West Bloomfield Library Celebrates National Medal

To visit the on any given day is to know that there will likely be a helpful staff member there to assist with a widening variety of library and community services.

The library staff and volunteers were given the day off to celebrate receiving the 2010 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries, in December.

“I wanted them here to hear the board tell them that they are the backbone and that this library could never be here without them. They are first and foremost the biggest resource we have,” Director Clara Bohrer said.

U.S. Rep. Gary Peters joined state Sen. Mike Kowall, Reps. Lisa Brown and Gail Haines, Oakland County Commissioners, the West Bloomfield Township Board and many community members for food and family entertainment at the Main Library to celebrate the award.

“I’ve been coming here since I was a child, so it’s really cool to come here with my kids and celebrate how great the library is,” said Nicole Maendel, 34, of White Lake, who waited in line for face-painting with her two sons, Gavin, 7, and Merrick, 5, while a rock band played near the library’s youth services department. “It doesn’t surprise me that the library has won this award. It’s a great place for me to bring the boys … we come for Storytime sometimes … personally, while I was completing my MBA, I was here all the time for research and paper-writing."

With the National Medal on display and $10,000 in the bank (both awards from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which has given the award to five libraries annually since 1994) there seemed to be as many reasons named for the library’s success as there were people in attendance on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Detroit native Marsha Semmel, acting director of IMLS, offered that Bohrer’s dedication to making the West Bloomfield Public Library a comprehensive learning facility for people of all ages played a large part in setting it apart from peers.

“Clara looked around at children’s museums and studied the best practices for early learning, and now the youth services department is just incredible,” Semmel said. “She’s able to make the library a very active, almost messy organization, and the community responds to that.”

“The response from parents has been tremendous — they’re so grateful that we’ve developed spaces where they can engage in activities with their kids,” Bohrer said in a statement. “We consulted early childhood experts and local school professionals and created a LearningScape for babies and toddlers, a PlayScape for older children, and an Activities Center stocked with materials that encourage interactive play.”

Library Board President Ken Macon said it is the customer service focus of the staff that sets the library apart.

“When I first started with the board and learned how to use their computers, I would ask some of the worst questions, but they never looked at me wrong,” said Macon, who has served as president for two years. “It’s a very customer-oriented focus. It’s this constant asking of the patrons, ‘what can we do for you?’ I marvel at the patience of the staff. That’s the kind of feedback I get from other patrons, too.”

Congressman Peters agreed. "The efforts of the West Bloomfield Township Public Library to connect with each resident, whether teaching a child to read or helping an adult perfect their resume, are exemplary," he said in a statement. "I am incredibly proud of their work and grateful for their contribution to our community.”

Main Library branch manager Brenda Plizga pointed to 19 community partners in attendance as a big reason for the library’s public support, in the form of the medal celebration and the library millage renewal proposal of last August, which overwhelming passed.

“No other library in the state is as supported by the public as ours is,” Plizga said. “Having the national medal is a thank you to the community and our partners, who are out here in force. Without them, we couldn’t do half of the things we do. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”