Changes Start Today For Users of Bloomfield Township, Baldwin Libraries

If you haven’t paid attention to recent decisions made at local libraries that serve Bloomfield area residents, some things have changed.

Effective today, residents of Bingham Farms and Beverly Hills will no longer be able to check out materials from the Bloomfield Township Public Library. They are still welcome to use the facility, but borrowing privileges are revoked under a new non-resident borrowing policy enacted by the library board in April.

Library Director Karen Kotulis-Carter said the move will prioritize access to Bloomfield Township residents at the library, which has seen roughly $1.2 million evaporate from its budget. Non-township residents who are covered by reciprocal borrowing agreements or who live in a community with The Library Network (TLN) membership, such as Birmingham, may still borrow items.

As a result of the policy, some privileges for Bloomfield Township residents who use the Baldwin Public Library will change.

Patrons with Bloomfield Township addresses are limited to checking out eight items from Baldwin’s collections. They also will have to pay higher fees ($2) for Hot Picks books, DVDs and video games.

“We recognize the Bloomfield Township Public Library severed a special relationship that used to exist between the two libraries, and from now on we’ll be treating Bloomfield Township residents the same as we treat the residents of any other TLN reciprocal community,” said Baldwin Library Director Doug Koschik. Koschik also noted that the Baldwin Library Board had asked the BTPL Board to suspend or rescind its new policy.

their residents the same as our contract communities,” said Baldwin Library Director Doug Koschik, who asked the board to suspend or rescind the policy.

Baldwin also will no longer supply free service to home-bound library users from the township. Kotulis-Carter said the township library will pick-up that service for about 30 current home-bound residents.

She said she hoped the policy is only temporary with hopes that the economic climate would improve. She does not believe patrons will see a decrease in service.

“The good news is that those residents have Baldwin, and I don’t think they’ll suffer any bit,” Kotulis-Carter said. “I don’t want any of our taxpayers using Baldwin to suffer and if there’s a way we can make this easier, we want to know.”

Contact Kotulis-Carter directly for more information or to report concerns or suggestions by calling 248-642-5800, or email kotulisk@btpl.org.