Detroit's 'deeply illuminating' libraries go beyond books

Detroit — Libraries such as the nation's fourth largest system in the United States hold valuable historical records of phone books, maps, architectural designs and obituary searches.

Library perks are offered to residents of Detroit, Highland Park, Hamtramck, schools, nursing homes and senior residences. Cards are free for residents of these cities, and it does not cost to check out most items. Outside residents pay $100 a year to be members.

More:Detroit public libraries face crisis due to COVID, money and politics

One of Detroit Public Library system’s unique features is the Burton Historical Collection, one of the largest archives in Michigan. Francis Grunow, an amateur historian, started using Burton as a high school student at Cass Tech researching Ferry Street. During law school, he used the collection to research history that would help him establish the Marche Du Nain Rouge Parade.

"That collection has been unavailable and that's quite troubling because Burton specifically is an encyclopedic collection of Detroit history — things you can't get elsewhere including photographs, city directories, that give researchers a really deep understanding of Detroit's history from different perspectives. This isn't something you can replicate easily online," said Grunow, 49.

"Just because some people aren't using resources as much as they used to, it shouldn't diminish the resource for people who would like it," he added. "It's deeply illuminating. There's nothing like really staring at something by 3 feet high by 2 feet high that has detail, depth and layers that you can't convey on a screen."

Beyond the books: Checking out what’s at the library

Here’s what you can find through the Detroit Public Library system:

• The Burton Historical Collection is home to the National Automotive History Collection, the E. Azalia Hackley Collection of African Americans in the performing arts, the Ernie Harwell Sports Collection and the Rare Book Collection, which is filled with first editions, fine bindings, illuminated manuscripts and incunabula (books printed before 1500).
• The Detroit Newspaper Search, an extensive collection of Detroit News, Detroit Free Press and Detroit Times articles starting from 1874 to the present.
• Services like photocopying, printing and computer assistance, including classes, laptops, earbuds and hotspots to go, online learning and telephone services.
• AtoZ World Travel, a travel resource containing hundreds of Travel Guides covering topics such as travel essentials, security, neighborhoods, excursions, culture and language.
• Kanopy, an on-demand video streaming service with more than 30,000 documentaries, movies and educational videos from producers like PBS.
• The HYPE Teen card (Helping Young People Excel), which gives teenagers aged 13-18 access to the Teen Center at the Main Library to explore or simply hang out. This offers leadership skills and volunteer opportunities
• Assistance for small businesses
• Cooking classes
• Meetups for activities from Lego to Scrabble
• GED assistance, test preparations, employment help, access to federal documents, assistance in applying for patents and trademarks, offering a library for the blind and physically handicapped.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_