Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
Featured photo: Gloria Coles
What was formerly known as the Flint Public Library is now The Gloria Coles Flint Public Library!
Coles contributed to the library, to which in May 2022, a $30 million renovation was completed, and to the Flint community, in outstanding and sometimes atypical ways.
Coles became director of Flint Public Library in April 1984 and was the first African American woman to hold that position. Under her leadership, the library raised funds and built an 8,750 sq. ft. two-story addition to the main building in 1990.
At the recent library renaming ceremony, Kay Schwartz, executive director of the Flint Public Library, shared the library’s history with an enthusiastic audience. The library traces its roots to the Ladies Library Association, formed in 1851, in the settlement of Flint, before Flint was even a city! In 1885, the Ladies Library Association donated their library to the board of the Union School District of Flint, later the Flint Board of Education, for use as a free public library for the residents of Flint. In 1998, Flint Public Library became an independent district library.
Coles also helped guide the library through this transition.
Reta Stanley, president of the Flint Public Library Board of Trustees, pointed out the historic renaming event actually started in early 2022 when she was approached by several individuals representing a grassroots community. She stated among these individuals was Norm Bryant, DeWaun E. Robinson, Dr. E. Hill De Loney and Elizabeth Taylor, along with many others.
“I talked to them morning, noon and night, and eventually representatives of that group came before the Flint Public Library Board to advocate for the change,” said Stanley.
On September 1, 2022, the Flint Public Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the name of the library to honor Gloria Coles. The decision was later affirmed by the Flint Board of Education and the Flint City Council.
Jo Anne Mondowney, former executive director of the Flint Public Library, told the Courier Coles’ work at the library went beyond talking about books.
“It was about disrupting poverty, helping people elevate themselves,” Mondowney said. “People don’t always think of libraries of being able to do that, but you can in ways you don’t think about. We were able to help people with their income taxes, help people fill out applications for college, help people help their parents who may have been alcoholics and help young people take classes and see themselves beyond where they were. Gloria Coles was the engine that drove us to do these things!”
Valeria Moon spoke representing the Moon family. Moon has been a very close friend to Coles for many years. She recalled when Berston Fieldhouse housed a swimming pool and the library, both of which she has good memories of going to.
According to Moon, “Inclusivity,” with a capital I, was Coles’ creed.
“Gloria made sure no child was left behind in the inclusion of multiple, rich programs for not only the youth, but for the elderly,” said Moon.
Sally Kagerer, who served on the Flint Public Library Board of Trustees for more than nine years, talked about how Coles had built a nationally recognized reputation for the Flint Public Library. According to Kagerer, the inclusivity at the library brought more users through the door of the Flint Public Library than ever seen.
Kagerer said: “By the year 2000, libraries in the state of Michigan were going to be defunded due to passage by voters of Proposal A, which had happened a few years earlier. Proposal A would limit how much property taxes could rise. In effect, it would be a tax cut over time. Prior to Proposal A, all libraries in the state of Michigan were funded by property taxes. The solution was for communities to form library districts and to ask the voters to fund them with a millage. Already, communities were not voting in favor of millages, and we were seeing libraries close.”
Kagerer stated Flint citizens, however, said yes to the millage and to every millage that came after it, with never less than 70% of votes!
Mayor Sheldon Neeley pointed out Flint is the second most segregated city in the state of Michigan and is in the second most segregated county in the state. Yet he said young people will be able to come into the library and come out better because of the great work Coles has done!
President of the Flint Board of Education Michael Clack pointed out Coles’ tremendous work was a small piece of what the African American contribution has been in Flint.
Founder of the Greater Flint African American Sports Hall of Fame Norm Bryant also spoke at the ceremony. The Hall of Fame’s home is located in the library. Bryant said he was initially told a room would be named after Coles, but he said she was larger than a room because if she didn’t help pass the first millage for the library, no one would be in the library today.
Director of Library Operations Leslie Acevedo has been at the library 30 years and was first hired by Coles. Acevedo described Coles as a “visionary.”
Wanda Harden worked for the library for 23 years, starting in community relations, and was told by Coles the people who come into the library are the people she worked for.
Flint Resident Barbara Hamilton-Welch remembers talking to people on the phone to encourage them to help pass the first library millage.
She said: “I was talking to one lady and she said ‘They can’t get rid of this library; that’s the way my children travel.”’
Coles told the Courier what made her the happiest about having the library named in her honor was the fact there are people beyond officials who recognized the importance of the work at the library.
“It wasn’t just the dignitaries,” stated Coles. “It was everybody else whose daily walk in life may include using a library to enrich their lives.”
