Leland Township Public Library

Library Showcase:

Trading Places comes to Leelanau County…………. Episode 47

Two people, two positions, one library. Get ready, get set, trade places.

People: Daniel (Dan) Jamieson and Sylivia Merz.

Positions : Library Assistant and Library Director

Library: Leland Township Public Library.

Date: April 1, 2005

Plot: Library Director Dan Jamieson and Library Assistant Sylvia Merz switch places. Sylvia becomes the Director and Dan becomes the Assistant.

Result: Two people that are happy, two positions, one library that is loved by their community.

Behind the scenes of Episode 47: The beginning of the trading places scenario started three years ago when Sylvia Merz was hired as the Library Assistant. She had just retired from the State of Michigan where she worked in program and community development. During the three year time span, Sylvia became familiar with library patrons, books, library volunteers, and discovered that she didn’t want a “quiet” retirement, but instead wanted to expand her library knowledge. While Sylvia was discovering her love for libraries, Dan was deciding that he would like to have less responsibility and more relaxation. To accommodate both of their needs, a switch was arranged. On April 1st the switch was made and the results have been fantastic. Dan is now the resident expert on the Library and works 10-15 hours per week. Since April, Sylvia has undertaken numerous projects and works 25 hours per week.

With only two paid staff at the library, 47 volunteers enable the library to function effectively. Volunteer Staff has a written schedule and work for 1-5 hours per week. Volunteers mainly work the circulation desk and shelve books, but they also help the library with special projects such as automating the library.

The library just finished automating their 45,000 item collection. In their collection, they have over 5,000 items in their video collection. They have a huge selection of recent movies available for rent, a dollar for four days. But there is also a HUGE selection of videos, including foreign films and musical favorites, which are free. They have all of your BBC favorites and The Good Life Series, and Extreme Home collections. And, every week their movies on DVDare growing.

Using the QSAC standards, the library recently completed a 5 year plan, a policy manual, a volunteer orientation manual, and board manual. They haven’t met all of the QSAC requirements, but they will soon.

Their building is a tribute to their community. The property was donated and funds were raised locally. They library owns the building and property outright. They are located next door to the Historical Society and the Community Cultural Center at the end of the road on the river. The library collaborates with their neighbors to sponsor community events and programs.

Collectively volunteers organize their efforts through the Friends of the Library. Two times per year the F.O.L. publish a newsletter and they have an annual book sale. An annual donation solicitation letter is also sent from the F.O.L. Periodically, the F.O.L. sponsor a column in the local newspaper to increase library awareness. The F.O.L. group’s main objective is to raise money; last year their efforts raised $15,000.

The trading of places was a resourceful way to continue to provide library staff with meaningful jobs and provide the community with a fresh and made-over perspective on the library. We salute the Leland Township Public Library for all they have done for their community and are proud to have them as a member of the Mid-Michigan Library League.

Mid-Michigan Library League- 210 1/2 N. Mitchell- Cadillac, MI 49601
Phone: 800-968-0046 Fax: 800-968-3297

Website design: Holly Mercer
Last Update: July 3, 2008