The Fruitport District Library is Growing up!!
By Bethany Nettleton, Director of the Fruitport District Library
The Fruitport District Library is growing up! For those of you who have not heard, we separated from the Muskegon Area District Libraries (MADL) on December 31, 2016. The Fruitport District library (FDL) opened its doors again on January 3, 2017. The Little Library that Could began the uphill journey towards becoming a full fledged library with bare shelves.
In the first part of January, the library was accepted into the Lakeland Library Cooperative (LLC). We also joined the LLC shared ILS (catalog) on February 9, 2017. Next, we linked 6800 books 2015 or newer. After linking those 6800 new books, we went “live”, and were able to start issuing library cards on April 10, 2017. Lastly, we had our Grand Opening on May 20, 2017.
So what do we know now and where are we in the process?
• In the middle of June 2017, we hired Beth Werking as our Children’s Librarian for 10 hours a week, and Ken VerHulst as our Young Adult Librarian for 20 hours a week.
• 1175 library cards have been issued since April 10, 2017
• In July 2017, Lot’s of Carpet on Airline road offered the library brand new carpet for our lower level
• Also in July, the Cedar Springs Public Library gave us beautiful new shelving, printers, and a circulation desk for our lower level.
• We are excited to get approval from the board to start putting the new carpet and shelving in, decorating the space, and moving the children’s and young adult books to the lower level.
• The Howard Miller Public Library in Zeeland donated their old signage to the library
• Our Children’s Librarian, Ms. Beth, donated a cute barn that is the backdrop for our weekly Tuesday at 11:00am StoryTimes.
• Four computers have been donated by the MISD and they are donating more for our lower level
• A copier/fax/scanner/printer is available for patron use
• We have linked 8795, 2015 and newer books and 10,501 total books to the shared ILS
• We now have MELCAT as of September 4, 2017. MELCAT allows our patrons to order books from libraries all over Michigan
• Our summer reading program was small but a success
• We had many programs in the midst of all that linking too, below are a sampling:
• Painting in the Park
• Party in Pomona Park
• Dynamite Magic
• Jeff Veley a bullying expert
• James Pancy on Depression
• The Great Eclipse Party
• Child safety expert Julie Sanderson
• Author Jennifer VanderKlipp twice
• Kana Music
• Fun Halloween StoryTime with Ms. Beth
• Overdrive (online books) and Zinio (online magazines)
• We have an active Facebook page “Fruitport District Library”
• We are on Twitter, SnapChat, and Instagram
• A new roof has been installed
• The village DPW is now caring for our library grounds
• We have upcoming programs in November and weekly programs:
• StoryTime every Tuesday at 11:00 am
• College Career Autism Support – Mondays 1-4
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Parental Support Group Wednesdays at 3-4 and the First Monday of the month 6-7.
• Veterans Day Program honoring our local soldiers. November 10, 2017 at 1-2. Our speaker is Mike Verhoulst from the TriCities Historical Museum
• JFK: The Magic Bullet, the Umbrella Man, and the Grassy Knoll a community lecture by James Pancy
We have already purchased, 9500, 2015 and newer books. We are working on purchasing the last 4098 brand new 2015 or newer books that are needed to remain part of the Lakeland Library Cooperative. After these books are processed, we need to link those 4098 new books.by the end of February 2018. The total books linked will be 13,598. Please bear with us as this is a huge undertaking. Presently, we have over 16,000 new and a few older books on our shelves.
Also, We would like to thank the community for your generosity. Amazingly, we have received well over 10,500 donated books, audiobooks, music, and movies. We are still looking for books 2015 or newer, also audio books and dvds.
The Little Library that Could is growing up, come check us out soon!