The Chelsea District Library tells the story of this library at (
visit link) , which I will quote in part.
"History of the Public Library in Chelsea
When the Chelsea Child Study Club (now the Woman's Club of Chelsea) was formed in April 1931, its twenty members were asked to bring suggestions for projects which the club members could undertake. Among the suggestions was the idea of starting a public library. Until this time, the only place in Chelsea to get a book one did not buy was a small rental collection in one of the jewelry stores, and these were mostly westerns. The project was discussed with enthusiasm and the women were eager to try to organize a public library.
In January 1932 guests of the club were the State Child Study Association officers, one of whom, a Mrs. Baldwin, talked on "libraries".; As a result of this talk, a committee was appointed to study the possibility of a library in Chelsea, with Mrs. A.A. Palmer as its chair. Mrs. Palmer was able to loan a store belonging to the Palmer family for this purpose. The club voted to pay to have the place cleaned.
On February 28, 1932, the Library opened in the store on East Middle Street which is now occupied by William Rademacher, Attorney. It was too big of a space for a couple of bookcases and a table or two, so the first thing to be done was to cut it down to size. This was done by dyeing sheets a maroon color and hanging them across the space, using the back premises for storage and a work room, and the front part for the public. The donated bookcases and tables were painted maroon to match the curtains.
The Library started with 22 books donated by the members of the Child Study Club, and 100 books loaned by the State Library. It was run by volunteer help. Two members of the club were on duty each library period of three hours twice a week. A bake sale had to be held at the time of opening to replenish the treasury. It brought in $11.50. From 1932 until 1938 when the Library became tax-supported, the Child Study Club supplied the volunteer help and the money, along with an occasional gift.
In the thirties, when making money was very difficult, the women devised many ways of earning it. They gave bake sales, card tournaments (with tickets selling for $.15), a tag day, puppet shows, a benefit movie, had a "give-a-book" week and many other projects to try to earn money for their pet project.
In 1934, the Library was offered space in the Chelsea State Bank in the upstairs front room and accepted it gratefully. The Village Council gave $50 in support and the American Legion Post gave $15 and helped move the books and furniture to the new location. The Library budget in the early days was from $100 to $200 per year as contrasted with today's budget of $290,000. All during this time, the club members worked at the Library serving the public, processing the books, mending the books when needed and seeking sources of money. In the late thirties, the W.P.A. began to mend the books, having taught several local people the techniques.
In 1938, a plan was made to petition the Village residents for tax support. A proposal was put to the people in March for a one-half mill tax levy for the Library. It passed by one vote. In 1941, this tax levy was raised to one mill, the limit which could be levied by law for libraries. Now that the Library was tax supported, a librarian was hired, and in 1940 the trustees rented the ground floor space in the old Kempf Bank building, now being used by the Senior Citizens.
The Village Council purchased a three-story building on East Middle Street in 1946 and remodeled it for a Municipal Building, planning to give the Library space on the second floor. The Library Trustees had not been consulted about this and were unwilling to move back to the second floor anywhere, especially where the premises were approached down a long hall. They refused the offer, but the Village Council put the proposal to the voters who decided that the Library must move. Although the Public Library is a part of village property, the Library Trustees paid rent for the ten years they were in the Municipal Building. The space allotted and to which they moved in 1947 is now occupied by the Village Council. This is a large open space with windows all across the front, and two back rooms for work and storage. The rooms were adequate for Library needs although no reinforcement of floors or walls had been made to cope with the weight of the books and this was a worry.
From the time the Library was moved to the Municipal Building, the Trustees were determined to find permanent quarters. In 1949, "The Friends of the Chelsea Public Library" was organized and one of their first goals was to search for a site or building for the Library to acquire. It was the aim of the Building and Site Committee of the Friends to find a place within one block of Main Street. To this end, the Trustees began a program of setting funds aside in bonds and encouraged industry and private individuals to contribute. By 1958, there was $5,000 in bonds for this purpose.
One of the Friends of the Library, a past trustee, Mrs. Warren Daniels, had been most active in looking for a suitable building and had also been very successful in getting money gifts for the Building and Site Fund. In 1956, she went to call on Mrs. E.J.. McKune who lived on Main Street in a house which had belonged in the McKune family since 1870. She had no children to whom she could leave the property and had considered several organizations which might use the house. When Mrs. Daniels proposed that she leave her house to the Library, Mrs. McKune was much taken with the idea, saying that more people would use the house if it was a library than any of her ideas. She informed the Library of her intent and immediately put it into her will. She died in June 1958 and the Village was informed that she had left her house to the Village to be used as a Library.
The Library Board knew that a great deal of work would need to be done on this house to make it usable as a library. So in November 1958, representatives from all clubs and organizations and the Village Council were invited by the Friends of the Library and the Library Board to a meeting to be held in Mrs. McKune's living room of the McKune House, to view the building's interior. There was an excellent response and over sixty people came to this meeting. When the house was shown, it was a disappointment to many as it was in very poor shape in terms of plaster and wiring. Many frankly said it would take too much money to convert it and that the Library Trustees would not be able to afford the upkeep, if and when remodeled.
This did not stop anyone interested in the Library. An architect, Mr. Thomas Tanner of Ann Arbor, was hired to draw plans and advise the Trustees on structural needs. This he did for half his usual fee as a gift to the Library. He frankly said that the $5,000 in bonds would cover only the structural changes and the installation of steel beams in the floors to support the weight of books. Money had to come from some place, so an article was put in The Chelsea Standard asking for donations of money, materials or labor. The first gift came as a check from Paul Schaible, Sr., President of the Chelsea State Bank. This was published without naming the amount and the article promised to publish the names of any and all donors. Mr. Walter Leonard, Editor and owner of the Chelsea Standard, was most generous of space in his paper. There had been offers of labor and materials at the November meeting of the Friends. Mrs. Daniels, now in Florida for the winter, wrote to each person who had attended that meeting, as well as to many other individuals and organizations. $16,000 was raised in this way to complete the remodeling and decorating of the building. As well as money gifts, a great many people stopped in to give an hour or two or many hours of work. Every contractor and worker gave a contribution of his time, material or generous discount.
In the "Book of Donors" at the Library, there are the names of 493 individuals, industries, businesses, clubs, church groups, memorial funds, labor unions, six townships and the Village of Chelsea who contributed money, materials, labor or discounts. This was a true community effort. In June 1959, the Library was moved to its permanent home and in accordance with Mrs. McKune's will, the name was changed to the McKune Memorial Library.
When the remodeling was completed, the main floor consisted of four public rooms, a work room for the staff, storage space, and lavatories; on the second floor there is a spacious meeting room equipped with electric stove and sink, carpeted and furnished with sofas, chairs, tables, and lamps - all gifts of the Woman's Club; a Board Room furnished with a cherry wood table, eight chairs, breakfront cabinet and carpet, all bequests of Mrs. McKune; and an archives room. There is also a three-room apartment for a caretaker on the second floor in the back with its own private entrance. On the third floor, there are six small rooms which are used for storage by both the Library and the Village Council. The remodeling and redecorating of the entire building was done under the supervision of Mrs. E.W. Eaton, a Board member.
Since that time, an addition has been built onto the north side in 1961 for use as a fiction room, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Daniels. Beautiful birch furniture, shelving, chairs, table and desk were given for this room by the Central Fibre Products Company in memory of Henry C. Schneider, an early trustee.
At the time of remodeling, a gift was received from Doris Schumacher and her friends in memory of her sister Dorothy for the Children's Room. There were two round tables of different heights, eight pastel chairs, a book truck and some Hummel figurines. In 1968, new color steel shelving was installed in this room to replace the painted carpenter-built cases used until then, and in 1969 the rooms were carpeted, with the help of gifts from the present Child Study Club and the Friends of the Library.
In 1971, the four adult rooms were carpeted as a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul G. Schaible, Jr. Mrs. Schaible was a trustee.
The book collection, which began with 22 books and augmented by loans from the State Library, grew rapidly, the first gift being from Mr. O.L. Hoffman who presented the Library with 300 popular novels from his own shelves. Since early days, the book budget has been generous, with some 500 books added annually. A triennial inventory of the books is made at which time old, worn, and out-of-date books are discarded, to keep the collection modern and useful. All books in the McKune Memorial Library are on open shelves except some sets of classics which do not go out often. These can be had on request. This Library was fortunate in being one of the recipients of the McGregor Fund over a period of three years, 1967 to 1970, for the purchase of reference books.
This Library has been very fortunate with support from its Friends and the community, with many gifts made in the form of memorials, some for specified furniture or equipment, many unspecified. The Woman's Club, once the organizing Child Study Club, has given an annual money gift to the Library ever since it became tax supported. It is usually $100 but sometimes $200 and at the time of the remodeling of the McKune House, $600. There is a memorial book shelf which was started by the Friends of the Library in 1950 with 836 books now. Volunteers have also been helpful and generous in giving time to the Library.
Chelsea's Library is a Class IV library, because it serves a population of more than 3,000 but less than 5,000. The Library must be open 24 hours a week and the Librarian must hold a certificate from the State earned by attending two workshops. These have to be renewed every three years. In addition, the local library must submit a complete annual report of collections of books, magazines, records, etc. and finances to the State Library in order to receive this assistance. This library is open 40 hours per week and all Librarians hold Master Degrees in Library Science.
Now at the end of forty years, this Library has a collection of 18,000 books and 500 records. It subscribes to 39 magazines and 3 newspapers. It has 82 bound volumes of the Chelsea Standard and Chelsea Herald, 125 Michigan and county historical books and 1,450 prints in its collection of famous paintings. There are 2,500 registered borrowers to whom 30,000 books are loaned annually. "