Located in downtown Iron River, Michigan, the West Iron District Library is a friendly, local resource for fiction and non-fiction books, DVDs, music CDs, reference books, internet, and printing access as well as engaging free programs and events for the whole family.
The West Iron District Library promotes knowledge, understanding, and wisdom by providing the best possible educational, cultural and recreational resources and programs, personnel, and facilities to every library user.
After the closing of the Carnegie Library in 1967, a new library was established as a one-room facility in the basement of the Iron River City Hall.
In 1995, a much-needed change of location occurred with the help of a generous donation by local attorney, Les Fisher, and his sister Aileen, a nationally known author of children’s books. They purchased the Selin building and donated it to the library. The renovated former hardware store, measuring 6,500 square feet, became the library’s new home.
Due to strong program attendance, ongoing collection development, and the public’s appetite for computers, the library once again became “space-challenged.” In 2002, the neighboring establishment-Header Inn-was purchased and dismantled. Plans for a 3,500-square-foot addition that would enlarge juvenile, young adult, and adult collection areas, provide a computer room, relocate the staff workroom, and dramatically increase program space were made.
With a Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs grant, public donations, The Friends of the Library support, and generous bequests from Robert H. Loo and J. Patrick White, the new addition opened in August 2008.
In 2016, with the generously donated funds from J. Patrick White, the Les Fisher Trust, Pearl Andreoli, Eunice Jones, and fundraising efforts of the Friend of the Library, the Reader’s Courtyard was completed, allowing the Library to include green space, providing a space for outdoor programming, and space for patrons to gather and read and for our youngest patrons to play.
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas and that the following basic policies should guide their services.