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July 22, 2010

Forum: Best return on investment

By Metta T. Lansdale jr. ----

Did you know the Traverse Area District Library serves all of Grand Traverse County with six facilities — in Fife Lake, Interlochen, Kingsley, Old Mission Peninsula, at the old East Bay township hall and downtown on Woodmere Avenue?

You may borrow or return materials to the location of your choosing, the catalog will show you materials in any and all of these facilities, your children will enjoy story time and you can check your e-mail or search the internet using high-speed broadband technology.

The district library tax you pay annually supports all of these facilities and services throughout the county; there is no better return on your property tax dollar. I have had the pleasure of serving as TADL Director now for just more than half a year and I would like to report in.

This spring the loan period was extended and six renewals are allowed. Rental fees were abolished and overdue fines were implemented. Three-day advance overdue notices were implemented for borrowers who provide e-mail addresses, allowing a click-through to check the status of your library accounts and to renew your materials online.

Self-checkout machines for routine transactions are coming and their use will be piloted at our two busiest locations — in Kingsley and downtown — to allow employees to attend better to borrower questions and to better handle demands of the back room. Why?

Circulation is skyrocketing — more than 104,000 transactions in June; 20 percent higher than June last year. TADL exceeded one million transactions in the last 12 months and will certainly exceed that record this year.

At the Woodmere Avenue location last week, all four service stations were open with lines five and six deep at each station; this is frustrating for people on both sides of the circulation desk.

The TADL virtual library was expanded this spring with several new online resources: Value Line for investors, Overdrive with downloadable audio and electronic books, Safari with electronic management and technology books, Mango!, an online language learning tool, Chilton Online and Small Engine Repair — both provide updated service manuals and bulletins — and finally Career Transitions resources for job hunters. You can access these resources from home with your library card number in hand.

TADL is whole again. Revised Associate Member agreements are in place with Fife Lake, Interlochen and Peninsula libraries. The TADL network of community libraries together provides information, cultural, educational and technology resources that contribute to a growing community and for personal growth.

I am grateful you have invited me to the Grand Traverse area. I look forward to getting to know you better. Please do not hesitate to stop in. Let me know how the district library can serve you better or more and tell me what you like best. Most of all, join the nearly 3,000 people who are walking through TADL doors each day and find out how your investment is working for you.

About the author: Metta T. Lansdale Jr. is Traverse Area District Library director.

About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.

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