'Sh-h-h-h-h'

My mother grew up in the small Michigan town of Milan, located on state road 23 south of Ann Arbor, straddling Washtenaw and Monroe Counties. Because my grandmother still lived in the community when I was growing up, we spent a lot of time there during my childhood, generally visiting two or three times a year and, especially during the summers, spending as many as 6 or 7 weeks at a stretch. The place came to seem a second home to us.


Milan Chamber of Commerce

Whenever we would drive past this building on East Main and County Streets, my mother told us that, when she was growing up, the public library was located in the second storey of what was then a fire hall. Only much later was I struck by the oddness of these shared accommodations, given that libraries are supposed to crave silence — which would hardly be forthcoming in the event of a fire alarm.