Gaines Station Library

Library Address - Get Driving Directions
103 W. Walker Street
Gaines, MI 48436
Phone: 989-271-8720

Branch Hours (New Hours)
Mon - Thurs: 2 pm - 6 pm
Fri: Closed; Sat: 1 pm - 5 pm
Sunday: Closed

Events @ the Gaines Station Library

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Branch History

Just as you should not judge a book by its cover, you should not judge a library by its size. Although it has only 900 square feet in which to squeeze everything in, the Gaines Station Library provides the same materials and services as GDL's other 18 branches.

The library carried only children's books when it first opened almost ten years ago. But, as a result of higher-than-anticipated usage by people of all ages, the branch now stocks books for adults and teens as well. In addition, it has about 800 DVDs, access to GDL's wireless computer network, a copy machine, and two public computers connected to GDL's high-speed internet connection and preloaded with Microsoft Office Suite and various other computer programs.

What the branch lacks in terms of space it more than makes up for in historical ambience. In fact, the reason the library came into being was to enable Gaines residents to rescue and restore to its former glory their most important historic landmark.

As the library's name suggests, the building in which it is housed was originally a train depot owned and operated by Grand Trunk Railroad from the date of its construction in 1884 until 1956.

In 1990, after the building had stood empty for 34 years and become uninhabitable, local preservationists belonging to a nonprofit group called Gaines Station, Inc. bought it from Grand Trunk to save it from its most likely fate under the railroad company's continued ownership -- demolition.

Then, with mostly free labor and funding provided by private donations and grants, the group undertook the arduous process of restoring and converting the brick structure with its classic Victorian architectural design into a library. When the project was completed in 1998, GDL opened its 18th branch in the former depot.

As a black and white 19th century photograph on the web site MichiganRailroads.com shows, the depot in its heyday was a central gathering spot for Gaines villagers. And, according to Gaines Branch Librarian Beverly Wallace, now that the treasured site has reopened its doors as a library it is once again the hub of the small community of about 360 people.

Gaines one and only librarian so far, Beverly was a retired Bentley High School teacher with a masters degree in library studies from the University of Michigan when her son showed her the Gaines librarian posting on the internet.

Having attended nearby Durand High School and therefore already knowing several people in the Gaines area, Beverly could not resist applying for the position. Since landing it, she says she has had so much fun re-establishing former ties and making new friends at the library she cannot imagine retiring ever again.

Indeed, her family's popularity precedes her. Beverly's father made such a good impression on Gaines residents when he was a car salesman in Durand that one of Beverly's library patrons was named after him.

Stop by, not just to admire the gorgeous final product of the village's long and determined restoration campaign, but to marvel at just how much even the tiniest of libraries can offer with a little help from the internet and a few other modern-day conveniences.