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Constantine Township Library

Who We Are

Constantine Township Library is located in St. Joseph County in southwestern lower Michigan on the beautiful St. Joseph River.

In 1915 a group of community minded citizens of Constantine organized a library which was opened to the public on June 24, 1916 with Miss Helen Helme as the first librarian. They started by donating books from their homes and the village council voted $100 towards renting a room in the business district. In 1921, in order to receive public tax support, the library was made a township library as chartered by the State of Michigan.

The ground breaking ceremony for a new Township Hall Library building was on May 3, 1974. On December 4th of that year the building was completed and after many years of renting rooms, the library moved in to a permanent home during the week of December 9th. A public open house was held by the Township Board,  Library Board and staff on Sunday, January 26, 1975.

(From the "Village of Constantine, from a Meek beginning, Reflections of 150 years" 1828- 1978)

CONSTANTINE TOWNSHIP LIBRARY MISSION

 The mission of the Constantine Township Library is to select, acquire, organize and provide access to books and other materials and services for the informational, educational and recreational needs to citizens of all ages.  The library will provide access to needed materials not available at the library through cooperative programs with other libraries.

 The library will support intellectual freedom by providing access and guidelines to information which represents all points of view.

 The library will publicize and encourage use of its resources and services.

 GOAL 1:

  •  Provide access to information, resources and services to citizens of all ages within the Constantine Township Library’s service area.
  •  Provide hours of service to adequately meet public demand.
  •  Provide reference service, both at the library and over the phone.
  •  Continue to provide children’s programs on a regular basis and adult programs as needed, and to provide a summer reading program for all ages.
  •  Participate and network with other libraries through the Woodlands Library Cooperative to maximize the sharing of resources.

 GOAL 2:

  •  Provide materials to meet the informational, educational and recreational needs of all patrons of the Constantine Township Library.
  •  Collect materials in both print and non-print formats that respond to the unique needs of the community.
  • Maintain and implement a Collection Development Policy to provide adequate supplies of recreational reading materials to meet local demand.
  • Update and implement a Collection Development Policy to include special format materials to meet the needs of people with disabilities.
  • Develop and maintain a Community Resource File which includes information about cultural, educational, business and government agencies in the community.
  • Develop and organize the Local History/Genealogy collection.

 GOAL 3:

  • Develop a marketing plan to increase public awareness and use of library services.
  • Use marketing techniques to assess changing community interests and needs.
  • Develop and implement special promotional campaigns to increase public awareness of library resources and services.
  • Enlarge and expand use of signage to facilitate patron usage of collections.
  • Develop and distribute promotional literature to acquaint users with new library materials and services.
  • Continue to distribute a newsletter which will be delivered to each household within the Constantine postal service area, and which will serve the purpose of promoting library programming and services.  Make copies available in large print and audio formats.

 GOAL 4:

  • Develop and maintain a staff dedicated to the provision of courteous and effective service.
  •  Provide orientation and training programs for all new staff and volunteers
  • Encourage staff to take part in continuing educations programs available through the Woodlands Library Cooperative in those areas that pertain to their job responsibilities.