A pictorial-style institutional bookplate in black ink on ivory paper with a multi-line border. The central image is of a landscape with trees and bushes in the foreground, and a sailing ship in the midground. In the background at the right is what appears to be a building with tall smokestacks from which smoke is rising. This image is framed in a circle surrounded by a black square. Beneath is the a rectangular border around the text "Bay City Public Library Established ~~1869." The text is flanked by two lit oil lamps with small scroll paintings above them.