Primary Election: Why must 21st century library buildings get bigger?

WEST MICHIGAN – The
Georgetown Township Library
offers public Wi-Fi access, but if
you’re looking for an outlet to
plug in your tablet, good luck.

The 25-year-old library wasn’t built with handheld
devices in mind.

In fact, the building has few computers of any kind.
The library also lacks private study rooms and twice
this summer has turned people away from children’s
programs for lack of space.

The information industry has changed a lot since
Georgetown – the Grand Rapids area’s fourth largest
municipality – opened its library in 1989.

At the Aug. 5 primary election, township voters will
consider paying for a new, larger building in one of
three library construction or funding tax requests in
the area. The Kent District Library's proposal would
generate $20 million annually for 10 years, while
Georgetown is seeking $19 million and the Saugatuck-Douglas library hopes to pass a $5.1 million levy.

“We have a lot
of people who

• Voters will consider a 0.83-mill property tax
proposal to borrow $19 million and build a library,

come in for

senior center and township offices on the site of
a long-vacant Kmart along Chicago Drive at the

computers and

I-196 off-ramp into Jenison. The tax would cost

there just is no

$62.25 for the owner of a $150,000 house.

space,” said

• The township’s current library building at 1525

Marian Payne,

Baldwin St. was built in 1989, but lacks some
modern library amenities. “We have basically

president of the

seven study carrels. We have no private study

Friends of

rooms. We are not wired for any kind of access,”
said Pamela Myers, library director. “When it was

Georgetown

built (in 1989) we still had a card catalog. We are

Township

incredibly space-challenged.”

Library. “It

• A campaign advocating a yes vote has raised

reflects on our

$20,810. Donors include all seven Township Board
members as well as some business owners and

whole

school leaders. If the millage passes, the

community. It

township plans to sell the existing library and
township offices to Jenison Public Schools for

makes it look as

use as a preschool campus. The largest donors are
Lakewood Construction ($5,000), Progressive AE

though the

($2,500) and Sunset Manor ($2,500).

community

• Signs and a "For the Love of Georgetown!" Web

doesn’t care

site also have popped up urging a vote against

whether it’s up

higher taxes. The township last year raised its
millage rate by 22 percent – up $37.50 per year

to date.

for the owner of a $150,000 house. There's a
bunch of Facebook talk on the proposal here and

“We would like

here and here.

a 21st-century

“If we need more space in the library, move the
library to the township building, move the

library versus

seniors into the library and move the township

what we have.”

building into our senior center,” said Chris Bosch,
a critic of the proposal. “We have existing

But with the rise

buildings. Is it going to require some
retrofitting? Yeah, it probably is. But it’s not

of

going to be $19 million worth.

downloadable e-

“You’ve got facilities that are right in the heart

books and the

of the township right now. Let’s rework that a
little bit. We’re just asking for these guys to be

related decline

a little more creative than writing a check.”

in the number

• What if the proposal fails? The library in

of library visits,

neighboring Hudsonville imposes fees to
discourage Georgetown residents from visiting.

the Georgetown

It has been decades since the two communities

millage

discussed a library partnership. If the millage
fails, should those talks resume? “We’re

proposal begs a

surrounded on three sides by the township,” said

broader

Melissa Huisman, director of Gary Byker
Memorial Library in Hudsonville. “It would make

question: With

so much sense if we were just a branch of the

so much

Georgetown Township Library, but I don’t really
want to be part of the Georgetown Township

information

Library. I just can’t see the two communities

shared online,

giving up the control and I just can’t see the
people funding it.”

why would a
21st-century
public library
need a bigger building?

After all, the millage proposal in Georgetown also
includes new, downsized township offices because
government leaders say technology has reduced the
space needed to conduct public business.

Nationwide, public library visits are tailing off after
years of growth, according to an Institute of Museum
& Library Services report released in June. The report
notes that, "like retailers and other businesses, public
libraries are meeting the demands of their users by
increasing their virtual resources and services."
Because of that, "patrons are able to complete whole
transactions - from finding, checking out, and
returning an e-book to paying overdue fines, without
setting foot in a physical building."

Locally, Kent District Library's e-book circulation
increased 49 percent last year - up nearly 400 percent
from 2011. At the same time, branch visits are falling,
down 21 percent since 2009.

Still, public library buildings are busier than ever, by
some measures. For example, participation in library
programs and the number of library programs is up
nationwide. And though use of public computers at
libraries is on the decline, more people are accessing
wireless Internet at libraries. Wireless log-ins to KDL's
network are up 72 percent over the past two years,
according this annual report.

“People want to do more in libraries,” said Sari
Feldman, executive director of Cuyahoga County
Public Library in Ohio and president-elect of the
American Library Association. “Public libraries today
are offering much more than free access to materials.
In the future, public libraries might be less about what
we have for people and more about what we do for
people.

“We’re the
connector for

• Voters in Saugatuck, Douglas and Saugatuck
Township will consider two separate proposals: a

people between

new 0.3-mill, 10-year tax to fund library
operations and a 0.67-mill, 26-year tax to build a

all of the

$5.1 million library on Center Street, about one

important

block from the current building. The library since
1981 has operated in a 5,000-square-foot former

resources to

church building that dates to the 19th century.

support

Combined, the taxes would cost the owner of a

education,

$150,000 home about $73 per year.

lifelong

• The current two-story library building lacks
meeting space, offers limited handicap-

learning, the job

accessibility and has problems with moisture and

search,

air quality, library leaders say. “(Our current
building) was built as a church. We have filled

entertainment,

this place up and used every corner,” said Martha

community

Boetcher, library director. “We’re tons busier
than we were 10 years ago.”

convening. The

• The proposed 12,500-square-foot, single-story

space the

library would include multi-purpose event space,
more room for children’s programs and

library provides

designated areas for teen and adult reading. It

is the space to

also would have outdoor seating with wireless
Internet access.

bring groups of
people together
around common interests.”