Monday, Wednesday: 12pm – 8pm
Tuesday, Thursday: 10am – 6pm
Saturday: 9am – 5pm
Friday, Sunday: Closed
This library has an after hours drop box.
Phone: (810) 686-7130
Fax: (810) 776-8195
Address: 2080 W Vienna Rd., Clio, MI 48420
Send Us an Email
The group holds several book sales throughout the year. You may contact them by calling 810-686-7130.
The Clio Library opened on July 15, 1943 in what had once been a barber shop on the west end of downtown Clio on Vienna Road. It had an initial collection of 500 books and the first librarian was named Mabel Blackney.
Due to heating problems, the library temporarily moved to the town council room in 1946. It remained there until 1949 when it was moved again to a dedicated room in the new fire hall.
In 1956 the library moved again, this time to the new high school building, where it functioned as both school library and town library.
In 1966 the school needed additional space and the library moved to the former Latter-Day Saints church at the corner of New and Young streets.
In 1977 control of the library was turned over to a cooperative board consisting of representatives from the “Northern Tier” communities of Clio City, Thetford Township, and Vienna Township. This move ran parallel to the creation of similar boards for the Fire Authority and the Parks and Recreation Department.
In 1978 the Clio Library became part of the larger, newly formed Genesee District Library. Clio was the first library to join the new system. This continued the history of being first, as it was also the first branch of GDL’s forerunner, the Genesee County Library system.
The Clio Library Board took ownership of the former Pine Run School which would be renovated into both the library and a senior center. These renovations took place in 1978 and the library moved into its current home.
The 1978 renovations were the third set of four significant architectural changes made to the former Pine Run School. The core of the building goes back to the late 19th century. The second set of changes were completed in 1928 and included the local school district’s machine shop, though the building’s main purpose was as a grade school.
The 1978 renovations remade the upstairs into a senior center with a large kitchen and multipurpose room. It also held the home office of the local chamber of commerce for many years. The library occupied the bottom floor, a 4,560 square foot space.
The last set of renovations occurred in 2012-2013 when the windows on the west side of the building were changed from the large picture windows of the 1970s to smaller, more energy efficient ones.
There are two supernatural urban legends that the library inherited with the Pine Run School building. Every year the library has visitors stop in to investigate the alleged strange goings-on.
The first is that the library is haunted by a kindergartener who died in class. To date, no one has seen or heard this phantom child.
The second is that one of the walls in the basement is devoted to a mural of the Grim Reaper. To date, no one has seen this mural either.
When the senior center moved to its new home in 2007, the library took control of the upstairs as well. The former multi-purpose room now provides one of the largest program venues in the district. In 2011 one of the smaller upstairs rooms was converted to a computer lab, giving the Clio Area branch 18 public access computers.
Over the past few years the branch has also received many cosmetic improvements, thanks to the generosity of the Clio Friends of the Library. A new mural in the children’s room, new carpeting, new exterior paint, and a growing collection of decorative quilts are all the result of their hard work holding three annual book sales.
The building’s exterior has also been upgraded in recent years thanks to the efforts of the Clio Business Development Association. Parts of the south and east sides of the building are now a registered Monarch Butterfly Garden, one of several in the area. In addition, the BDA installed stonework around the events sign in front of the building on Vienna Road.