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December 26, 2002Tiny regional libraries honored for being packed with materials, staff- Benzie Shores, Northport librarians say funding levels, location contribute to rankingBy STACEY SMITHRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Two area libraries have been honored as the second- and third-best small libraries in Michigan by a national library ranking system. Hennen's American Public Library Ratings placed Benzie Shores District Library in Frankfort second and Leelanau Township Library in Northport third in the state for the amount of material, circulation and staff. The ratings system considers yearly expenditures per capita and percent of budget spent on materials. Both libraries were listed in the 1,000 service population category, although both have actual service populations slightly more than 2,000. Librarians for both libraries said funding levels and location contributed to their high ranking. "It's kind of interesting," Leelanau Township librarian Deb Stannard said. "Being in a resort area kind of helps your ranking." Her library is publicly funded through township property taxes. Taxes in the area, where many homes are large second homes and much of the property is waterfront, can be fairly high, Stannard said. "We're a tiny, tiny library, but being we're in the part of the state we're in, we have good funding because the tax base is pretty substantial," she said. Benzie Shores library is funded by a perpetual millage passed in 1994. The millage, which allows the library to levy up to 1.5 mills, allows for extended hours, better staffing and a larger collection of material, librarian Cathy Carter said. The library still uses volunteer staff, but also can afford to pay a qualified staff member to be at the facility during all the open hours, she said. The millage also has allowed her to hire a children's librarian and build a strong children's program with special story times and activities, Carter said. Both Carter and Stannard said they try to keep a good selection of materials other than books, including music, videos, books on compact disc and computers with Internet access. |
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