Peter White Public Library offers more than a century of lending and learning | News, Sports, Jobs

MARQUETTE — Peter Quintard White started a private lending library in his law practice during the mid to late 1800s

By 1872, the library grew to over 10,000 volumes, according to the library’s history page, thus, the first Peter White Library was born.

Marquette City Hall was the first place, outside of White’s law office, that was home to the new library. White donated $4,000 to establish the public library and $1,000 for cases and the completion of a room in the new city hall.

The library was shifted from location to location, moving to the First National Bank Building then the Thurber Block on Washington Street before its final location, where it still sits today on the corner of Front and Ridge streets, was built.

In 1891, the school district library and Peter White’s private library were combined by a special act of the Michigan Legislature to become the Peter White Public Library.

The deeds to the land where the structure currently stands were donated by John Munro and Mary Beecher Longyear in 1900.

The white stone building opened to the public in 1904 at a cost of $47,000.

The Beaux Arts Classical building of white Bedford India limestone designed by Chicago architectural firm Patton and Miller, was designed in deliberate contrast to the brick and sandstone structures in Marquette at the time.

In 1958, an addition was built to modernize the building, according to the library website.

It was determined that the building should be updated again in 1996, after Marquete residents approved a $4.5 million bond which was matched by $4.5 collected from private and corporate donations to modernize and make the structure ADA compliant. The grand opening for the expansion was held in 2000.

In 2017, residents of Marquette voted again to support of a capital improvement bond to allow PWPL to restore the historic building, improve efficiency and access as well as update furnishings and spaces to meet community needs.

PWPL is the largest library in the Upper Peninsula’s 15 counties. It serves over 36,000 residents.

According to the libraries.org website, the PWPL currently has over 184,000 including books, CD’s DVD’s, E-books and art prints.

It circulates nearly 240,000 items per year.

An average of 639 people visit the PWPL building each day. It is home to the Marquette Arts and Culture Center, and hosts regular community events.