Nov. 8, 2007

State Librarian Nancy Robertson today announced that the Rawson Memorial District Library in Cass City is the recipient of the 2007 State Librarian's Excellence Award for exemplary public service.  The Library of Michigan Foundation annually gives this prestigious honor, which includes a trophy and $5,000 in privately raised funds to be used for library service, to one Michigan library.  Robertson presented the award today during the Michigan Library Association annual conference at the Lansing Center.

The Bayliss Public Library in Sault Sainte Marie and Peter White Public Library in Marquette each received a Library of Michigan Foundation Citation of Excellence, including a $1,000 prize and a trophy.

The State Librarian's Excellence Award is sponsored by Hantz Group, Inc. and Edward Surovell Realtors.

"Especially in these difficult economic times, libraries matter more than ever, and these three are shining examples of why library use increases during tough times," said Robertson.  "These libraries, and many others across the state, continually strive to find the best possible way to meet the ever-changing information needs of Michigan residents, whether it's helping people find jobs, improve their health, expand their knowledge, achieve educational success or simply enrich their lives."

"In a small public library, it is all about the patron for us, it has to be.  We care about them and they care about us.  We listen to them and they appreciate it," said Kate Van Auken, director of the Rawson Memorial District Library.  "To be chosen as the winner of the State Librarian's Excellence Award is absolutely outstanding and on behalf of my staff and board, we are honored and can't wait to get back to Cass City and share this with all the residents in our district!"

"Though a relatively small library in a relatively small community, the Rawson Memorial District Library in Cass City has demonstrated a big-time ability and dedication to thinking outside of the box," said Robertson. 

In partnership with a local bookstore, the library has created its own online bookstore, an idea that began as a way to fill a need for rural patrons. Now, for its initial cost of a $300 annual fee to the book company, the library provides the community with access to over 6 million newly published items for sale, and earns 10 percent of all the sales. Engaging in outreach beyond its own boundaries, the library - in partnership with the Tuscola County Economic Development Center - uses grant funds for a traveling Business Resource Center which includes a collection of reference publications and a wireless Internet-accessible laptop loaded with financial forecasting software that rotates to six participating libraries in the county.

Examples of the kind of customer support the library offers include home delivery and one-on-one computer training.  Its very successful young-adult section, initiated by a patron's suggestion, has grown from a small cart of 22 fiction novels to a 170-square-foot area with more than 750 books, magazines and paperbacks and seating for 14 people. This renovation sparked interest in a young-adult book club that is now in its fifth year and has been recognized in the 2007 The Kids' Book Club Book.  Library programming offers avenues of enrichment beyond the local community, with the Friends of the Library group organizing an annual event where over 50 people board a bus for a day of antique hunting or other adventures, including trips to Dow Gardens, Petoskey and elsewhere.

The library's 11 public-access computers and two children's computers are all in use constantly. Since 2002, computer usage has increased by 210 percent, and the library is now a wireless hot spot used by students from nearby Baker College and their visiting families and students from other colleges and universities returning during vacation breaks.

Criteria for the State Librarian's Excellence Award are demonstrating that the library provides new, innovative and superior services to its customers in a cost-effective manner, with a can-do attitude and by always delivering on promises; demonstrating the library's commitment to high standards of customer service through staff dealings with customers and synergy within the staff through a coordinated approach to supporting customers; and demonstrating that the library is a team player through its collaborations in the community.

Since 2000, attendance at Marquette's Peter White Public Library has increased 57 percent and circulation of library materials has increased 40 percent. During strategic planning for the library, almost 100 local residents were included in the process that identified teen programming as a priority. Within only six months the library board had created and funded a teen services coordinator position, and the library now has an active teen advisory board made up of over 30 teens and a variety of teen programs, including book discussion and writing groups, teen dances with local bands that had up to 200 attendees and a shower to collect supplies for the Humane Society. 

Other customer service highlights include partnering with the Great Lakes Center for Youth Development to provide access to laptops and projectors for presentations of nonprofit organizations that cannot afford that kind of investment in equipment and initiating a Harry Potter Festival - involving much community collaboration - that promoted reading and gave an economic boost to downtown Marquette, with three businesses reporting record sales during the festival.

Sault Ste. Marie's Bayliss Public Library is highlighted in the local paper almost weekly as a result of having improved its customer service in innovative ways. By popular request, the library has focused on creative writing, establishing the Superior Poetry Café, where both published poets and the public have a chance to read their poetry.  The library recently implemented a new software system so that patrons no longer have to wait at the circulation desk to sign up for use of the public-access Internet stations, instead using library cards to log in, and created free guest passes to accommodate the many seasonal visitors to the area.  After adding wireless Internet access for patrons and visitors, the library was voted "Best WiFi Hot Spot" in the tri-county area by Sault Ste. Marie Evening News readers.  Library programming has flourished so much that they must plan for attendance in the hundreds for larger events, clearing out the reading room and bringing in hundreds of chairs borrowed from a local church. 

This year's recipients were selected by a committee including the state librarian, the executive director of the Library of Michigan Foundation, the director of a Michigan library cooperative, the president of the Michigan Association for Media in Education, representatives of the Michigan Academic Library Council and the Michigan Library Association, and staff members of the 2006 award-winning library and the Library of Michigan.

Hantz Group, Inc., based in Southfield, Mich., is a full-service financial holding company founded in January 1998.  For more information, visit www.hantzgroup.com.

Edward Surovell Realtors, founded in 1982, is a real estate company with 10 offices throughout southeast Michigan.  For more information, visit www.surovell.com.

The Library of Michigan Foundation was established in 1985 to raise funds to support special programs, services and collections of the Library of Michigan.  For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/lmfoundation.

The Library of Michigan - Michigan's official state library agency for more than 175 years - is part of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries.  Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, the department also includes the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Michigan Film Office and the Michigan Historical Center.  To learn more, visit www.michigan.gov/hal.

Read more press releases from the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL).