Traverse City Record-Eagle

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July 14, 2010

Contracts approved for member libraries

Peninsula, Fife Lake, Interlochen to receive funding

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE lvanhulle@record-eagle.com

TRAVERSE CITY — Three community libraries reached operating agreements with Grand Traverse County's library system that establish funding levels through next year.

Traverse Area District Library board members recently approved contracts for Interlochen and Peninsula Township member libraries. They reached a deal with a library in Fife Lake a month ago.

The contracts, good through December 2011, indicate the district library system annually will pay $164,000 to Peninsula, $163,000 to Interlochen and $132,000 to Fife Lake.

The three member libraries differ from branches in that they have their own directors and boards, but receive the bulk of their funding from TADL.

The district system also provides the members with technology and access to a region-wide catalog.

Compared to last year, Peninsula's rate is nearly flat and Interlochen's is down slightly from $165,255. Fife Lake's allocation will increase from $103,543.

The latter had been one of the lowest-funded libraries in the system, TADL Director Metta Lansdale said.

Fife Lake will increase its 31-hour schedule by seven hours each week, Director Emily Clark said.

"That's what we had been hoping for," she said. "We were very pleased."

Library representatives described the talks, which lasted at least a year, as a lengthy volley of proposals for funding.

Fife Lake accepted TADL's most recent proposal. Interlochen and Peninsula's library boards countered with another offer that TADL accepted.

"Finally, we both gave a little," said Donn Gresso, Interlochen's board president.

The library will be able to maintain its 54-hour weekly schedule, he said.

Libraries in Peninsula Township and Interlochen both had general fund reserves above $400,000 by the end of their 2009 fiscal years, audit reports show.

The size of the fund balances was among TADL's sticking points, Lansdale said. The district board wanted to ensure operational funding was used for that purpose.

Money from TADL is "100 percent allocated" in the budget, said Nikki Sobkowski, Peninsula's board president.

Smaller funding sources, such as state aid or donations, are added to reserves, she said.

Peninsula's fiscal year runs from July to June and is the only one to not operate on a calendar year. That "is one reason why it's necessary for us to carry a reserve," she said. "That's what we have to live on."

The prior contract expired in December, was considered indefinite and could be terminated at either party's request.

Gresso said it will allow him to sooner address unresolved issues, such as the idea of a funding model based on the number of people served, as opposed to a set dollar amount.

"We wanted to test this new contract with a two-year term," Lansdale said. "We just want to let the dust settle for a little bit and come back and renegotiate."

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