Clinton-Macomb Public Library Plans New North Branch

MACOMB COUNTY, MI — Groundbreaking for a new Clinton-Macomb Public Library North Branch is expected to take place next year with completion as early as spring 2020. The new facility, which is expected to be about twice the size of the current North Branch, will be built at 25 Mile Road and Broughton Road in Macomb Township. Costs for the project are estimated at about $13 million.

The CMPL Library Board voted last month to approve the project. Besides the North Branch, Clinton Township hosts the Main and South library branches. CMPL Library Director Larry Neal said the current facility, which is located on 24 Mile Road, no longer meets the community’s needs.

“The current North Branch is located in a building that was meant to be used as a medical office building,” Neal told the Macomb Daily. “We’ve done our best to make it a welcoming place for the community, but we’ve simply outgrown the space.”

Voters approved an eight-year millage in 2014, allowing the library to maintain its service level and to restore its materials, the newspaper reported. During the library’s 2014 millage campaign, it promised changes to the North Branch and is now set to deliver. At just 14,000 square feet, the current location is so small one item needs to be removed for every new item added to the library’s collection due to lack of space.

Library officials considered remodeling it, but found it insufficient for the rapidly growing area, the Macomb Daily reported. The North branch currently has 10,000 visitors each month and is expected to grow. “Macomb Township is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state,” Neal told the newspaper. “Even if we had decided to remodel the existing building, there would still be insufficient parking and challenges to using the current location as a library.”

The new facility is expected to allow the library to offer more materials space, group study rooms and an expanded children’s area. Other possible features include a drive-up book return, a larger community meeting room, sufficient power outlets for laptops and tablets, and ample parking. The new facility is expected to be between 25,000 and 30,000 square feet, the Macomb Daily reported.

Currently, the planned location for the new North Branch is not owned by CMPL. But Macomb Township Supervisor Janet Dunn said the matter of donating five acres of land for the library will be placed on the Macomb Township Board of Trustees April 26 agenda.

“When the Town Center plan originated there was to be a town hall, a recreation center, a court and a library,” Dunn told the Macomb Daily. “That was the original overall plan. The court issue did not materialize, but at long last the library is coming.”

Photo courtesy of the Clinton-Macomb Public Library