1996: Library opens in current location

The Northville District Library Monday, October 14, 2019 in Northville, Michigan. (Photo by Steve Fecht)

In 1994, Northville voters approved construction of a new library on the long-reviewed and recommended West Cady Street site to be operated in perpetuity with a dedicated millage. The library would operate as its own entity  – separate from shared services – with an elected board of trustees.

After five moves in three decades, the opened its doors on October 6, 1996. Its current site marks the first time the Northville library is housed in a building constructed to be – a library.

The windows on the building’s west side overlook the green space that stood behind the former Lapham homestead, where Mary Lapham – the library’s first benefactor – once played as a child.