Located in downtown Alpena, the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public
Library was established in 1967 as a county library. Prior to 1967, the public
library was part of the Alpena Public School system and was housed in the
high school.[1] For the next seven years it occupied two storefronts on North
Second Avenue.
In 1974, the library moved into the present facility at 211 North First Avenue.
The 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) building was built with monies raised from county,
township, and Federal Revenue Sharing Funds plus a $100,000 grant from the
Jesse Besser Fund.
In 1985 a library millage was passed by the voters, and a renewal was successful
in 1995. An energy retrofit was done in 1986, and in 1997 the building received
a complete makeover, which included an electrical upgrade. A new computer lab,
with a direct connection to the Internet, was part of that project.
