Library turns into warming center when homes lose electricity

The Belleville Area District Library didn’t lose power during the latest storm that knocked out electricity for many places in the community and so it became a warming center for many people who had lost power.
Library Director Mary Jo Suchy told the library board at its regular meeting on March 14 that quite a few people in the community sought to be warmed at the library and staff threw open the doors of the Cozadd Room so people could plug in their devices.
She said staff put on an impromptu story hour for the many children who were there.
Board chairperson Sharon Peters said she had no heat at home, so she enjoyed sitting in the library by the fireplace and speaking with the neighbors she hadn’t seen during the winter months, who also were out of power.
Board member John Juriga said the library parking lot was full and there was no where to park so he parked at the Methodist Church across the street.
All the board members agreed that they were very pleased that the community could be served in this way.
Director Suchy said the library managed to stay open during the Feb. 22 ice storm, but delayed opening until noon on Saturday, March 4 from the Friday afternoon snowstorm in order to let things melt and give the staff time to dig out.
In other business at the 54-minute meeting, the board:
• Voted unanimously to accept the supplemental retirement program from MERS (Municipal Employees Retirement System) and to cancel the service from Mission Square, as recommended by Director Suchy. The funds will be transferred from Mission Square to let MERS handle it at a lower fee. There is no charge for the transfer and the employees will get better service, Suchy said;
• Discussed the cement that needs to be put in the sidewalk across Roys Street next to Grace Baptist Church. Chairperson Peters said it is no longer a library issue. Juriga said the Baptist minister said he had proof the pipes were destroyed by O’Neal and Blue Ribbon during library construction and he thinks the construction companies are liable. O’Neal said they have photographs of their excavations in that area that do not show any evidence of any exposed pipes. They also do not see a corresponding sewer manhole on Main Street. O’Neal will speak with the church to assist them with trouble-shooting. Juriga said he’d love to take it off the library books and the city can pay for it. Suchy said it’s just another one of the building “stuff” that the library will have to handle through the end of time;
• Approved the six-page Patron Behavior Policy, as amended, following a presentation by Policy Committee chairman Dan Fleming. Fleming said they cleaned up the wording of the policy and Peters said that included the gender-specific wording. Suchy said she ran it by the library attorney, who approved it. A minor word addition was suggested by Julie Kissel who was in the audience. Juriga had asked her for input because of of her teaching position at Eastern Michigan University;
• Learned there will be a one-day mini-quilt show by the Western Wayne County Quilting Guild in the Cozadd Room from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 25. It was determined the quilts couldn’t be hung throughout the library because there was no way to keep them safe. Quilters will be on hand to discuss their quilts. Also, Lisa Ludwinski, founder of Sister Pie Bakery in Detroit, will be a guest speaker at the library at 6:30 p.m., April 5, and the classic movie series continues at 6:30 p.m., April 13, with “Paper Moon”;
• Heard Suchy report that staff volunteers will receive Red Cross CPR / AED training in April. The library is buying automated external defibrillators from the Red Cross and the training is required for the purchase. Due to the chip shortage, lead time for the AEDs is six to nine months;
• Learned the partnership with the Ypsilanti District Library to present Family Read, a community-wide “read together” is the library’s first try at doing something like this. There is a featured book and programs for all ages taking place between March 11 and April 15; and
• Heard Suchy reply to Juriga’s question of how many employees the library has. She said the staff is about 40 to 52, with 75% of those part time;
• Heard Barbara Miller invite them all to a Belleville Area Council for the Arts bus trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts on April 8 to have a tour of the DIA and see the movie “The Conformist,” which DIA film curator Elliot Wilhelm will preview for the group. He called it “a movie for our time,” Miller said. She said it has won all kinds of awards. Miller said she has to sell 30 tickets as a minimum for the trip and she has sold 15. Cost is $20; and
• Heard Kissel announce that she is a member of the Belleville Fire Auxiliary and she has dropped off scholarship applications at the library to be distributed.