The Northville District Library celebrates 30 years at its downtown Cady Street building with a free party Friday, Oct. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m.

The after-hours, drop-in event at 212 W. Cady St. will feature family-friendly entertainment and light refreshments, according to the library's event listing. The Friends of the Northville District Library, the nonprofit group led by Martha Nork, is sponsoring the celebration.

No registration is required.

The building that opened in 1996 was Northville's first structure designed specifically to be a library, according to the library's fall newsletter. Voters had approved the district and funding for a new building two years earlier, in 1994. Before that, the library moved through a string of borrowed spaces: City Hall, the Northville Square shopping center and the Community Center.

Northville's library roots run far deeper than three decades. The local YMCA opened a free reading room for young men on the second floor of a downtown building in 1888. A year later, Mary Lapham helped establish the Ladies Library Association and donated the library's first 250 books.

The Cady Street building has seen steady upgrades since opening. The youth area was remodeled in 2009, the teen area in 2012 and the Friends Community Room and additional study rooms were added in 2018. A makerspace called MakeIT opened in 2024.

Library Director Laura Mancini emphasized the library's personal touch in the fall newsletter. "When you call during business hours, you'll reach a real person," she wrote.

The library is at 212 W. Cady St. in downtown Northville. More information is available at northvillelibrary.org or by calling (248) 349-3020.