The  New  Buffalo Senior  Woman’s Club  saw the  need for a library in our  community  in 1938.   Club members picked up books here and there, and community donors helped by providing  funds in the  beginning.   The Library  started  with 400 books  and  volunteers performing  the tasks of librarians in the old school building, which later became the Village Hall and today is the site of the  New Buffalo City  Hall.  The  first  Library Board  members  were:  Dorothy  Seaman,  Chairman  appointed  by the  Village  Council;  Olive  Stromer, Secretary;  Otto  Svejda, Treasurer;  J. E. Barlow, Trustee;  J. M. Littlejohn, Trustee; Janet Van Wert, Publicity Agent.

In 1939, the Village  took over the  Library and it was  moved from the  Village Hall  into an unoccupied room at Shoreline Cleaners on Whittaker  Street.  Rent was $10 a month.  After only two  years of  existence,  it was  evident that  the  Library was  definitely  growing  and needed stable  financing.  In the 1940  election,  the voters  approved support for a library and thus the New Buffalo Township Public Library became official.

It was time for another move because the rental fee had been increased.   A former dance  studio room was  leased for one year until 1941 when the Michalski building on the corner of  Whittaker and Mechanic Streets became the next home of the Library.  Once again books and  furniture  were  moved into  the Hart  building  until 1944  when Mr. Hart  requested removal  of the  Library.  The  Community  Center was  next , and  then it  was back to the Village Hall.

How much  activity was going  on back then?  In March of 1941, the records  show 148 patrons with monthly  checkouts of  307 materials. Today  the  Library  has  over 7,000 registered patrons with monthly checkouts of roughly  5,000 in each of the winter months and up to 9,000 in each of the summer months.                          

Early  paid librarians  were  Emma Deaver and Eileen Marx.  When Marx resigned, Library Board  member  Minnie Guhl took over in 1944.  The Library expanded and grew steadily under Miss Guhl’s guidance.

That  same  year, another source of income  came  along.  The Library qualified for State Aid,  but Miss  Guhl  had to  resign as  Board President  in  order  to remain  librarian and  had  to  attend a library  summer  camp.  Today, the  Library  still  abides  by the  State’s guidelines and receives State Aid based on the census figures for our service area.

The  growth of  the  Library  meant  that  expenses  were  also growing.   In 1955, voters  approved a library millage, which today is still the Library’s main source of income.

By 1960,  the book  collection  had  grown  to  about  10,000 with  an  annual  circulation of 14,400, and there  were 700 registered patrons.

Clara Raz, a Library Board member, took over the librarian duties  when  Miss  Guhl  retired in 1960.  The  Library finally found a permanent address in 1961, when the former Bank of Three  Oaks building  on U. S. 12  was  offered  for  sale.   The  Library Board and the Bank agreed on a reasonable price and the  building  was  soon paid for.  Children’s  story  hours were held on Saturdays and summer reading programs were  held every  year.   The  Library  was able to borrow books from the State Library and continued using  a book  rental service in addition  to  purchasing  books.  The  patron list grew and the collection expanded.

Librarian  Clara Raz resigned  in  1965.  Ramona McCort, a Library Board  member and assistant to Mrs. Raz, was  hired to be the new director.  At this time, the Library began serving  Chikaming Township residents in exchange  for ½ of their share of county penal fines. Now the Library was serving  residents of  New Buffalo Township, the City of New Buffalo, and Chikaming Township.  The Library continued to grow and expand its collection, and began opening up on Monday evenings from 7:00 p.m.– 9:00 p.m.

Eleven years after moving into the building  located on U.S.12, plans for an addition were underway.  Purchasing  adjoining property did not work out.   Addition plans were eventually  changed to relocating and constructing a new building in 1977. This would be the first new library  building in  New Buffalo. That new location is our present site at 33 N.Thompson Street.  The  lot was  purchased  for the sum of $6,000.  The building  was  constructed in  1978 with the main floor  being used for  library  services and the  basement for  storage purposes.  It was  built by  Pearson Construction Company  of Benton Harbor  for  the bid price of $149,000.  Voters of the community  were not asked  to  support  any  additional  funding  to  pay for this building.   Savings, plus many donations secured by Library Board  Treasurer Joseph Balsanek, paid for part of the construction costs.  The old library building was sold for  the sum of $38,000, and a mortgage  for $60,000  was secured to  pay the remaining  costs.  The mortgage was quickly  paid off by October of 1982.   During this time, the Library had its first photocopier available for patron use.

In the latter part of 1983, Ramona (McCort) Balsanek became seriously ill and was unable to carry on the duties as librarian.  Her  daughter, Merry McCort-Pirkel was hired in January  of 1984 to help out with library duties, and officially took  over as  Director in  September.   During her 11 years as Director, the Library saw major changes as did many other libraries  across the  nation as the  automation  age moved forward.  When the first staff computer  arrived at the Library , the  typewriter was          being used to catalog all materials,  the wooden card catalog with its many drawers was the source of finding materials, and you had to sign  your name on the book card when  checking out.   This all began to change and slowly  the manual ways of doing things began to be replaced by computerized programs.  The  Library   began  staying  open  on Thursday  evenings  in addition to Monday nights to accommodate patrons.

The Library  building  underwent a major  change  as more  floor  space  was  needed for materials.  It was time for the basement of the Library to have barrier free access.  Plans  were made to  excavate  the street  side of  the  building  to open up  the basement area with windows and an entry door.  At that time,  construction grants  were  being  given  through the Library of  Michigan.   Our Library was fortunate to secure an $18,000 LSTA grant if we had matching  funds.  Those matching  funds came from a  very loyal patron,   Dorothy Armington,  who donated  $25,000  to complete the  project.  The Library was fortunate to receive several donations from Miss  Armington and her  aunt, Lucille Fuller, over  the years.   The remodeled  lower  level of the  Library  became  the new  children’s area, and the main floor adult department had room to expand.   Once again the Library  undertook a major building  project and was able to do so with the help of others without  asking the voters for additional funds.

Director  Merry  McCort-Pirkel  was  sure  the  future  was  in automation, and New Buffalo was the first library in  Berrien County to try automating its collection.  It worked.  However,a  few  years  later  in  1991,  technology  changed  and  the Library  automated  once again using  a more  sophisticated  system.  With the automation process complete, the manual card catalog was discarded after one year.   A laminator service was added and a microfilm reader and  fax machine were purchased.  Entertainment videos and audio books were additions.  The Director  was looking forward to the internet becoming a part  of  the Library’s resources when she became  seriously ill and passed  away in November  of 1995.

Bonnie Kliss, the cataloger and bookkeeper at  the Library since 1985, was  hired as  the  new  director  and  currently is  today.  Since 1996, the  automation age has  expanded at  the Library. Internet access was added, and there are currently 3 adult and 2 minor internet  patron stations.  There are computers for word processing, and children’s story books and  games.  Both the  adult  and the children’s  collections  have  been  expanded greatly  over  the  past several   years.   Books on CD and DVDs are being  added.   The Library’s original look was changed with new  carpet, new display  shelving and  furniture.  The  staff  has grown  from 5 in 1985 to 11 in 2005.  The entire collection now contains  almost  50,000  materials.  

                                                            Written April, 2005

This history was compiled mostly from

information written in the Library’s minute

books.  Personal recollections and more

recent facts were added by the author,

                                                               Bonnie Kliss.

Why are we a township library when we are located in the city?  Many people have asked that question.  When New Buffalo Township voters approved support for a township library in 1940, the city did not exist. The village of New Buffalo became the City of New Buffalo and in the dividing process, it was agreed that the Library remain a part of the Township.  Both the City and Township support the Library with a voted ½ mill (.5) that is rolled back every year by the Headlee Act and currently stands at .3903 for the year 2005.   Property  taxes  and  New Buffalo  and Chikaming  Township  penal  fines  are  the  major sources  of revenue for support of the Library.

A lot has happened during the Library’s 67 years of existence.  History has a way of repeating itself, and here we are again looking at expansion or relocation of the Library. Our open space has been slowly closing in as we move forward to meet patron’s needs.  The first permanent library building outgrew itself in 17 years.  When this building was constructed 27 years ago our community was far different from what it is now.  With the development of the Harbor Country area, and especially New Buffalo City and Township, the Library has grown at a fast pace.

Over the years, many contributions and memorials have been given to the Library.   Those funds helped pay for the first two library buildings, and memorials and contributions are again being saved for our future expansion.  Without the support of our community over the past years, this history would not have happened.   The Library Board and Staff look forward to the future and the many changes that will occur as the automated world moves forward and our community continues to grow.

 Your Library is a resource center for people of all ages.