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The Library of Michigan

This guide includes information about the Library of Michigan, as well as links to relevant areas of its website.

Michigan History

Library of Michigan logo

The Library of Michigan, according to their mission statement, was created by the Michigan Legislature to “guarantee the people of this State and their government one perpetual institution to collect and preserve Michigan publications, conduct reference and research and support libraries statewide”.  Located in Lansing, MI, it is open to the public for legal, historical, and genealogical research.

In addition to its plethora of resources, the Library of Michigan houses the following types of historical publications for patrons' research and review (see below).

County Histories

The County Guides section holds a document for each county in the state.

The document holds a few facts about the county as well as a brief bibliography of relevant general works, maps, newspapers, government publications, and other records.  These are available as downloadable PDF files.

Michigan Digital Collections

The Michigan Digital Collections are online collections of digitized materials from the Library of Michigan holdings:
  • Library of Michigan Digital is an online repository of unique and authoritative state and local government resources. This resource is free to all users.
  • Michigan Legislative Biography Database covers members of the Michigan state legislature from the first session following statehood in 1835 through the current session.
  • Michigan Memories provides access to collections from cultural institutions throughout the state of Michigan. It's overall technological infrastructure is currently overseen by Wayne State University Library System with advisory support from the advisory committee of the Michigan Service Hub.
  • Poets of Michigan includes biographies and selected works of poets Will Carleton, John C. Wright and Edgar Guest.

Newspapers

The Library of Michigan has a substantial collection of newspapers on microfilm.  The Newspapers section includes: 
  • Newspaper finding aids by city and county
  • An index of papers held on microfilm 
  • Newspaper histories (records of news sources that have merged, ended, or changed names or companies over the years)
  • Links to news resources held by other Michigan libraries

Other Historical Resources

In addition to the county guides, Michigan Digital Collections, and newspaper holdings, the Library of Michigan offers several other historical resources:
  • Rare Materials Collections (includes books, maps, posters, newspapers, magazines, and other print resources covering the spectrum of subjects as the other collections in the Library of Michigan)
  • The Michigan Imprints index (a project undertaken during the Great Depression to create a comprehensive list of books published in Michigan prior to 1877)
  • Michigan Bibliographies (a set of book lists and guides for research about people, places, and things in the state)