Quincy Public Library

Book lending has been a tradition in Quincy since 1870 when the Literary Society was formed by a group of women who lived in Quincy. For the next two decades, the society circulated 400 books out of their homes. In 1898, the Ladies Library Association was organized and supervised by Mrs. Fred, a school teacher. It started off with 50 books and soon grew to more than 1000 volumes. Soon after C.W. Bennett, a Quincy resident, donated his entire estate for the founding of the Quincy Library. The library, which was dedicated in memory of Bennett’s son, was built in 1910 about the same time as many of the Carnegie libraries were being funded by Andrew Carnegie. Unlike Carnegie, Bennett’s only restriction on the new library was that his name not be on it. In 1911, all businesses in Quincy were asked to close in a gesture of respect to Bennett. Those that didn’t had their names printed in the local newspaper. The Quincy Public Library is a registered Michigan Historic Site and is still in operation as a library.