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7265
West Main A group of interested Oshtemo Township citizens began meeting in 1964 to discuss forming a library. Their work continued for two years before the township board agreed to allocate funds for the project. In 1966 Oshtemo Station opened its doors in what was referred to as "the former Standard School building on West Main Street." No other reference has been found to Standard School. The building also appears to have been called old Hurd School, and still stands on the north side of West Main near the intersection of 8th Street. The station began service with a volunteer staff and fewer than 1000 books. It had close ties with the Kalamazoo Public Library, which loaned books for circulation and provided matching funds to purchase new materials. In 1968, Miss Lillian Anderson retired from the Kalamazoo Public Library staff and became a volunteer at the Oshtemo Station in charge of ordering new books.
Kalamazoo
has now grown beyond the branch's location, but originally it was
still fairly rural. Early
annual reports complain of many days closed due to heavy winter
weather and of the mess engendered by the widening of M-43.
But the little library persevered and quickly outgrew its
original home. In 1972
it moved across the road into the "new" Hurd School, which
had by then ceased to be used as such.
A year later it officially became a branch of the Kalamazoo
Public Library. Its first head librarian was Mrs. Betsy Watts.
An
unusual form of library service was provided one memorable day in
1986 when a Bangor woman in labor was forced to stop at the branch
by a blinding rainstorm. Her
baby girl was born in the library parking lot, assisted by three
nurses who happened to be in the library, and by firemen from next
door who held a tarp over the woman's truck to protect all
concerned. The rain
abated, the family continued to the hospital, where mom and baby
were doing fine. Since
baby Ashley was too young for a library card, the library staff sent
flowers instead. Along
with the branch's newest patron and the township, the branch
continued to grow. By 1995 the Oshtemo Branch was bursting at the
seams. That year Kalamazoo Library District voters approved funding
to prepare its facilities for a new century of service to the
community. Ground was
broken a year later for a new 18,000 square foot building to house
Oshtemo Branch. Service continued in the old building until the new
one was completed, then the old one was demolished.
The
whimsical new building arose like a medieval village around a
castle. Designed to
appeal to children and the young at heart, it features colorful,
basic geometric forms. A
circular path leads through the barrel-vaulted reading room, past
the reference area, circulation desk, young adult and children's
rooms, and into a community meeting room.
A quiet story room enchants young patrons with its
floor-level windows and pillows. The building sits on a ten-acre prairie that adjoins
the township park. The large grounds allow more landscaping
than at other library branches. Paths wind through native
grasses and flowers that bloom all summer.
Originally written by KPL staff about 1998. Extensively updated in August 2005. Last updated in October 2005.
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