October 28, 2023
Greg Chandler, Sun and News Staff Writer
A committee that’s been appointed to look into the feasibility of a standalone public library in Middleville met for the first time on Wednesday night.
The nine-member committee, which was established last month, elected its officers and heard a short report from the community group that got discussions on the new library started. Josh Mosey was elected chairman of the committee, while Chris Boysen was elected vice chairwoman, Jamie Bowman secretary and Kate Bynski as treasurer.
The report from the group Middleville Needs A New Library explained what would happen if the current library inside Thornapple Kellogg High School was to close unexpectedly.
“If the TK library shut down tomorrow, people who live in Thornapple Township and Yankee Springs Township would no longer have access to any library, but those who live elsewhere would either naturally be able to get a library card through another municipality (such as) Freeport (or) Hastings or they would need to contact the state of Michigan to get the lines redrawn to include them,” Mosey wrote in a text message to the Sun and News.
“If (Thornapple and Yankee Springs residents) don’t have a library card and are not included by a library service area, they can’t use any library,” Mosey added. “If there’s no home library to issue a card, you can’t be added to a different system.”
At present, TK library cardholders can add their card to Kent District Library’s system and check out books, movies, music and video games, Mosey wrote.
The committee includes members of the Middleville community, two Village Council representatives, and one from the TK school board. Village president, Mike Cramer and council trustee Makenzi Peters are the village representatives, while Brenda Hess represents the school board.
“I am thankful for this committee,” Mosey wrote. “Libraries are the heart of the community and our village has been, if not heart-less, then on a pacemaker for a very long time. This committee has the power to change things for the better.”
The current library, which has been in existence since 1934, is only open to the community 12 hours a week during the school year – 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday nights, and 9:30 – a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
The library operates on a budget of $19,000 annually, with funding coming from penal fines and state aid. The majority of the budget is used for the library’s membership in the Lakeland Library Cooperative. The TK district provides the building, staffing and maintenance, Bynski wrote in an email to the Sun and News.
By comparison, the Freeport District Library had an operating budget during the 2022-23 fiscal year of $114,560, with primary funding support coming from half-mill tax levies in Irving and Carlton townships. The Hastings Public Library has an annual budget of $638,000, with revenues coming from a line item in the city budget, millage support from Hastings and Rutland charter townships, state grants, non-resident fees, penal fines, an endowment fund and private donations, Bynski wrote.
The Henika District Library in Wayland operates on a budget of $427,800. It is supported by a tax levy from the city of Wayland and Wayland Township, originally approved at 1.5 mills but has since been rolled back to 1.3511 mills because of the Headlee amendment, Bynski wrote.
Yankee Springs Township voters who live outside the TK school district in August 2022 overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to join the Henika district.
The library committee’s next meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. at the Village Hall.
Middleville Community Library 