About the Library
In 1919 the women of the Garden Club conceived the idea for a public library in what was then Dearborn Township. Their vision was realized in 1924 with the opening of the new library, and it remained Dearborn’s main library until Henry Ford Centennial Library opened in 1969. The library was called Mason Branch Library until 1977 when it was renamed Bryant Branch Library in honor of Mrs. Katherine Wright Bryant, one of the Garden Club members who founded Dearborn’s library system. Mrs. Bryant was also a Library Commissioner for 37 years and the sister-in-law of Garden Club member Clara Ford (Mrs. Henry Ford) who gifted the land on which the library was built.
Entering from the Michigan Avenue side, a double stairway is flanked by two 1927 murals from Detroit artist Paul Honore. One mural is titled “Aspiration to Knowledge” and the other “Application of Knowledge.” On the main floor, two alcoves feature decorative fireplaces adorned with iridescent tiles from Detroit’s famed Pewabic Pottery. One set of tiles show characters from Walter Crane’s “The Baby Opera” and the other set has designs inspired by Persian antiquities.
The building currently shares space with the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce that occupies the first floor. Bryant Branch Library is fully modern with adult and children’s book collections, magazines and newspapers, seven public internet stations, a digital download station and large DVD and CD collections.
