The LLA opened the first lending library in Kalamazoo in 1852. Over the years, books were added to the collection by purchase and donation. By 1879, the collection grew to over 2,000 books and increased to 3,000 in 1908. The books are no longer available for loan.
Many treasures remain in the bookcases, including works by Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson. These books stand in tribute to the women of the LLA who gave the village of Kalamazoo its first public library.
