30Y.30L Tour (#15): Harbor Beach Area District Library

Image by Andy Thompson

On Friday, December 9, just two days before my 30th birthday, I trekked north to Harbor Beach and met with Library Director Vicki Mazure. Harbor Beach Area District Library is very unique in that it is housed within the Community House which includes a movie theater with a stage, a gymnasium (complete with bleachers and locker rooms), as well as several meeting rooms.

Location
Harbor Beach Area District Library is located in downtown Harbor Beach, Michigan which is situated on the far eastside of Huron County. Harbor Beach is about 18 miles east of Bad Axe, the county seat. From my home library (Sandusky District Library), HBADL is exactly 44 miles northeast. Worth noting, the route I took to the library included M-25 which runs next to picturesque Lake Huron.

Image by HBADL

For those not familiar with the area, Harbor Beach Area District Library is 121 miles, or 2.5 hours, northeast of Purdy-Kresge Library, home of the School of Library and Information Science, on Wayne State University's downtown Detroit campus. The recommended route: I-94 to M-25.

Service Area, Size, and Operating Budget
Being a district library, the legal service area is comprised of the Harbor Beach school district which consists of: the City of Harbor Beach, Bloomfield Township, Delaware Township (Sanilac County), Rubicon Township, most of Sand Beach township, Sigel Township, and Sherman Township. Population in the service area is 6,119 which gives the library a Class II designation.

According to the Library of Michigan, a Class 2 library - serves a population of 4,000 to 6,999 and needs to:

• Be open a minimum of 20 hours per week.
• Employ (at least 20 hours per week) a director with at least a Level 4 certificate.

Other facts about HBADL:

• The library has 3 full-time and 4 part-time employees. 
• Operating budget: $438,710 -- completely separate from the Community House.
• As of January 30, 2011, the library had 24,876 items in its collection.
• Annual circulation: 40,950 items.
• In 2010-2011, the library had 22,539 patrons that visited the library.

History
From the library's website:

The Public Library was originally formed by combining the library of Sand Beach Township, the Woman’s Club library, the City of Harbor Beach library and the school library. This was then called the Community Library, and was located in the southwest corner of the new Community House completed in 1927.

The Public Library became a district library on July 1, 1994.

About the Director
Prior to joining the LIS field almost 8 years ago, Vicki's professional roots were in the financial/banking field -- a fabulous background not only for a library administrator, but for the director of a multifaceted program such as the Community House.

Favorite part of the job: "Meeting the needs of the patrons...making them happy. We wouldn't be here without them...[On programming] There is nothing better than putting on a program that people show up for!"

Advice to those entering the profession: "[With] a small library, you have to be able to do everything." [On technology] Keeping up with the changes...Fox estimates that the film industry will be going digital in 1-2 years. It's happening there, too."

Notes and Observations

• By the time my visit was wrapping up, I had run out of daylight to photograph the front of the building. Also worth noting: part of the building's exterior is being renovated.
• The facade features a mural.
• The children's room has two computers available for parents to use while their kids browse the collection.
• Hand baskets, like in grocery stores, are available to make browsing easier on patrons.
• The fiction collection is not separated by genre, but rather is intershelved with spine labels denoting works falling into specific genres: suspense, holiday, Christian fiction, mystery, romance, fantasy, and westerns. 
• Paperbacks are not shelved separately. 
• The library is offering a series of upcoming training sessions for patrons who are new to e-readers. From their Facebook page: "Did you get a Kindle, Nook, or other e-reader for Christmas? The Library is offering training sessions on how to download books from the Library during the month of January. Classes are currently scheduled for Jan 5 at 10am, Jan 9 at 6:30pm, Jan 18 at 6:30pm and Jan 19 at 10am. Class size is limited. Call the Library at 989-479-3417 to register or for more information."
• In the library's recent remodel, a reading room, staff area, and computer lab were added. Due to patrons being present in the reading room and computer lab, I was unable to take pictures. 
• A separate room houses genealogical and local history works. 
• The library has security cameras.