Mission
Our Mission: Inspiring Ideas, Enriching Lives, Creating Community
History of the Library
Library service in Redford Township began in the 1920’s, provided to citizens by bookmobiles. Through citizen efforts, work toward a Redford Township Library began in 1945 when the first Library Board was appointed.
The Library was originally housed in the fire hall. It remained there 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 proceeds to the Library.
Ground was broken for a new library building in July 1961 and on Sunday, May 20, 1962, the Redford Township Public Library was dedicated. An addition was completed in 1966, funded by Library Services and Construction Act and local matching funds, bringing the Library to 14,650 square feet. After that, the building 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 to benefit the whole community.
The new District Library Board began looking for a place to construct a new building to better serve Redford’s 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 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 beautiful 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 open! On September 19, 2004, the new Library was dedicated to the citizens of Redford, who provided funds for operations and the new building.