Hidden Gems: Mackinac Island’s Public Library is a Bibliophile’s Dream

Mackinac Island’s Public Library is chock full of story. Not only is it a one-stop-facility for all of your literary needs, it’s also a peaceful oasis when you want to indulge your inner bibliophile sea-side.

Photo by Linda Sorenson

The public library of Mackinac Island was originally founded in 1936 by Rosa Truscott Disbrow Webb, the president of the Mackinac Island Community Association at the time, with the help of the Mackinac Island Girl Scouts — Michigan’s first troop. The original location was the former John Jacob Astor House on Market Street, however after a couple relocations the Public Library found it’s forever home at Biddle Point in 1990.

The robin’s egg blue building features a stately front porch, a peaceful reading room, and back porch overlooking the water. The building’s interior is just as picturesque — designed by the one-and-only Carleton Varney, the man behind the Grand Hotel’s show stopping interior design. Keep an eye out for their ongoing used book sale as well as workshops, art shows, and their annual Summer Author Series which this year features the work of Nancy J. Bailey, Stephen Mack Jones, and Peter Marabell — all of whom have ties to the Mitten State. 

In need of research assistance, the Mackinac Island Public Library is an invaluable resource, including their Mackinac Collection — an astonishingly well-preserved collection of non-circulating materials on Mackinac and Michigan history. This collection is reserved to serious researchers looking for resources regarding genealogy and historical projects.

 Wherever the breeze might take your imagination, this hidden gem on Mackinac Island has the book — or two, or three — to match and a comfy chair to get lost in.