By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac District Library's board continued in 2006 to approve much-needed upgrades to its century-old Carnegie building at 211 Commercial St., Director Evelyn Holzwarth told City Council Monday night in her annual report.
The first major improvement was re-roofing the original Carnegie part of the building.
The project included removing most protrusions from the roof, rerouting vents through side walls and completely reworking roof drainage systems.
At the same time, the library board – Jackie Baker and Judy Lawrence representing Dowagiac, Judy Fusko and Ann Greene for Wayne Township and Jackie Goodman, Ron Jones and Beverly Nemeth for Dowagiac Union Schools – engaged Brooks Architectural to assess the structure and to provide a list of priorities for completing the upgrade of electrical, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing systems.
Using that assessment as a tool, Holzwarth said the library board began the renovation and replacement of the heating and air conditioning systems in the building by separating the air conditioning from the heating in the children's area upstairs.
New ductwork was installed in the ceiling and a new unit placed on the flat roof to service that area.
In addition, the 22-year-old unit responsible for heating and cooling the fiction area also was replaced.
The downstairs public bathroom received a thorough renovation, including the addition of a baby changing table.
Several improvements were undertaken to improve building safety.
The rear entry door was replaced.
After a fire marshal's report, the library staff improved maintenance procedures, upgraded the fire alarm system with enunciators and improved exit signs.
An electrical wiring assessment for the first floor resulted in some additional updates, according to Holzwarth.
Along with improvements to the physical facilities, Holzwarth and her staff implemented improvements in service and activities to benefit library patrons.
The materials budget increased from 9 percent to 13 percent of the overall budget. Circulation increased 9 percent over the previous year.
More than 11,000 users accessed the four public computers, which she hopes to increase to six.
The library's Web site, dowagiacdl.org, gave patrons access to library and community calendars, its online catalog and each patron's account for requesting, reserving and renewing materials.
Holzwarth said the goal of creating a community calendar originated with trying to find a time for Filmentality, its year-old film series in partnership with Beckwith Theatre, where it would not be competing with other events. Patrons saw eight films during the season on the 12-foot screen salvaged from Central Middle School. She said a "good start" has been made on building an audience, from half a dozen to as many as 30. The Beckwith, which is in the process of being refurbished, seats 110.
Movies and Munchies expanded from a once-a-month offering to include shows during winter and spring school breaks. Movies and Munchies projects new G-rated DVD releases on the wall in the library.
Preschool programming and the summer reading program, "Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales" for children were complemented by teen and adult book programming.
A program by storyteller Antonio Rocha, in partnership with the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, was a spring highlight.
Several active library patrons provided the initiative to begin a Friends of the Library group that assisted the staff with programming and July's Fun Fest. The Friends also started a magazine exchange at the library and a monthly book club.
Thanks to the generosity of the Ladies Library Association, all the missing volumes of Contemporary Literary Criticism were purchased. This annual 18-volume reference is an important resource for students.
The DDL board was created in the fall of 2003 as an independent board. Passage of millage in March 2004 allows the board to manage the facility to better serve patrons and provides the stable funding source lacking when it was the public library and a city department.
Holzwarth said Dowagiac was instrumental in supporting the library through the transition, noting it quickly went from just $212 in its account to the present six-month fund reserve.
The library's 2005-06 budget was $383,965.
The library's primary sources of revenue are property taxes and penal fines. For the year ended Sept. 30, 2006, tax collection furnished $286,002 and penal fine revenue contributed $63,068, or 74 and 16 percent of total revenue, respectively.
Employee compensation, including related payroll taxes and fringe benefits, are the largest overall expenditure – $144,999, or 45 percent of total expenditures.
Expenditures for budgeted capital outlay represented the second-largest overall cost – $70,432, or 22 percent of the total.
Library materials finished third in spending at $41,027, or 13 percent.
Holzwarth's eight-person staff in 2006 included: Katherine Johnson, community services; Alma Adams, children's assistant; Kay Gray, circulation coordinator; Judy Preston, technical services assistant; Audrey Sell, circulation clerk; Kathryn Smith, circulation clerk; Alyssa Cox, library page; and Willie Booker, library maintenance.