IONIA, Mich. — Accessibility is all about making sure people can get in the door. For one Michigan library, this definition is apt.
“We’re operating out of literally a 153-year-old Victorian home,” says Dale Perpus, the director of the Ionia Community Library. “The doors are probably original to the place. So even though they’re beautiful, they’re not functional for what we need them to do as a public facility.”
The library has been sharing stories with the Ionia community for nearly 20 years and has tried multiple times to raise money via millages and move the library out of the Hall-Fowler home to a more dependable building. Once in 2018 and twice in 2022, the millage failed.
Perpus says the library still hasn’t given up hope for a transplant. But in the meantime, they’re concentrating on making the current building accessible for all.
This week, the Ionia Community Library announced a $20,000 grant from the American Library Association, one with a special emphasis on enabling small and rural communities to improve facilities and boost access for those with disabilities.
“That’s just basic dignity, to be able to get somebody who’s disabled, to be able to use the entire facility,” says Perpus, who takes functionality personally.
His brother-in-law used an amigo scooter for 20 years and could not visit the library, Perpus’ workplace. He said another woman, who wanted to join the library’s knitting group, found the building too hard to navigate.
“We know that we’ve been turning people away. And that’s not right,” Perpus says. “I’m very confident that we’re going to be able to change that.”
Doors are first on the list. With a handful of fixes, such as adding automatic push buttons and changing swing doors to slide doors, it will be much easier for people to get inside the building.
The elevators, too, could be modernized. “It was well-meaning in 1989, or so, when it was put in. But it was with the thought that a person would be accompanying another person that was disabled. And that’s not the thinking that we should have. We want to make it so that the disabled person with disabilities is able to take care of themselves.”
Also, the library hopes to upgrade the bathrooms to be compliant with ADA guidelines, to install automatic water fountains and to spruce up a winding staircase that poses dangers for kids and seniors, as well as people with mobility issues.
The $20,000 grant is just one of many funding opportunities the library pursued to update its space. Twice last year, the Ionia Community Library tried to rally voters around a millage and raise enough funds to move the library downtown to the old Mercantile Bank building, which was donated to the library two years ago but still needs repairs.
Voters turned down the millage both times.
“Those two votes that were really so close that they kind of hurt,” Perpus recalls.
Thankfully, he says the library’s team is resilient, and they pivoted to a new plan. “We got over it and said, you know, it’s time to do our jobs and let’s do it. So that’s why we’re doing all these grants, whether they’re the small ones for the current building or the multi-million-dollar ones for the larger dream down the road.”
That dream is still on the table. But for now, the Ionia Community Library is committed to making the current building better for everyone.
“Just keep your eyes on the Ionia Community Library,” said Perpus. “ And we’re going to be able to eventually move into that building and do our job even better. That’s just want I want to tell FOX 17 and the entire Ionia community.”
Next, the library will hold meetings with residents, especially those with special needs, to gather input on how to refine the building and increase accessibility.
For more information on the Ionia Community Library, check out the website here.
