Library services, in one form or another, have been offered for nearly 135 years in the city of Hillsdale. In 1879 a group of women formed a library association formed with the intention to “circulate good literature among the people of Hillsdale.” The books they collected would eventually become the foundation of the Mitchell Public Library, which opened in 1908. The Mitchell Public Library served Hillsdale for 95 years until the construction of the Hillsdale Community Library in 2003, a two million dollar state-of-the-art library building.
Growing from the initial collection of 2,666 volumes, the Hillsdale Community Library collection currently stands at over 50,000 volumes and continues to grow. The new library also includes dedicated space for children, teen, and adult materials, plus large print, audio books, and DVDs. There are 14 public access computers. The facility includes a spacious community meeting room that not only provides programming space for the library, but also for local civic and other organizations, to rent for presentations and meetings.