New Cass District Library set to open at the end of February

CASS COUNTY, Mich. -- By the end of February, Cass District Library will have a new home in Edwardsburg, Michigan. The new library building is 10,000 square feet and will hold 20,000 books, whereas the previous library in town was only 3,000 square feet. The new building goes way beyond just a place for book lovers to escape. There will also be community spaces for meetings and classes, a makerspace, and a coffee cafe as well.

Christopher Korenowsky, Director of Cass District Library, tells ABC57's Sidney Moore that this project started up around the early 2020s after realizing they had outgrown the old facility. He says they wanted to find a way to create a space not only filled with books, but a place for the community to gather as well.

This new space also has many ties to the community throughout the building. The cafe is named after an Edwardsburg resident, Mimi was an educator and caregiver and several local families wanted to find a way to honor her impact on the community so they named the coffee corner after her!

The community involvement is not confined to the four walls of the library; the Cass District Library sits on over five acres of land where in the summer months there will be different events like concerts, movies and more for the community to enjoy.

The Cass District Library took over three years to build, due to setbacks with weather. Korenowsky says approximately 37 trees were knocked down due to weather that caused some setbacks on the property along with other shipping delays. The new library is set to open on Feb. 27 around 1 p.m. and anyone from the community is welcome to attend.