More Michigan Public Libraries Closing

Troy (MI) Public Library to Close May 1, 2011

Michigan libraries can be formed in a number of different ways. For example, there are township, village, and city libraries. These are some of the most threatened libraries because they are funded by their founding entity, which can then redistribute current library funding to other departments and away from the library in difficult economic times.

With state funding capped and declining to absurdly low levels, the only public libraries with a good chance of survival are those that took the step to become district libraries. My library, Jackson District Library, levies its own taxes as does Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Lansing and many others. Although district libraries are also suffering from declining funds, they have much more control over their fate.

This economic decline has been going on for many years now but some community leaders found the effort to insure library service in their community not worth the effort of going the district library route. Their residents are now suffering from that lack of vision. Actually looking at what has happened to libraries over the last fifteen years was a warning about what could happen to funding of other institutions (i.e. schools, police, fire, etc.). No one believed the warning that these days were coming. Now they are here.

You can read the latest about closings in Troy and Romulous (both city libraries) by clicking HERE.