GLADSTONE — Friends of the Gladstone Library are kicking off their 2023 Membership and Donation Drive. The service area of the library includes Brampton Township, the city of Gladstone, Escanaba Township, and Masonville Township. This year’s drive is especially imperative as the library is facing some tough decisions because of funding shortages.

The Gladstone Library was established in 1913 and became a school district public library in 1923 when the city book collection and the school book collection were combined. Since then, the library has been and remains an integral part of the Gladstone community.

The current library building is located at 300 South 10th St, Gladstone. The building was built in 1999 between the Jones Elementary School and the old high school, which is now the Gladstone Jr. High School. With direct outside access, the library provides services to public patrons and students during all open hours. The library’s regular hours (September through May) are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., and summer hours (June – August) are Monday and Wednesday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The library currently hold 43,469 physical books in its collection and offers online services to thousands of digital eBooks, audio books, magazines, multiple databases and various other resources.

However, there is a real possibility the library will need to cut hours and the book budget in order to stay within a balanced budget. The library is not receiving its full amount of state aid because it has not met the 3/10 of a mill of local funding that is required.

In fact, it has qualified for full state aid funding only once in the past four years. This happened when the Delta County Board gave the library a grant for lost revenue due to COVID-19 public health emergency from monies they received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

In short, the library needs more local funding in order to receive the full amount of state aid funding.

The Gladstone Library has depended for years on the knowledge and support of community volunteers. This is what sparked the Friends of the Gladstone Library group to form. The group was established in 1992 and has been raising money through the membership/donation drive, hosting game/card parties (November and June), a candlelight dinner (April) and the “Learning Tree.” This past spring the Friends donated $15,000 to the library at their 29th Annual Candlelight Dinner. All membership dues donations and any fundraising go directly to the library.

The funding the library receives from the Friends goes toward seasonal children’s story hours, the summer reading program and books along with the cost of the Great Lakes Digital Library. The group feels it is important to create life-long learners in children and offer resources for all present life-long learners and those in the future.

“The Friends of the Gladstone Library is an integral part of our library especially when it comes to funding. The library continues to rely on this fundraising group to get us through these tough economic times,” said Lori Wells, library director. She also encouraged community members to reach out to local government. “Please talk to our county/city commissioners and township board members about financially supporting our public library.”

One way to help the library is to become a member of the Friends. There are a number of membership options: Adult, $10; Family, $20; Patron, $50; and Lifetime member, $200. In addition, a separate donation may be made to the library. Membership/donation forms are available to pick up at the Gladstone Library, 300 South 10th Street, Gladstone, or can be requested by calling the library, 906-482-4224 Ext. 2.