Grex Aaypsi Conference

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Grex Aaypsi Item 29: Ann Arbor Public Library becomes the Washtenaw County library?
Entered by kaplan on Fri Mar 18 19:32:29 UTC 1994:

Now that we've modified school funding mechanisms in the Michigan
constitution, the Ann Arbor Public Library will no longer be run by the
Ann Arbor Public Schools, as I understand it.

AATA once served only Ann Arbor, still collects Ann Arbor property taxes,
yet serves Ypsilanti and other parts of the county.  How does this work?

The bottom line here is:  How long before Ypsilanti residents will be able
to borrow materials from the Ann Arbor Public Library without paying a fee
as out-of-town library users?

14 responses total.

#1 of 14 by danr on Fri Mar 18 22:12:41 1994:

Obviously, it depends on how the AAPL separates from the school district. 
Right now, I think that people outside of Ann Arbor can get library
cards free of charge as long as they are in the Ann ARbor school district.

What I'd like to know is how tied in to the school district the library
is currently. By that I mean, how much of the library's funding comes
from school district funds and not millages passed specifically meant
for the library.

#2 of 14 by polygon on Sat Mar 19 00:35:10 1994:

Right, the library has nothing to do with the city.  You can get a
library card if you reside in the school district, regardless what
your city or township or postal zone is.

If the library were to become part of the city government, all the
people in the school district outside the city would lose out.  (I.e.,
all the residents of township enclaves inside the city, and all the
residents of a thick donut of AAPS territory surrounding the city.

If the AAPL chose to set up a "library district", I don't think it
could be the same as the school district.  It would probably have
to consist of entire cities and townships.  It probably wouldn't
be allowed to overlap with the Ypsilanti library district; and if
it did, the two would be competing for millages in the same area,
very bad idea.

As to AATA, I don't know how it's set up, but I would be amazed if
there is zero contribution from Ypsilanti and such places.  The
similar system in the Lansing area, CATA, has a millage district
which consists of Lansing, East Lansing, and three surrounding
townships; it also collects a small millage from the county as a
whole for elderly/handicapped demand/response service, which serves
the rural as well as urban areas.

#3 of 14 by polygon on Sat Mar 19 00:36:14 1994:

P.S.  Don't blame me, I voted AGAINST Proposal A.

#4 of 14 by kaplan on Sat Mar 19 00:40:17 1994:

Why not merge the Ypsi and AA district libraries?

#5 of 14 by scg on Sat Mar 19 03:24:09 1994:

One suggestion I've heard from school district higher-ups is that teh 
library district could be set up such that the Library board and the
school board would be the same.

#6 of 14 by danr on Sat Mar 19 03:39:38 1994:

Why would we want to do that????

#7 of 14 by scg on Sat Mar 19 04:52:07 1994:

With this current board, I don't know why we would.  But why would we expect
that people elected to a library board would be any better.  What comining
the two boards would do would be require fewer elections, and necessate finding
fewer people to run.

#8 of 14 by rcurl on Sat Mar 19 07:56:43 1994:

It would be stupid to combine the boards. Running a library overlaps
only a small piece of what it takes to run a school system. I would
hope that a new board would bring more innovations to the library,
though I will admit that the AAPL has not suffered under the management
of the school board (because it really has its own shadow board, anyway).
Anyway, now a *librarian* could be appointed to the library board. Maybe
even an author.

#9 of 14 by robh on Sat Mar 19 22:20:26 1994:

I really wouldn't want to merge the two library systems.
(Believe it or not, I like the Ypsi libraries the way they are!)

#10 of 14 by polygon on Tue Mar 29 02:15:51 1994:

I think they would have to change the law to allow a library district
to have school district boundaries.  That might take years.

#11 of 14 by adbarr on Wed Mar 22 03:19:22 1995:

Ypsilanti District Library "Town Meeting" - Saturday, May 6, 1995,
9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. - Second Baptist Church - 301 S. Hamilton,
parking next to building.

Current status
Services
Facilities
Technology
Next Steps

RSVP Paula - 482-4112

My understanding is that there are funds available for technology
improvements - but the library staff could use help in understandin
g what is possible, and how to ask for it.  This could be another
IO - so be careful.  Librarians can bite - hard!

#12 of 14 by kaplan on Tue Oct 17 18:11:50 1995:

I heard a day or two ago that there has been some new development in this
AA public library district issue.  I haven't been reading the newspaper,
so I don't know any of the details.  Do you?

#13 of 14 by scg on Wed Oct 18 04:37:40 1995:

I think they actually approved the terms under which the library building
would be transferred from the school district to the library district, but
I haven't really been following it.  That's been a complex issue, since the
school district has their board meeting room in the library, among other
reasons.

#14 of 14 by gelinas on Sat Oct 4 06:01:06 2003:

(This is old news now, but the negotiations with the surrouding areas broke
down, so the AADL boundaries are the same as the AAPS boundaries.)

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