December 11, 2002
Long Lake library overdue
Growing township prepares for much-needed branch library
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
It's ten miles that can define a community.
With the addition of a branch library in Long Lake Township in the next few years, residents will be able to stay close to home to not only check out books or use the Internet, but to find a sense of community.
"A library is a place to go, a gathering place, we see a lot of that here [at the Woodmere facility] and we see some of that in the other branch libraries," said Mike McGuire, library director for the Traverse Area District Library. "Branch libraries underscore the value of the libraries in creating a sense of community. One thing a lot of outlying communities have around here is a lack of a community center; a library can provide that."
Or, in the more informal words of Long Lake Township resident John Woodcox: "It's a pain in the butt to have to drive to town to go to the library."
More than 500 Long Lake Township residents gathered Sunday morning at the township fire station for the fire department's bi-annual pancake breakfast. This time, the event had a dual theme: getting the word out about the planned branch library site, construction of which was just approved this fall by the Traverse Area District Library board.
The future library building, whose plans and construction timetable are still being finalized, will be located just east of the fire station and township offices at the corner of North Long Lake and Manhattan roads. Proposed floor plans and architectural drawings were on display for attendees in a tent on the site.
The tent also featured story time every hour throughout the morning, luring kids and their parents to check out the site and listen to a story read by teachers from Long Lake or Westwoods Elementary schools.
The event Sunday was the beginning of an awareness campaign by the Long Lake Township Library's steering committee. During the next six months, the committee plans to promote the new library among community members, touting its potential for programs, services, community rooms, Internet access and a children's area.
All for no new township taxes, said township supervisor Karen Rosa, noting that a separate capital campaign for the building would begin next summer.
"We get it built, that's our part, then the Traverse Area District Library will be operating it, supplying it for us," she said.
The booming township, which had more than 100 single-family housing starts this year alone, has been working for a library for the past six years, Rosa said. The township has two area elementary schools that are some of the largest in the district and at least a 20 percent population growth rate.
"Westwoods and Long Lake Elementary schools are bursting at the seams," said Tina Allen, treasurer for the township. "Plus we have kids in Silver Lake Elementary."
For the past five years, the Long Lake Township Reading Room has attempted to meet the reading and community needs of residents ranging from young families to retirees. The reading room offers story time every Tuesday morning and open library hours on Wednesdays. However, the facility, which was tucked in the township offices, has only a limited collection of books and services.
Rosa said the demand was there for more library-related services, pointing to a successful summer reading program that drew more than 80 children last summer.
"We know the growth is there, the need is there," she said.
A feasibility study by the Traverse Area District Library board looked at four potential branch sites this spring. That study prompted the board to give the Long Lake Township branch library the green light.
The next step is raising community awareness and then, starting next summer, funds to put of the building.
"We're real positive about this," Rosa said. "We're also real excited about the location of it, we think it will be the ideal location."