Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Library Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ferrysburg library leaders outline donor-funded maker space, outreach after millage win
Summary
Library director Ellen Peters and board member Lisa Minarek told the Ferrysburg City Council the library’s recent millage victory and nearly $200,000 in donations will fund a new maker space, expanded outreach to seniors and hotspots/Chromebook lending; council asked staff to return with locker options for pickup.
Ellen Peters, executive director of the Loudon District Library, said the library is expanding services after last year’s millage passed and is using donor funds to create a maker space for the Ferrysburg community. “Last year at this time, we were looking to get a millage pass and it passed, so we are very relieved about that and excited,” Peters said, reading the library’s annual report to the council.
Lisa Minarek, a library board member introduced during the presentation, said the library has received a $160,000 donation from the Wanderers and additional gifts from the Sherwoods and other grantors, bringing the total for the maker-space project to roughly $200,000. “We received $160,000 from the Wanderers to put in a Wanderers space,” Minarek said. The project will include 3D printing, an etching machine, pottery kiln space, and technology for cognitive-stimulation activities for people with dementia.
Peters described outreach expansions funded by the millage, including added hours, a homebound mailing program, visits to assisted-living centers and a seed-collection program for community gardening. She said the library will lend Chromebooks and hotspots and has added a video-conferencing room for telehealth and job interviews.
Council members asked practical follow-ups about locker pickup stations and sizing. City staff and council asked library staff to bring locker dimensions and placement options to a work session so the council can consider a formal recommendation. The council made no formal funding decision during the presentation.
The library’s presentations were informational; the council thanked Peters and Minarek and moved on to other agenda items.
