Michigan/Ypsilanti Heritage Room

The Michigan/Ypsilanti Heritage Room is located on the second floor of the Whittaker Road library, near the Reference Desk, and is open whenever the library is open. The collection consists of books, maps, photographs, documents, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings related to the history of the State of Michigan and the Ypsilanti area. Some of the books and photographs have been in the library since the Ypsilanti Ladies Library on North Huron Street was founded in 1868. The collection now also has microfilm of the many versions of the local Ypsilanti newspapers from 1864 to the present, a microfilm reader/printer and a computer with access to all the library’s databases, office software, and the Internet. New materials are added to the collection both by purchase and from donations.

All the material in the Michigan/Ypsilanti Heritage Room must be used in the library only, but may be photocopied in black and white or in color on public photocopiers in the library. The room has a study table, two wing-back reading chairs, a DVD player for watching interviews with local veterans as part of the Library of Congress Veterans’ History Project, a cassette player for listening to oral histories, three glass cases to show changing displays of local residents’ collections related to Ypsilanti or Michigan, and a beautiful view of the woods behind the library through ceiling to floor windows.