100 Years of the Ryerson Public Library

An exhibit titled "Celebrating 100 Years of the Ryerson Public Library" is on display at the library on the third floor, the Grand Rapids History and Special Collections Center (formerly Local History Department).

Photos from the library's archives portray scenes of the building "then" and "now".  They will show how the usage of the various rooms has changed over the years.  Please join us in celebrating 100 years of this historic building, and enjoy memories of the past contrasted to the beauty of the current renovation.  

The exhibit will be on display from April through December of 2004.

The Ryerson Library was dedicated to the citizens of Grand Rapids on October 5, 1904.

 In 1904, the new library stood in a residential neighborhood.

Martin Ryerson, benefactor of the Ryerson building.  

Although he lived most of his life in Chicago, he was born in Grand Rapids.

Interior rooms

Lobby

The History Room.  The Grand Rapids Historical Society donated more than 30,000 historical items, collected by the Old Settlers Society and later by the

Historical Society, to the Ryerson Library for safe keeping.

In 2003, after extensive remodeling, the Grand Rapids Public Library re-opened, with the

Ryerson Building restored to its' original grandeur.