Library staff members get active shooter response training

Although it is not something it wants to contemplate, three members the Belleville Area District Library staff recently took two full days of active shooter response training.
Mary Jo Suchy, library director, reported to the library board at its regular July 12 meeting that the training was very informative.
In Director Suchy’s absence on Monday, Deputy Director Hilary Savage explained that three staff members, including Suchy, went for ALICE training through the school system so they could train the rest of the library staff.
ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, which is Active Shooter Response Training.
The Van Buren Public Schools hosted the in-person session and the ALICE staff took care of everything, according to Debbie McWilliams, administrative assistant to the superintendent.
In other business at the 35-minute July 12 meeting the library board:
• Unanimously approved paying invoice #48 to O’Neal Construction with the architect, library director, and building committee to review and make the final decision for payment at its next meeting;
• Was informed the library is now the owner of a new shop vac after the new humification system sprung a leak on the second floor and made a big mess. Suchy said water seemed to be flowing uphill and they are trying to get that solved. She said everything is turned off now;
• Heard Suchy report that the architect and builder have come up with a new plan to solve the problem of the meeting room door entry. The electrician is still trying to find a lens for the flagpole light. A computer chip was replaced to solve the problem of the children’s portal lighting and a wet seal was applied to the upper portion of the curtain wall and so far there have been no leaks;
• Learned for the fiscal year (July-June) 1,806 items have been checked out at the library branch in Sumpter Township, 617 people have visited, 136 reference questions have been answered and 250 people used the computers. During the fiscal year for the main library in downtown Belleville, 239,379 items have been checked out, 97,607 people have visited, 16,629 reference questions have been answered, 10,237 adults have used the internet, and 1,300 youth/teens have used the internet. There were 1,236 adult programs and 4,408 children programs;
• Learned that although Wayne County COVID Community levels are back to low, there were four staff members out with COVID in June. Suchy said there was no indication they contracted COVID at the library. The library continues to follow the current CDC COVID safety guidelines, she said;
• Was informed the library has purchased a subscription to Mango Languages. Library cardholders may download the Mango App on their phones or tablets, or they can visit https://contect.mangolanguages.com/belleville-mi/start to set up their account. This is the opportunity to learn more than 70 languages;
• Learned part-time adult services librarian Rachel Davies is leaving the library for a promotion and full-time position at Concordia College. New part-time library assistant is Trinity Campbell, and there are three new student assistants, Virginia Kopp, Megan Courtney, and Jesse Emerson;
• Heard Treasurer Tanya Stoudemire say she hopes the public will support the library to maintain its program. A replacement millage is on the Aug. 2 ballot. Linda Priest said they should talk to people at Music Lakeside;
• Heard John Juriga say he hoped the concrete bollards in front of the library are sealed soon. He said there were chalk drawings on the bollards during Lake Fest, but they will wash off; and
• Heard board President Sharon Peters say that she saw in the paper the Green Man sculpture in Horizon Park with kids crawling all over it and it was another thing the Juriga family has given to the community. She invited Juriga to tell the story of the sculpture and he did. He said his son Justin was working on lighting at a car show in New York City and they were tearing down the show. He liked the sculpture and asked if he could have it. It was put on a semi and brought to John Juriga’s garage in Belleville where is stayed for a while and then it was donated to the city and kept in the DPW garage for about 10 years. Eventually Jim Chudzinski repainted and resurfaced the sculpture and it was erected in Horizon Park.
Secretary Alma Hughes-Grubbs and Joy Cichewicz were absent and excused from the meeting.