still one of the focal points of our Children's Room and are on display today.

 

Your Spies Public Library has a rich and fascinating history -- take time to learn more about it!

 

 
Anavar PharmaceuticalFlorida Payday Loans can help you in trying times, but be sure to know the laws necessary for your loan application. If you have already decided to take Levitra, be sure to consult a doctor, you don't have any contraindications and act strictly due to a prescription.

NOW AVAILABLE

FREE DOWNLOADS

OF DIGITAL MAGAZINES

FROM ZINIO

zinio

 

Early Literacy Nights!

presented by the

Spies Public Library

and the

Menominee County ISD

Great Parents, Great Start

 Early Literacy Council.

Tuesday Nights

will resume

October 17th, 2017 

 For kids 0-9 years old!

Everyone is welcome!

 

2017 Summer Reading Club

"Build A Better World"

*please note not all programs

are on Thursdays*

June

Thursday June 15th 6:30-8pm-Family Find A Book Night RSVP

Thursday June 22nd 9am-sign up day and Rockets;

(the first 100 kids get a free t-shirt)

Thursday June 29th 2pm-Michigan Science Center

July

July 6th-no program

Thursday July 13th 2pm-Mischief & Magic-magic and balloon animals

Thursday July 20th-Tom Pease; park at 11am and the library at 2pm

Monday July 24th 10am-Alex Thomas & Friends-puppets

Wednesday July 26th 6:30-8pm-Family Fort Night RSVP

 

August

Tuesday August 1st 4:30pm-Bubble Wonder;

This is part of the 1000BooksB4K

Tuesday August 8th 4:30-6:30pm-Adventure Course

fundraiser for Imagination Library;

10 stations inside the library and 3 more

outside, weather permitting

*This program has a small fee*

Thursday August 10th Summer Reading Club wrap up

party and  Volunteer appreciation party

All programs are free except the Adventure Course

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIBRARY HOURS

MONDAY 9 - 5
TUESDAY  9 - 8
WEDNESDAY 9 - 8
THURSDAY 9 - 8
FRIDAY 9 - 5
SATURDAY 9 - 1
2017 HOLIDAY CLOSINGS
 

 

940 First Street
Menominee, MI  49858
906-863-3911  Desk
906-863-2900  Librarian
906-863-5000  Fax
800-649-3777  TDD#

 

in honor of 

Children's Book Week

we will celebrate

Grandparents

at story hours on

May 3rd and 4th at 10:30am.

 

Join us!!!!

Go to top
http://joomla.uproc.lib.mi.us/Spies/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=134
joomla.uproc.lib.mi.us
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-17
41500
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:5GEJVFNKQFTTBN5SDHR3PNQTGWJGLESR
<urn:uuid:e87ad89a-ba18-4163-9d9c-162cbc94cbe4>
2017-04-27T07:14:32Z
204.38.55.120
sha1:IJM3PDKXPWXIR5LRCRRDTBN3EGPX2NEB
<urn:uuid:120d0548-d2b7-4728-868a-b58cadfa9faf>
http://joomla.uproc.lib.mi.us/Spies/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=134
length
response
<urn:uuid:37119210-6faf-436a-bc5d-4eb4aae1f7dc>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-17
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2017
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf