Oct. 24, 2008

State Librarian Nancy Robertson today announced that the Marshall District Library in Marshall is the recipient of the 2008 State Librarian's Excellence Award for exemplary public service. The Library of Michigan Foundation annually gives this prestigious honor, which includes a trophy and $5,000 in privately raised funds to enhance library service, to one Michigan library. Robertson presented the award Thursday during the Michigan Library Association annual conference in Kalamazoo.

The Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library in Alpena and the Dickinson County Library - with locations in Iron Mountain, Norway and Felch - each received a Library of Michigan Foundation Citation of Excellence, including a $1,000 prize and a trophy.

The State Librarian's Excellence Award is sponsored by Hantz Group, Inc. and EBSCO. "This award program has helped to shine a spotlight on Michigan libraries' excellent service for eight years, but now is a particularly apt time to recognize the value of that service to communities around the state," said State Librarian Nancy Robertson. "In challenging economic times - which Michigan residents have been experiencing since well before the recent national crisis - library service is more in demand and more essential than ever. It's truly something to celebrate: libraries like these that consistently go above and beyond to meet citizens' needs for information, education, enrichment and much more."

"The board and staff of the Marshall District Library are thrilled to receive this award in recognition of their efforts to provide high-quality, relevant library services to all their district residents," said Director Laurie St. Laurent. "We continually work together with our community to provide opportunities for library users to explore, discover and grow at the MDL." St. Laurent added that the library plans to celebrate being honored with the State Librarian's Excellence Award by launching new outreach services, including home delivery of library materials.

Robertson said that the nomination materials for each of the award recipients included abundant illustrations of their exemplary library service.

Located across the street from the local middle school, the Marshall District Library sees a large group of 10- to 14-year-old children visit on a regular basis. In response to the challenge this poses on its staff, space and programming resources, the library collaborated with area organizations that work with youth and with local professional artists to develop the Afterschool Arts Apprenticeship (AAA) program. This innovative program has resulted in the creation of nine new jobs employing local professional artists, partnership with local galleries to rent downtown studio space for classes and the opportunity for young people to engage in entrepreneurial skill development.

The ongoing Afterschool Arts Apprenticeship program is fully funded by grants, so library finances do not suffer, and the student apprentices can participate free of charge. The program's objectives are to provide lecture-demonstrations, hands-on art instruction and experience, and the production and sale of student-created art works. In its first 10 months, more than 200 youth participated in the after-school activities, and sales of student-created products topped $1,000. The program is currently being expanded to include a culinary arts studio as well. The Afterschool Arts Apprenticeship Program recently earned Marshall District Library another honor, the Michigan Downtown Conference Partners 2008 Innovation Award.

The services the library offers to the rest of the community include computer skills training workshops in member township halls. Circulation of library materials has increased by 6 percent, the number of library cardholders is up 4 percent and annual library visits have increased by 3 percent, all in the past year.

The library continues to develop its relationship with the business community, participating on a community team for an "Energizing Entrepreneurs Institute" this fall and cooperating with the Michigan Small Business and Technology and Data Center to host a business resource center, a collaborative effort with the Chamber of Commerce and the business community to support small business owners and developers. Numerous staff members serve on local elected boards and as officers for a variety of local organizations.

The director of Marshall's Downtown Development Authority said, in a letter of support for the library's nomination: "Marshall District Library is an integral partner in our downtown, working with the Downtown Development Authority and Marshall Main Street to house our Business Resource Center, and now partnering with our schools, artists and art galleries to create this unique After School Arts program."

Criteria for the State Librarian's Excellence Award are:

• demonstrating that the library provides new, innovative and superior services to its customers in a cost-effective manner, with a can-do attitude and by always delivering on promises;
• demonstrating the library's commitment to high standards of customer service through staff dealings with customers and synergy within the staff through a coordinated approach to supporting customers; and
• demonstrating that the library is a team player through its collaborations in the community.

Two additional libraries - the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library and the Dickinson County Library - were also recognized for their devotion to customer service, earning SLEA Citations of Excellence.

The only class V library in northern lower Michigan, the Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library serves a largely rural community of over 30,000 people, in an area with unemployment that exceeds the state average. The library houses and coordinates the digitization of materials from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Research Collection - one of the largest collections anywhere of 19th-century Great Lakes maritime history - making it a place for visitors and researchers from far and wide to access a wealth of Great Lakes maritime information. It also hosts the town's local history resources that document its past as a lumbering city and an active Great Lakes port, and has agreed to house, and is engaged in accepting, archival local history documents and materials from the nearby Jesse Besser Museum of Northeast Michigan.

The library offers a variety of enriching programs for children, teens, adults and the entire community. Its summer book club enrolls about 800 children each year, while its free children's carnival draws over 2,000 additional participants, thanks to the nearly 170 volunteers who donate their time and talent to make it possible. The community's teens value the library for its popular youth gaming tournament, Wii gaming days and teen board game nights. Additionally, a partnership with the local public schools allowed students to take part in the Great Michigan Read with a bus trip to Ernest Hemingway's favorite places in Emmet and Charlevoix counties to illustrate the importance of place in his work. Being significantly removed from other larger communities, the residents and visitors this library serves are fortunate to take advantage of the over 15 musical performances and the Authors in the Fall program, which always features numerous well known writers.

"In these times of unemployment and financial hardship, it is a wonderful thing to offer fun, wholesome activities to the public, regardless of their income, age, status, or circumstances," wrote Alpena Mayor Carol Shafto in her letter of support. "The Alpena County Library is a wonderful asset to this community - a true jewel in the crown of Alpena. And, oh yes, they have books, too?."

Situated in the Upper Peninsula, the Dickinson County Library understandably serves a population covering a wide area - 27,000 county residents. Its breadth of geographic coverage is exemplified by the fact that the library offers a "Books by Mail" service for any county resident unable to access one of its three locations directly. The library encourages patrons to voice their concerns and input on materials and programs, and its director herself responds to patron communication. The library actually began its adult summer reading program as a result of patron expressions of interest, and the all-ages program's popularity and importance to the community has resulted in sponsorships offered by many local residents and businesses. The library's active Teen Advisory Board focuses on community service, starting an outreach program for nursing home residents, engaging younger members of the community by presenting a theater program for children, providing a Mexican cooking class, hosting a knitting club and much more.

Varied and widespread public relations efforts help keep residents aware of all that the library has to offer. Staff members appear monthly on a local radio program, and a printed monthly newsletter is distributed countywide. The library offers space for display of art and hosts the local genealogy society meetings, as well as housing some of the society's historical materials. Other community perks available at the library include wattmeters, donated by the local power and light company, that can be checked out to help determine whether home appliances are energy efficient.

The community clearly values the excellent service the library offers, as county residents approved a supporting millage renewal in August by a ratio of nearly two to one. A letter of support sums up the level of appreciation this library and its staff generate: "I have many out-of-town guests visit me and often we go to the library. They all make the same comments after their visit; they have never experienced a staff so friendly or helpful as our librarians at the Dickinson County Library. Now you see why I would wager my bank account to say that our staff is very deserving of the honor you could bestow on them for going that extra mile to make our library a comfortable 'home-away-from-home.' They always make us feel that we are very special members of a large happy family."

This year's State Librarian's Excellence Award recipients were selected by a committee including the state librarian, the Library of Michigan's Michigan eLibrary coordinator, the president of the Michigan Association for Media in Education, representatives of the Michigan Academic Library Council and the Michigan Library Association, the director of the Woodlands Library Cooperative, the director of the library that won last year's award and the director of the Library of Michigan Foundation.

Hantz Group, Inc., based in Southfield, Mich., is a full-service financial holding company founded in January 1998. For more information, visit www.hantzgroup.com.

EBSCO, based in Massachusetts and with offices in Michigan, has served the library industry for more than 60 years, providing an integrated service that combines reference databases, subscription management, online journals, books, linking services and A-to-Z solutions. For more information, visit www.ebscohost.com.

The Library of Michigan Foundation was established in 1985 to raise funds to support special programs, services and collections of the Library of Michigan. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/lmfoundation.

The Library of Michigan - Michigan's official state library agency for more than 175 years - is part of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, the department also includes the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Michigan Historical Center. To learn more, visit www.michigan.gov/hal.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).