February 1, 2006
Library moves book by book
Elementary students help relocate Almira Township Library
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Mystery by fiction by biography by autobiography, 3,000 books moved hand to hand to hand between the Almira Township Hall and the new Almira Township Library.
Friday morning a new era dawned for the 3,000-book library situated in the heart of Lake Ann. Forty-six Lake Ann Elementary fifth grade students plus more than a dozen community volunteers formed a human chain more than 100 feet long to relocate the books to their new home.
Singing, laughing, talking and noting titles they might want to read someday, the students spent four hours on the project. At the prompting of move organizers, they also discussed what day might be best to hold after-school hours at the facility.
"Talk about ownership, this is their library now," said Brett Hood, a kindergarten teacher at the school and a member of the township's recreation board. "Lake Ann is sort of an island here, close to Traverse City but sort of separate. To have a community library to compliment our school library, we're very fortunate."
A move in the works for about 18 months - but dreamed about for years by members of the Friends of Almira Township Library - the volunteers transferred the books from the village's Township Hall to the former Fire Station next door.
For years, a series of portable shelves and heavy, movable walls turned part of the Township Hall's main room into a library two days a week. Story time and other library offerings were on tap for area families two days a week for three hours.
The larger and dedicated facility opens up more opportunities for readers in the region, in terms of hours, services and inventory size and scope.
"We're going to have a little bit of everything here," said Steve Puchovan, supervisor of Almira Township.
The former fire station's approximately 1,000-square-foot office space has been outfitted with large bookshelves and a new desk for the librarian. The facility also includes a small computer room, which will soon have two new computers, an Internet connection and a printer. A children's corner boasts an array of picture and early reading books while the library also offers young adult, fiction, mystery, romance, biography, reference and non-fiction sections.
As the shelves filled and years of planning and fundraising came to fruition Friday, librarian Shirley Ransom fought back tears. She will no longer have to move the heavy, wall-sized shelves around, conduct business in an echoing large room or check out books at a miniscule desk.
"I could almost cry, but I'm trying not to - it's tears of happiness," said Shirley Ransom, librarian for about eight years. "I can't say enough about the township board, they have been pulling for us all the way."
A Lake Ann resident for more than 40 years, Ransom remembers taking her children to the Traverse City library's bookmobile when it visited the village during the 1970s - a big event for the village. Around that time, the library in the Almira Township Hall began with 500 donated books.
Lake Ann is 15 miles west of Traverse City. Almira Township has a booming population, which prompted the Benzie County Central School district to open a new elementary school there six years ago. A few years later, the township voters approved a millage for a new Fire/EMS building and the previous facility was left vacant. A township survey about a library millage found voters uninterested, but the board and Friends persevered.
"Basically, they didn't want a new millage to support a library but the township board thought it was important enough to have it's own space so they appropriated funds for it," said Dawn Campeau, treasurer of the township. "With a lot of help from the Friends, they gave us quite a bit of monetary help as well as physical labor as far as raising funds and moving books."
Formed five years ago, the Friends of Almira Township Library has purchased books, sorted donations and created programs for the community, including popular homeschool writing classes. Their annual used book sale has become a tradition at the village's Lake Ann Days every July.
All along, they tirelessly promoted a larger facility for the community.
"It's like a dream come true," said Phyllis Thurkettle, a member of the Friends group, of the new library.