Ladies Library Association / Ladies Library Building

Eight women met to organize the Traverse City Ladies Library Association on July 23, 1869. Their constitution, adopted on July 28, allowed any lady to join the library for a dollar. It cost 25 cents each quarter to “draw” books. Before long, they allowed men to also borrow materials. The library was to be open Fridays between “3 and 4½ o’clock.” The association held lectures, fairs, socials and festivals to raise funds. By its first annual meeting, it boasted 329 purchased and donated books, magazines and newspapers. Ladies Library Building In 1878, the Ladies Library Association built its first library at 205 E. Front Street. It rented the second story as a public hall. It sold that struc-ture, and on July 23, 1909, it laid the cornerstone and time capsule for this building. The architect was Fred E. Moore; the contractor, E. E. Buckner. The association gave the Red Cross Volunteer Service space for bandage making during World War II. In 1944 it donated the building to the city, which converted it into its police station in 1958. The building was rehabilitated for private law offices in 1986.