District library presented with tribute signed by Rep. Puri

At the Sept. 14 meeting of the Belleville Area District Library, Library Director Mary Jo Suchy held up a framed, special tribute prepared and signed by State Rep. Ranjeev Puri, who recently met with constituents in the library.
She said it was a complete surprise and so touching because he researched the library history to put it together. She said she may hang it in the library board meeting room.
In other business at the one-hour-and-23-minute meeting on Sept. 14, the board:
• Unanimously approved three resolutions authorizing millages for the December 2021 tax bill: Levy 1 is operation tax of 6.864/10 of a mill; Levy 2 is operational tax of 7.354/10 of a mill; and Levy 3 of 6.2/10 of a mill to make bond payments;
• Was advised a marketing committee meeting has been set for 3 p.m., Sept. 29, and the public is welcome to attend;
• Head a building committee report that said American Interiors has been selected out of three bids at a cost of $15,973 to put shades on the windows of the Cozzad Room and offices; the air quality project has been delayed and they hope it will start on Sept. 20; they are looking at sealing the bollard in front of the building; enclosed shelving for artifacts has been installed and in October the League of Women Voters will install an exhibit there; the extra tract lighting that hasn’t been used will be put in the children’s room; they are waiting for a new part to repair the dishwasher, which broke down for a second time; discussed weeds in the grass and along Charles Street; the Hennessey Engineering refund of $25,000 has not yet been received; and the purchase order has been signed for the special signs for inside the building;
• Learned the Belleville Bass artworks are being painted by artists and the BYC paid for their purchase;
• Heard Director Suchy say, “It is gratifying to me to see the library used as a library. We’re being very well-packed because there is a storytime tonight. The parking lot is packed tonight because the Rotary Club is meeting here and the Kiwanis Club will be meeting here also.” She said the Western Wayne County Quilt Guild will be meeting on Saturdays and a program on self-driving cars will be the topic of the newly forming Belleville Future Club at its 7 p.m., Sept. 30 meeting;
• Also heard Suchy state, “Although we are done with COVID, COVID is not done with us. In August, I had a staff member who needed to quarantine because of a family member and, in spite of being vaccinated, also came down with a mild case of COVID. This past week I have had three employees who were informed of possible COVID exposures at other locations (other jobs, school). Staff is about 95% vaccinated”;
• Welcomed part-time shelving student assistants Cecelia Powers and Kennedy Plummer to the library, as well as part-time circulation clerks Nikki Pickeral, Amy O’Brien, and James Griffin. Candidates for the part-time adult services library position were interviewed during the past week;
• Heard board member John Juriga report that Councilman Ken Voigt raised $800 for the food closet by selling T-shirts with goats on them. He also said he would like the library to be open on Sundays from 12 to 6 for kids to do their homework, since many put it off to the last minute. Joy Cichewicz, a library director in Ypsilanti, said they have found the times are best at 1-5 p.m. during the school year, but not in the summer;
• Heard vice chairperson Mary Jane Dawson report that the Friends of Michigan Animals Rescue are grateful for all of the food collected at the library for the animals in the no-kill shelter; and
• Heard chairperson Sharon Peters say that in 2014 at an early library election, she wrote that she wanted “to create a civic hub and we are” a civic hub. Also, she stated that the governor recently appointed her to a commission on early childhood education, one of the hundreds of commissions and committees in the state staffed by volunteers. She said this position is an unpaid, non-partisan position. She had served on that commission in the past. “I would like to state the work I will be doing is a public service and to whom much is given, much is expected.” She said her experience with the library now can be brought to her early childhood development work. She said the link between early childhood education and libraries has not been formalized but is very important.
Peters spoke in response to a letter to the editor in the Independent suggesting she resign from the local elected library position in order to serve on the statewide, volunteer board.