Orion Township voters have approved a $13.3 million bond to expand and modernize the township's 100-year-old public library, which has operated out of the same building since 1989. The bond will add more than 5,000 square feet to the facility, bringing quiet rooms for remote workers, new community gathering spaces, and expanded areas for children and toddlers.
The approval, which came in the November election, marks a turning point for a library that has tried and failed to pass bond measures before. According to WXYZ, library officials say a typical household will contribute roughly $46 annually over the next 20 years to fund the upgrades. The Orion Township Public Library's own bond page frames the measure as authorization to issue up to $13.3 million in general obligation unlimited tax bonds, repayable over as long as two decades, and estimates the average annual cost at about $47 for a home with a $300,000 market value and $150,000 taxable value.
Those household-cost figures aren't the only numbers that differ slightly across reporting. WXYZ's earlier coverage of the ballot measure put the proposed millage at 0.3117 mills over 20 years, while the Oakland County Journal estimated the cost at 0.3116 mill, or about 31 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, in 2027. Neither outlet explained the small discrepancy, but both land in the same ballpark for what homeowners can expect to pay.
A Building That Hasn't Changed Since 1989
The library has operated in its current space since 1989, and its own bond materials note that the last time it took on debt was to construct that very building — a bond it fully repaid in 2001, after which it carried no debt at all. That history makes this year's approval notable: library officials previously went out for bonds in 2002 and 2007, and both of those attempts failed, library director Chase McMunn told the Lake Orion Review.
McMunn said the new expansion plans followed years of preparation, driven by growing library use, changing technology and the way people learn. Community discussions shaped the proposal over several months to make sure it would meet local needs, and the library's bond page says a space-utilization study informed by public feedback was conducted in 2024.
What's Actually Getting Built
The library's bond page describes an estimated 5,830 square feet of new space, including roughly 900 square feet set aside for Bookmobile materials. Beyond that, the plans call for nine new group study rooms for adults and children, an expanded children's area, and an outdoor children's learning and play space. WXYZ reported the project will also include quiet rooms to accommodate an influx of remote workers along with additional indoor and outdoor areas for community gatherings.
McMunn said the upgraded facility will simply offer more space for people's needs, adding that many early readers begin their learning journeys at the library. The library's own materials note it now serves a growing population of nearly 40,000 people, whose educational, technological and community-space needs have shifted since the building last changed.
Usage Numbers Behind the Push
The case for expansion was bolstered by usage data. The library logged more than 134,000 visitors in 2025, an average of 11,236 per month, according to the Lake Orion Review. The same report found 455,219 items circulated over the year, an average of 1,248 per day, and 784 programs offered with 28,225 people attending them. In an earlier WXYZ report ahead of the vote, library staff said that over the preceding five years, they'd had more people visit, more checkouts, more computer use and more Wi-Fi use.
Library-goers interviewed by WXYZ welcomed the result. Alyssa Seguin said she was excited the bond passed and that community involvement reveals the value of libraries. Michaella Merlo, who visits regularly with her daughter Eden, said her daughter learns through songs and reading at the library — a routine the expanded children's spaces are meant to support.
What Comes Next
McMunn thanked voters who approved the bond proposal, but cautioned that the library still has some planning to complete before any shovels go into the ground. He said the library hopes to break ground later next year, though no final construction schedule, contractor or detailed cost breakdown has been made public.
Orion Township's library wasn't alone on the ballot. Voters in Bloomfield Hills, Lathrup Village and Lyon Township also decided library funding questions on the same day, per the Oakland County Journal. Statewide, library funding measures passed in most of the 20 Michigan communities where they appeared on the ballot this cycle, with only Geneva Township, Redding Township and Oscoda County voting theirs down, according to Bridge Michigan.
