WMUK News

Kalamazoo Ladies Library Association set to be inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame

WMUK | By Michael Symonds

Published October 15, 2025 at 4:51 PM EDT

A stone carving on a red brick building reads "Ladies Library" — The Kalamazoo Ladies Library Association's downtown building was completed in 1879.

After operating for over 170 years, the Kalamazoo Ladies' Library Association will be inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame on Oct. 22.

Kalamazoo’s Ladies’ Library Association will be inducted into the Michigan’s Women’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

The Kalamazoo Ladies’ Library Association was founded in 1852. It operated the first subscription-based library in Kalamazoo that was open to all residents, according to LLA President Sharon Carlson.

A woman in a gray wool textured overcoat and black pants stands at the top of concrete stairs next to a tall red brick pillar. A dark green sign on the pillar says the building was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1970. — Kalamazoo LLA President Sharon Carlson stands outside the LLA building in downtown Kalamazoo.

"We have a very good public library in our community, but for for the first,— between 1852 and about 1873, the women were really the library service in town," Carlson said.

By the end of the 19^th century there were similar organizations all around Michigan, with the Kalamazoo LLA helping other branches get started in the region.

These LLAs were more than just a space for women to read, according to Carlson. They were also a place for them to learn during a time when higher education was out of reach for many women.

A gold spotted bright blue painted ceiling is framed by a light brown wooden frame, with plain white paint finishing of the rest of the ceiling. — A gold-spotted bright blue painted ceiling inside the Kalamazoo LLA building.

"At a certain point this organization organized a more literary arm and that was truly a study group kind of organization where women would study a topic, they would give a paper and then other members would comment on it."

Carlson said the induction recognizes this impact and the historical significance of the Association.

“It recognizes the work that we have done historically in the greater Kalamazoo community, the influence it's had across the state of Michigan, and it speaks to the influence that it had most likely on the lives of dozens of women whose names we will never know.”

A woman wearing a blue suit jacket, white blouse and blue pants sits in a red chair, with a bouquet of yellow flowers standing on a table to the right. A long case of books stretches off on the left side of the image. — Kalamazoo LLA Vice President Elizabeth Kraatz sits in a lounge area inside the LLA building in downtown Kalamazoo.

LLA Vice President Elizabeth Kraatz echoed this, adding that she hoped the group’s induction will bring it greater visibility and boost membership.

“We are a very vibrant organization, rapidly growing in membership, and of course the membership is the lifeblood of any organization and that's what keeps us healthy and strong for the next century and centuries to come.”

Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.