Traverse Area District Library

Library Showcase:

“Your way, right away! At Burger King now. “ “ What you want is what you get at McDonald’s”

In today’s world of instant gratification, people want things customized. Libraries are no exception; patrons want services tailored to their desires and needs. The Traverse Area District Library continually adapts to the changing needs of their community and strives to give their patrons “what they want”.

Library service in Traverse City had very early beginnings, the first progenitor of the Library District began operation in 1859. The Carnegie building was dedicated in 1905 and, with it the beginning of library service as the Traverse community knows it today. A substantive addition was made to the building in 1966 which made the building 16,000 square feet. In 1997 a bond and mileage was passed which made the building of a larger facility possible. The new building, which is 58,000 square feet, opened to the public January 10th, 1999. The building features include an atrium, a public computing center, a sight and sound center, a large meeting room, a comfortable staff break room, and a boat themed children’s room. To see a Virtual tour of the library visit: http://www.tadl.org/Tour/1libtour.html

For those patrons that prefer visiting a smaller library, two branches- East Bay Branch Library and Kingsley Branch Library are open for business. Fife Lake, Interlochen, and Peninsula Public Libraries are included in the Traverse Area District system, but each have their own policies and boards. Many things are happening at the branches – the Kinglsey branch may be building a new building and the Fife Lake Library will be in their new building this summer.

Some people prefer onion and pickles on a fast food hamburger while other enjoy tomatoes and lettuce. The same applies to libraries, some patrons want to read and research electronically, while other prefer using print material. Last year, 35% of the library’s use was non-print and 70% of library use was printed material. Their non-print material includes an Audio Video collection of over 36,000 items. Most CDs and DVDs are purchased with libraries funds, but a donation from a local music store added a few thousand to their collection. For those patrons that utilize the internet, they have a 22 computer lab. In addition, all of the libraries in the District have a wireless Internet connection. The library adds over 1,000 books per month to their collection to keep up with their print material demand which includes purchasing dozens of bestsellers.

The Traverse Area District Library knows how to market themselves and one of they ways they do it is by having a recognizable logo. The main library building has a clock tower with faces on four sides, and thus their logo is a clock tower. Along with a logo, they have a knickname, which gives the library a personal touch. To many the library is called TADL for Traverse Area District Library.

Like all libraries, you don’t have to pay directly to receive services. In fact, at TADL people can come and learn how to get money. The library is a Foundation Center Cooperating Library which means they have a collection of directories, indexes and grant writing guides of foundations and corporate funding sources. FC Search, the Foundation Center's database is available on-line and brings many of these sources together for fine-tuning searches of the more than 72,000 grant making bodies in the United States. Once a year a class is offered at the library on how to use the Foundation Center collection.

Support of the library is voiced throughout the community, especially by their FOL group. Over the past twenty-four years, the Friends of TADL has grown from an organization that supported one small library to one that now contributes support throughout the District's six libraries, and counting. Sometimes the support is monetary. Other times it's by helping get the word out throughout the District and its surrounding communities. One way they “spread the word” is through their monthly newsletter, TADL Tales. In addition to scheduling special events, the Friends of TADL has an ongoing book sale, a brown bag book club, and operates a gift/coffee shop at the main library. Their annual books sale last year raised over $12,000 dollars. http://www.gtherald.com/herald/2005/sep/28book.htm

To serve the needs of their younger patrons, the youth services department plan and present four storyhours during the weekdays and a “Weekend Wigglers” storytime on Saturdays, plan an extensive Summer Reading Program with participation of over 400, and sponsor author visits and children’s special events.

Talk about service; in some instances, material is delivered free directly to a patron’s home. TADL is a Library for the blind and physically handicapped. As part of a federal program the library has a separate AV collection that is paid for by federal funds. Residents that are blind or physically handicapped who live in 16 counties in northern Michigan are eligible to participate in the program. Participants are loaned AV listening equipment and Books on Tape are shipped directly to their home. Over 1,000 people are enrolled in the program. Libraries within the 16 counties can refer patrons to the program. Visit http://www.tadl.org/index/lbph.htm for more information.

TV is another way the library gets information to their community. TADL houses the local public access channel, Traverse Community Television (TCTV2) www.tctv2.org, on their second floor. Community announcements and bulletins are broadcasted from that location. There is a live feed from the library meeting room and library board meetings are taped and televised. Nonprofit groups, including libraries, can announce an event. Here is a bulletin from the Kalkaska County Library: http://www.tctv2.org/page33.html

Many fast food restaurants are catering to their customers by providing customized food, long hours, and a variety of choices. TADL patrons are not able to drive up to the library at 1:00 a.m. to get their favorite book by John Grisham, but they can access the library catalog and find out whether it is on the shelve and then they can pick up the book any day of the week. TADL is open 7 days a week, one of the two MMLL libraries,that are open on Sundays, and they are thinking about lengthening their Sunday hours to accommodate the demand. Also on Sundays, a local pianist plays music in their entrance hall for 2 hours each week.

Unlike the fast food giants, at TADL you don’t have to wait in line to receive great service, their staff is fast, friendly, and eager to help patrons make a selection from their staggering menu of material and services that is customized to meet their patrons’ needs. We salute the Traverse Area District 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: March 29, 2007