The system standing: November 2026

2026 · verified from the system's own publications, November 2026

The form: The Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library is the public library district of the City of Mishawaka and Penn and Harris townships, governed by a seven-member Board of Trustees appointed by the two school corporations' boards, the County Council and the County Commissioners, directed in November 2026 by Executive Director Donna Meeks, and publishing its course in a Long Range Plan for 2023–27. Its stated mission: it "inspires and empowers our community by connecting patrons to literature, information, ideas and new experiences for lifelong enrichment." One telephone number serves the whole system, (574) 259-5277, and its card is honored at all three of its buildings and nowhere else in the valley — its own FAQ directs that its books not be returned to the county system's locations, the boundary of 1907 still visible at the returns desk.

The buildings and hours, as the system publishes them: The Mishawaka Library, 209 Lincolnway East, Mishawaka — the 1969 building, expanded in 1998 — opens Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday 9 to 5, Saturday 9 to 4, Sunday closed; its published features include the Local & Family History area, the Heritage Room quiet zone, the Shiojiri Room, study and meeting rooms, and a book sale. The Bittersweet Branch, 602 Bittersweet Road, Mishawaka, opens Monday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 to 4, Sunday closed, courtyard and study rooms among its features. The Harris Branch, 51446 Elm Road, Granger, keeps the same branch hours, with its fireplace and two courtyards. All three stood open in November 2026: the Bittersweet Branch had reopened on November 2 after its summer and fall of mechanical work, and the system's news for the month carried the retirement of its mobile app on October 28, 2026 — the executive director's regret printed with it — and the addition of Fold3 to its cardholders' databases on November 8. The library Olive Long kept part-time in one room now keeps three buildings, two townships' suburbs, and the city's whole printed past; the course from the Maclure library's fire to this standing is the record this section exists to print.

Sources:

1. Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library, "Locations & Hours" (mphpl.org/locations/), read November 10, 2026 — the three buildings, addresses, hours, and features as the system publishes them.
2. Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library (mphpl.org), November 2026 — "Bittersweet Branch Reopens Nov. 2" (November 2, 2026); "MPHPL App Has Been Retired" (October 28, 2026), Executive Director Donna Meeks quoted; Fold3 availability (November 8, 2026); the FAQ on returns across systems.
3. Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library, Long Range Plan 2023–27 — the board's composition and the mission statement.