Arts Committee chairperson Michele Montour detailed the recent “unfortunate incident” where an artist’s work “Memories in the Rocks” was vandalized on a library shelf.
At the Nov. 14 regular meeting of the Belleville Area District Library board, Montour said she was called from the library on Nov. 12 and advised of the damaged artwork where a silver cross was taken. She said she advised the artist to take the artwork home with her.
Artist Cheryl Martin had signed a release, along with all the other artists who display their work at the library, which leaves the library free of responsibility if anything happens to it.
The artwork was put on an open shelf because the locked glass case didn’t have room for it. Montour said she told Martin she would call her the case was empty, but she didn’t call.
An apology was given, along with an offer for Martin to display her artworks, which include photos, at several times in 2024 or in 2025.
“In the future, I would discourage people from leaving such artwork outside the locked case and ask them to take it home with them until there was room,” Montour told the board.
She said there were no cameras in the area to catch the activity. Someone rummaged through the artwork and took the silver cross, but not Martin’s precious grandfather’s dogtags that also were in the exhibit, Montour said.
She said Martin does not blame the library for her loss.
“We use glass cubes to put over such exhibits,” said board vice chairperson Joy Cichewicz, who is library director for the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Ypsilanti District Library.
“That’s the reason we bought the locked case,” Montour said. “In the future, if it’s not available, they’ll take it home.”
Board chairperson Sharon Peters said the person who vandalized the artwork, “was really bold to do that” in the middle of the library.
Library director Mary Jo Suchy said she had great sympathy for the artist, who worked to create the artwork and then had it destroyed.
Peters said they should send Martin a message from the board and boardmembers agreed.
Peters praised the work Montour has done as chairperson of the Art Commmittee. She said the board appreciates her talents and efforts and being so willing to help.
Montour announced the library has four exhibits each year, three months each. She presented the following schedule for 2024: January-March, Gary Washington photography, with Cheryl Martin possibly in the display case; April-June, Van Buren Secondary Student Exhibit; July-September, Steve Paulsen and Kim Ensch, with Cheryl Martin possibly in the display case; and October-December, Belleville Area Council for the Arts award winners.
For 2025: January-March, Danielle Whitehead; April-June, possible Van Buren Secondary Student Exhibit; July-September, Liz Dobbs with Cheryl Martin possibly in display case; and October-December, BACA award winners.
Montour said at one point she wanted shorter book shelving so she could have more room for the artworks. She said she remembers board member Joy Cichewicz telling her, “This is a library, not a gallery,” and she thinks of those words often.
Montour said that the art on display that is up for sale is selling, with five or six pieces in the last exhibit and seven or nine in the exhibit before that.
She said in the future she would like to have a small reception at the opening of each new exhibit, with the artist explaining their work and process, if the artist is willing. She said she thinks the first one would be the school exhibit.
Offer to donate book collection
A guest present at the Nov. 14 board meeting was Don Sherman, who has lived in Van Buren Township for 40 years. He has been an automotive journalist for 52 years.
He brought samples of his 900-book collection on automotive subjects. He offered to donate his entire collection to the library in exchange for a tax credit. He said he would pay an expert appraiser to put a value on the collection.
He said he would like to see them shelved together in a convenient location at the library, with a small plaque acknowledging his donation.
“We’re in the heart of the automotive industry,” he said, noting Belleville would be a good location for the collection.
He said he has two children and, as he ages, he doesn’t want them to be responsible for finding a place for the books and, “I don’t want them landfilled.”
Chairperson Peters said the board will take his offer under consideration, but she believes it will be an administrative decision.
Sherman said he could deliver the books to the library door, although it would take several trips. He said he could include his oak shelving as part of his donation.
He said he still writes for Corvette and Haggerty magazines. He said he has two degrees in engineering and it is important to have that background information when writing about vehicles.
Director Suchy asked Sherman if he would agree to do a program at the library on automobiles and he agreed to do so.
He said he got a lot of ideas for his writing from the people and vehicles at the car show in Belleville each week during the summer.
“This car show could become one of the best in the country, because of its high quality and high quantity,” he said.
In other business at the one-hour-and-four-minute meeting on Nov. 14, the board:
• Noted that the penal fines from the 34th District Court, which come once a year, were $49,956 this year, up from $36,000 last year. They were concerned that drivers had to get ticketed for bad driving for the library to get operating funds;
• Heard Director Suchy announce that she has been asked to be a grand marshal at the Winter Fest parade on Dec. 2 and the board applauded her announcement. (Janet Millard is the other grand marshal.) Suchy said the library will offer cookies and hot chocolate at Winter Fest from 5-6 p.m. on Dec. 2. She said library staff plans on marching in the parade as characters from “A Christmas Carol”;
• Heard Suchy say she is working on a job description for a library monitor or mentor to assist staff after school in enforcing library policies and ensuring that the library’s environment is safe and pleasant for all. She said, ideally, candidates for this position will have experience working with teens. Peters said, “Adolescents socializing can become pretty exhuberant.”