Library disruptions boil over

Brandon Twp.-Books and quiet are expected to be found at a library.
Damaged furniture and phones, vandalized restrooms and rowdy kids are not.
The Brandon Township Library has been facing the latter scenario for the last two years, says library director JoAnn Gavey. The problem stems from huge numbers of kids from the adjacent Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School coming to the library after school, as well as students from Brandon Middle School.
The issue came to a head March 10 at the end of the school day as library personnel requested the names and addresses of kids coming into the library without a parent. Gavey intends to send letters home to make parents aware of the problem.
‘I don’t think parents realize their children are here in large numbers,? said Gavey, whose staff had counted more than 150 kids in the building the day before, filling all the chairs, the alcoves, space in front of the fireplace and roaming about. ‘Our building, staff and budget can’t handle these numbers. The problem is escalating.?
The maximum capacity for the library is 253 persons for the entire building, saysBrandon Fire Chief Bob McArthur.
Margaret Dieringer came to meet her daughter, a Brandon Fletcher student, at the library the day information was being requested. She agrees there is a problem with too many kids, but is upset about the staff’s actions. She cited the cold weather and said many kids were outside waiting. She also believes the library should not have been requesting personal information.
‘The library does not need to be a daycare center, especially a free one,? said Dieringer, a graduate student who studies at the library with her daughter. ‘But what the library did was wrong.?
Christine Baskin was unaware of the problem. When her 12-year-old daughter Kayla had first asked to go to the library to do homework, Baskin thought it was a great idea. She was at the library on March 11 to find out why her daughter had felt ‘picked on? the day before. When the librarian told her how many kids there were, Baskin said, ‘No wonder she was talked to.?
Baskin, laid-off from her job, says she would be willing to volunteer to come in and help keep the noise level down. This is the kind of response Gavey is hoping for? helpful parents.
‘If parents knew there was such a big problem, I’m sure they’d be happy to jump in and help.?
But Baskin says it isn’t something she can do everyday.
Gavey names a youth center as a possible solution. She even suggests that it could be attached to the library, but with it’s own budget and funding? perhaps private funds or a bond issue.
Baskin said she would be willing to pay a nominal fee per week or month, but wouldn’t support a tax, because she feels it is unfair to ask senior citizens to pay.
Virginia Austin, whose daughter also attends Brandon Fletcher, believes a tax for such a center would not be approved, due to the state of the economy. She said a policy change might help, but ‘it’s a fine line.?
The current library policy allows children ages ten and up to be at the library without a parent. As Austin ponders the policy, Gavey approaches and says an ‘out of order? is being placed on the men’s restroom door, after more vandalism. Another parent notes that snowballs are being hurled at cars by kids in the library parking lot. Austin sighs and says she’s not sure if she will allow her daughter to come to the library with the current problems.
‘One or two of us can’t police everyone,? says Dan Hutchins, one of the library staff, as he walks by a room where a boy has placed his head on a copy machine and is pushing buttons. ‘We’re not here to be cops, we’re librarians.?
Colleen Stringer, who also works at the library, agrees. ‘They roam around and socialize. We’re not latchkey.?
Today is Lauren Elliott’s 12th birthday. She says she comes to the library every day to do homework, walking over from Brandon Fletcher. She said her mom works, but not late, and she picks her up between 3 and 4 p.m. Her friend Stephanie Gelen, also 12, comes on Mondays and Wednesdays, the days her mother attends college.
‘I try to get homework done,? said Stephanie, who stays until shortly after 3 on Mondays and until 4 on Wednesdays. ‘The librarians are always saying ‘Shhhh.??
Austin Wester, an eighth grader at Brandon Middle School, walks to the library almost everyday. He admits to being loud, but says he and his friends don’t do anything ‘really bad,? even though they’ve been kicked out of the library before. They don’t do homework at the library, just hang out ‘because there’s nothing else to do.?
Kyle Helmle, also a Brandon Middle School student, says the kids need a place to go, maybe a place with pool tables, food and video games.
‘A place to hang out and not get yelled at for being too loud,? he said, admitting it should not be at the library.
‘It’s interesting, because this problem wasn’t anticipated,? said Beth Nuccio, Brandon school board president. ‘The idea was to get the library close to the school so that the kids could utilize it, but it needs to be utilized properly. One hundred and fifty is a lot of kids. I don’t know what we as a school can do, it’s really a parental issue. The parents need to step up.?
Nuccio says the school district would be willing to help in alleviating the communication issue, sending letters from the library home with students, but the library would need to initiate it.
The property the library sits on was sold to them for $1 by the school district in the late ?90s. The new library facility at 304 South St. opened in December 2000. The library and school district are currently embroiled in a lawsuit regarding fees the library wants to charge to Brandon students who live in Groveland Township.
Nuccio doesn’t believe the lawsuit should affect cooperation between the schools and library.
‘We’re in disagreement over the property issue but we still need to live and work together, so I don’t think the court case would be an issue. It’s a separate issue.?
The problem with large numbers of children coming to the library after school is one Gavey believes the entire community? parents and schools as well as police, fire, township and village officials, need to work on together.
Ortonvile Village Manager Paul Zelenak agrees it is a community problem that occurs due to the close proximity of school and library and suggests all parties involved need to sit down together to discuss the issue.
‘The kids are looking for shelter, somewhere to go,? he said. ‘I’m sure it’s not quiet time there. We need to work together to come up with a solution.?
‘So many families have both parents working. It would be great to have somewhere for the kids to go so they’re not alone,? Gavey said. ‘This is a problem that community needs to deal with as a whole. We can be one of the first communities in the nation to take care of our children together.?