The Ionia Community Library is housed in the Hall-Fowler House, a beautiful mid-nineteenth century building in downtown Ionia.
Frederick Hall, a Vermont-born businessman and banker, settled in Ionia in 1841 when he was twenty-five years old. Primarily engaged in buying and selling pine lands, he was also a public official. In 1845, President James K. Polk appointed Hall a receiver of public money for the land office in Ionia. Four years later, he won election to the state legislature, and in 1873, when Ionia was incorporated as a city, he became its first mayor.
Befitting his family's affluence, Hall hired Captain Lucius Mills to build a square two-story mansion in 1869-1870. Fredrick, his wife Ann, and their daughter Marion moved into the home and it soon became a center of politics and entertaining.
The Hall-Fowler home is one of the best examples of Italianate architecture in Western Michigan. Constructed of local variegated ashlar sandstone, the building's facade displays a great double-panel oak door emphasized by an elaborate front porch, a double arched window, a trefoil-like attic window, a central gable, and an ornate octagonal central cupola. Intricately carved wooden brackets, both paired and single, support the main eaves, while single brackets grace the cupola, porch, and sunroom eaves. Tudor-style semicircular hoods with keystones and end stones set off the elongated windows.
In 1903, Marion Hall-Fowler (1849-1931) deeded the house to the city of Ionia, stipulating that it be "forever used for library purposes" and "known as the Hall-Fowler Memorial Library." The Hall-Fowler House was granted recognition as a Michigan Historic Site in 1992.
Reorganized as the Ionia Community Library in 2003, the Hall-Fowler House continues to provide a venue for education, enlightenment, and personal growth for residents of Ionia County. Library tours are available for groups and individuals by appointment.
Discover more about the Hall-Fowler House as well as the historic structures and landmarks in Ionia by visiting the following websites:
List of Registered Historic Places in Ionia County, MI
Ionia Historic District

.

To view our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Summary & Procedures & Guidelines click below:

All Members of the Board of Trustees can be reached by contacting the Ionia Community Library. Email: paulawood.icl@gmail.com

The Ionia Community Library Board of Trustees Meetings are at 6PM in the Administrative Offices on the second floor of the library.

Everyone is welcome to use the library's collection in the building. A library card is required to check out library materials. Residents of the City of Ionia and the following townships qualify for regular library cards: Berlin, Easton, Ionia, North Plains, Orange, Orleans, and Ronald. All or portions of these municipalities are within the library district.

Registering for a library card requires either a valid Michigan Driver's License or Michigan Identification Card with your current street address. Minors under the age of 18 are required to have a parent or guardian present identification and co-sign for their library card. There is no charge for the first library card.

As a member of the Lakeland Library Cooperative (LLC), the Ionia Community Library honors cards issued by our member libraries. Ionia County residents who do not live in LLC service areas are entitled to a free nonresident card. The library also offers varying levels of fee-based services for nonresidents.

Library cardholders or co-signers are responsible for all materials checked out to that card and for paying fines and/or replacement costs when accrued. Please notify the library if your card is lost or has been stolen.

New Ionia Community Library patrons are limited to five items checked out at a time for the first three months.