HANCOCK, MI— The Hancock Area District Library has a proposal on the November 3rd ballot for 0.7 mills over five years to fund library operations.
Carolyn Dekker is president of the library’s Board of Trustees. She says over the last eight years, the Portage Lake District Library in Houghton has been managing the Hancock library under a contract. If the millage passes, it would help the library that serves the City of Hancock and Hancock, Franklin, and Quincy townships stand on its own two feet.
Dekker says the library offers not just books, but audio-visual media, online services, and a Library of Things—including tools, board games, and electronic gadgets. She says the library helps deliver patrons a high quality of life for very little money.
“The median residential taxable value in the City of Hancock is about $55,000. And so, the millage is, at that home value, is a $38-a-year millage. That’s a pretty incredible value for $38 per household per year.”
Dekker says if the proposal doesn’t pass, it will unwind the existence of the Hancock Area District Library and revert to the structure of the school public library. There will be no librarian, no full-time staff,no staffing of evening, weekend, or summer hours, no book budget to buy more books, and most programming will end.
