April 29, 2023
Sun and News, James Gemmell, Contributing Writer
A grassroots group pushing for a new public library in Middleville may convert into a government committee soon as a way to garner government support for the project and potential grants.
At Tuesday night’s village council meeting, Village President Mike Cramer suggested that possibility to Josh Mosey, a leader of the Middleville Needs a Library community group. That was after Mosey gave a slide presentation on the need for a new library to replace the Thornapple Kellogg School & Community Library that has been in the high school since 1934.
The community group has been eyeing an existing fourplex adjacent to the Middleville amphitheater downtown along the Thornapple River as a possible site for a standalone library location. But two families who currently live in the four-unit apartment complex on River Street expressed concern about the possibility of being forced out of their homes.
Mosey told Cramer that his idea of merging the community group into a new village government committee might be the way to go.
“If that’s the best way forward, you would already have boots on the ground when it comes to raising support and recognizing the need for this organization,” Mosey said.
“I feel like doing that would allow us to provide more input, avoid the discussions I had last weekend about people thinking they were losing their homes,” Cramer replied.
That comment was in reference to the two families that currently reside in the fourplex, which is owned by the village. The apartment house was part of the village council’s original plans for Sesquicentennial Park when it worked to secure state funding for the Middleville Lions Club pavilion a few years ago.
At the village council meeting, Mosey listed a bevy of problems with the current library that is in the high school, such as it being open only 12 hours a week, having a lack of basic programming for children, insufficient services for senior citizens, and posing a security concern for the school.
“It is severely underfunded,” Mosey told the board. “Our library operates with a budget of around $19,000. That is to provide for all the programming, all of the resources you can get from the library when it is open. And most of that comes through state aid and penal fines.”
He added that, unlike most public libraries, the one in Middleville cannot be funded by a local millage while it is set up under the auspices of the school district.
“I agree with the concept wholeheartedly that we could use something outside of the school,” Cramer said, adding that the formation of a government committee could help secure more funding for a library project.
“So, if you aren’t opposed to that and would be willing to give us some community representatives to help fill out that committee, I think we could direct staff to piece that together and bring it to the next meeting,” Cramer told Mosey. “Create an agreement and a committee, so that we could properly research how to best put a library in the community.”
“I will bring that back to the community group,” Mosey responded.
Cramer then made a motion to direct village staff to compile the legal documents in order to potentially form a library committee that would explore the feasibility of establishing a new public library. The six members of the village council who were present then voice-voted unanimously in favor of the motion.
Village Manager Craig Stolsonburg said it may take a while to prepare all the documents. So, it may not be on the agenda at the next council meeting.
Earlier, Mosey detailed for the council problems with the current library in the high school, such as a lack of programming for children.
“A lot of people who live in Middleville actually utilize the Caledonia library for their story times, for their events.” he said. “Because ours simply doesn’t have the resources or the time to be open to provide that. Being that it is in the school, parents don’t have a place to bring their little ones who are of the pre-school age, so they go elsewhere. Do we really want them leaving our community?”
Mosey said many libraries also have special programs for seniors that the current library in Middleville does not, such as tech-tutoring sessions, coffee socials, quilting clubs, and classic movie events.
In addition, Mosey said the old library poses a security concern for the school.
“That is why it has such limited hours. So, for it to be both a public space for the community and a school space, it is difficult to maintain that,” he said.
The community group has said that establishing a new library independent of the school would allow Middleville residents to access many of the things they cannot right now at the meagerly funded school library.
“We could have a more extensive collection, including books but also E-books, audio books, wifi hotspots, music, movies, magazines,” Mosey said. “And then, a lot of libraries are using this as an opportunity to have items like radon detectors and bird-watching kits and GoPros. Imagine the things that would be handy to have when you are enjoying our area and the beautiful nature that we have here in Middleville.”
The community group envisions a new, better-funded library that would offer programs for children, such as story times for toddlers and craft events for older kids and teenagers.
Mosey, who has been a digital marketing specialist with the Kent District Library, sits on an advisory board that serves the high school. He says the board has been conducting meetings for about a year and discussing various library models.
“We looked at what it would take to belong to a district library like Kent District Library (KDL). We’ve looked at other, smaller libraries in neighboring towns. We’ve looked at their budgets, how they’re run, what it takes to belong to them,” Mosey said.
The advisory board also spoke to the president of the Lakeland Library Cooperative and the director of the KDL.
The community group has determined that joining KDL offers the best bang for our buck. And KDL is willing to take us on, even though we’re not part of Kent County,” Mosey said.
The grassroots group has laid the groundwork for funding a Community Needs Assessment. Mosey said the Beacon Society and the Barry County Community Foundation would assist with that. Ada-based consultant Keith Hopkins has been chosen to develop a study that would explore whether the public wants a new public library. The library group is scheduled to meet May 17 in the Thornapple Township Hall, at 6 p.m.
Mosey noted that the land where the fourplex sits was donated for community purposes.
“It is currently being underutilized for those purposes and could be the site of a community library. In fact, it could be the site of a community library/village office,” he said.
Mosey mentioned that the current village offices are located on prime real estate on Main Street, which he said “blocks certain (business opportunities for economic growth right here in downtown.”
Mosey suggested that, perhaps, the fourplex site could become the new home for the village offices on one side of the building, as well as the home for a new library on the other side of it. There has also been discussion about the possibility of razing the fourplex and constructing a new building in its place.
Village trustee Richard Hamilton said he doesn’t think the current building is in great shape.
Mosey said it could be a two- to three-year timeframe before construction begins, if the project is approved. He said the first step would be to conduct the Community Needs Assessment. Then, to announce a potential location for the new library. The third step would be fundraising, and the fourth step would be the construction.
“The main thing is, we need a plot of land to build on and the village has some of that available in ways that (Thornapple Township), I think, did not,” Mosey said.
Trustee Makenzi Peters offered to serve as a village liaison to the committee that would explore the feasibility of building a new library.
“Even if we had to tear the (fourplex) down, it would allow plenty of time for the people who are living there to find other arrangements,” Mosey said.
However, one of the residents living there right now, Amanda Lautenschleger, said being forced out of her home would pose a significant burden even if it is a few years down the line.
Mosey said the fourplex was always intended to be only a temporary living space.
President Pro-Tempore pointed out that the village’s 2025 recreation plan envisioned converting the building into a community center that could be better used for outdoor recreation.
Trustee Ann Williams said she would support a new public library.
“It’s a need. I work in the schools, so I definitely know that,” she said.
Middleville Community Library 