Need To Know: Bloomfield Hills Voters To Decide Contract With Baldwin Library

Bloomfield Hills voters will get another shot of having a library they can call home when they head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 8. But will they accept a new tax to gain full access and privileges at the award-winning Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham?

Key Questions:

What is it? The city proposes a .39-mill levy that will generate $268,681 for the first year of a contract with Baldwin.

What's the big deal? Voters defeated a proposal to renew the city's contract with the last November. It's the third library millage attempt in as many years, and the city, comprised of roughly 4,000 residents, has been without a library of it's own for seven years.

How much will it cost? Negotiators based the average household cost of library service at roughly $180.44 annually, and multiplied that by the 1,489 households in the city limits. A household with a taxable value of $200,000 would pay $78 annually. A home with a taxable value of $400,000 would pay $156 a year. 

How long is the contract for? The contract cannot be terminated in the first three years. After that, the contract can be renewed, but a clause in the contract calls for six-month warning for termination. If passed, residents could begin using the library as early as Nov. 15 and would start paying the millage on their July 2012 tax bill.

What happens if it fails?

The contract with Baldwin is nullified. Residents may still use the Baldwin Library facilities but will not have borrowing priviledges. The city will continue its current borrowing arrangement with Troy. 

Get what you pay for

If passed, Bloomfield Hills residents, property owners and businesses would get full service at Baldwin, including borrowing of materials and the ability to check out materials at 70 other libraries. Other features:

• More than 721,000 items were checked out of the Baldwin Library last year and more than 26,000 people attended their programs.
• Baldwin's collections include 140,000 books; 30,000 DVDs, Cds video games and toys.
• They now have Kindles and 8,000 downloadable audio books and have more than 100,000 downloadable pieces of music.
• Baldwin offers free service to homebound residents; programming for youth, teens and adults; computer classes, book clubs.
• Professional staff supported by Friends of the Library citizen's group and the Baldwin Public Library Trust.

What they're saying . . .

"The Baldwin Library enriches Birmingham and participating communities by providing opportunities and resources for individuals of all ages and backgrounds to learn, connect and discover," said Baldwin Library Director Doug Koschik. "Many people think the library is on the way out, but weve’ double the number of items we’ve check out."

"This Nov. 8 millage proposal is really about book borrowing. And it gives us just one option: an irrevocable, expensive, three-year contract to let us take books off library shelves and carry them off-site," wrote former City Commissioner Robert Toohey in an Oct. 23 column printed in the Observer and Eccentric. And Baldwin has sole authority to spend over $800,000 of our money as it sees fit. Having just this one option makes little sense in today's digital world. This is not prudent use of our tax dollars. VOTE NO, no new taxes."

Other reads

• Millage Language on Ballot Nov. 8
• Millage Vote Planned
• Library Without Pity