"There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration."
—Andrew Carnegie

For almost a century the Peter White Public Library (the largest public library in the Upper Peninsula) has provided materials that inform, educate and entertain. That in itself is enough of a distinction, but the Library also has given our community much more. For the 36,000 people in the City of Marquette, and the townships of Chocolay, Ewing, Marquette, Sands, Turin, Wells and West Branch, the library has been at the heart of Marquette's cultural life.
  It was a remarkable place, but the town and the times began to outgrow the building in many ways.
  Thanks to the dedicated efforts of a few good souls to whom I'll introduce you (and many that I haven't the room to showcase here), the library has had a chance to grow and change so that today's library patrons can find anything from storybooks, to internet access. The "new" Peter White Library is 21st-century ready, but also is as spacious and comfortable as a home away from home.
  Keep in mind though, that a library is simply a collection of books and materials. What makes our library so special is the people who work there, and the community volunteers and donors who have made its beautiful renovation possible.
  The original library was built in 1904, thanks to generous community support. In 1958, a much needed addition was constructed. In 1976, the second floor of the library was renovated, but since that time, the building itself has remained as it was. By 1990, the need for major restoration and remodeling to this old structure was becoming apparent. So the Long Range Planning Committee recommended to the Board of Trustees that they begin planning an expansion and renovation of the current facility, and "Capital Campaign" was born. This effort recognized that in order for the library to provide state of the art services into the quickly approaching new century, many changes had to be made.
  First of all, the old building did not comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, making it inaccessible to a fairly significant number of citizens. More space was needed for the expanding book and audiovisual collections, for children and youth resources and programming and to accommodate computer technologies. The heating, air conditioning and ventilation system needed to be replaced. Serious overcrowding and high noise levels got in the way of productive research, and old machinery systems could no longer support demands and future growth.
  So in 1993, planning began for the library to be renovated and expanded. There had been talk of this before, but it was Pamela Christensen, hired as Peter White's library director in September 1991, who was the driving force behind the actual implementation of the project. She started the Building Committee, which has been working together for seven years. These dedicated people are volunteers with experience in construction and facility operation. They chose an architect and got the design development phase of the project rolling.
  The next important step was to come up with a budget and determine how this Herculean project was to be paid for. This led to the formation of a Steering Committee, directly appointed by the Board of Trustees. These folks scouted out options for funding. Christensen worked closely with both of these committees and served as a liaison for the Board of Trustees. This required intensive work and commitment. First the Steering Committee hired Boris Frank and Associates to do a feasibility study to find out if the library could indeed fund the $9 million endeavor. Frank networked with community leaders, library supporters and business people who had insight into the level at which the community could support the renovation/expansion. The verdict—a bond issue of $4.5 million and a capital campaign of $4.5 million was possible. This was the largest capital campaign ever undertaken in Marquette campaigns.
  In August 1996, the $4.5 million bond issue was placed on the ballot in Marquette and voters were asked to approve a millage for twenty years. The proposal passed with an almost 2 to 1 vote. So Marquette sold the $4.5 million bond and a $2.0 million bond to fund the project. The Library is paying back the $2 million with the proceeds of the capital campaign. So far, the capital campaign has raised all but $50,000 of the $4.5 million.
  Christensen acknowledges that working with the two Committees has been a huge amount of work, also she feels it has been the most rewarding part of the project. She says that the volunteers have been so generous with their time and effort it makes everything worth it. "They truly want to improve the library and leave a lasting legacy to Marquette. They deserve all of the praise and all of the credit for making this project a reality." And Christensen deserves the community's praise for her unwavering efforts in pursuing this ambitious vision. She already has earned the respect of her colleagues. During our group interview, they all pointed to her when I asked how this whole thing advanced from dream to reality.
  But there are more heroes and heroines behind the scenes as well. For example, there's Claire Rose, who has worked at the Library since 1990. She is the Career Resources Center Coordinator. The Board of Trustees reassigned Claire to the position of Grants Coordinator from 1996 to 97. Applying for grants like the one Peter White received from the National Endowment for the Humanities is no easy task. It takes technical skill, creativity and tenacity. Rose has put in countless hours concentrating on grant writing, and it has paid off. During 1998, when Rose was asked to commit herself to grant writing full-time, she worked with Christensen to create the 100-page document that brought in $300,000 in grant monies.
  Rose also was able to persuade readers to really want to join in the library's mission. She wrote, proofread and organized large amounts of material, and would settle for the submission of no less than an outstanding proposal. Her efforts connected the library with the philanthropic world that lies outside Marquette's borders. She needed to write to an audience of affluent city-dwellers—people who rarely visited an area such as ours. Her task was to explain how the library serves not only the Marquette area, but the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The interesting thing is, where Claire grew up there was no library at all. In high school, when she first viewed Peter White Library, she was astonished. But she realized as she got older how cramped, ill-lighted and in need of change it was. She's looking forward to "getting the library in a shape where it can better serve the community." And on a personal note, her mother, who has difficulty getting up stairs, will surely appreciate this new fully-accessible building.
  Another heroine of the project is Bryn Smith, Peter White's Programming/Art Services Specialist. Her duties include coordinating, planning and implementing programming, marketing, exhibits and promotional materials. She also is the person who organizes the moves. She has served on the Building Committee, the Building Committee Interiors Committee, and has been employed at Peter White since 1981.
  Just about everyone has experienced the difficulty in planning and carrying out a move from one private residence to another. Well, Smith has had to deal with moving a hundred years of accumulation—over 140,000 items, including furniture and equipment. But she thrives on it. She facilitated the library's 1998 move to its temporary lodging at NMU. There were 20,000 boxes of books, which were color-coded to correspond to the area in which they'd end up, and labeled on the top and the side according to collection and Dewey system numbers. Computer printouts showed how many books were on the shelf and how many were in storage. Smith could then calculate for example, that in the 100 section, eighteen feet were needed for books. Now Smith has fearlessly engineered the library's homecoming in its expanded locale.
  The architectural drawing and drafting classes she took at NMU ( in high school she was not permitted to enroll in these classes for fear she might "distract" the boys).
  Detroit area native Laura Petrie (who attended NMU) has been Peter White's administrative assistant for the Capital Campaign. She's worked hand-in-hand with its staff and volunteers since 1996. She's been responsible for keeping financial records for the campaign, coordinating volunteers, sending reminders and thank yous for donations and payments, etc.
  Petrie worked with Donald Dodd, Resident Counsel from American City Bureau, who organized the campaign, and helped Co-Chairs Mike Coyne and Lynne Hammerstrom implement the campaign. Dodd has remarked with confidence that "Laura is the best capital campaign assistant he has ever had the pleasure to work with." This is high praise, considering Dodd is a veteran of many fund-raising campaigns, with two decades of experience. She agrees with Bryn that volunteers are worth their weight in gold. Before coming to Marquette, she had never seen such eager volunteers. "Some of them," she says, "are still working after four years with the same zeal as at the beginning. It's a joy to watch them." As for Petrie's vision of the "new" library, she sees a simple benefit to men and women who come in and sit for hours reading the newspapers. "Now," she said with a smile, "they can read in a quiet place in front of a welcoming fireplace."
  Marquette Township's Stan Peterson is another hero. He's been with the library since 1995 in the capacity of maintenance services coordinator. In 1997, he was selected to serve as project clerk of the renovation/expansion. Stan balances library concerns with those of the general contractor and subcontractors. He spends a lot of time at the construction site, handling the daily headaches and observing the building process to see that the work is finished on time, in accordance with the contract and is of high quality. He then, brings the contractor's and subcontractors' concerns to the Building Committee and Board of Trustees. He's the man who has the most hands-on day-in and day-out experience with and knowledge of the job site—an essential link to realizing the expansion dream. Peterson says, "The workers themselves are what make this building the building it is now."
  He talks about the local talent that were employed and is proud of the time and effort they put into details. "It's easy to dismiss a lot of things in an old building, but they took the time to rip things out and make them perfect. It's their community, and they'll be using the building as well." Peterson oversees the whole operation, and his attitude about the workmanship is "whatever it takes, I'll work with you. I'll help drill the holes if you need me to. Don't take the easy way out."
  Peterson knows that the "semi-and-a-half of books" that were moved need a building that's extra strong. "It's just paper," he says, "but paper weighs so much that the building has to be over 150 pounds per square foot to support it all. The average building is about 75 to 100 pounds per square foot."
  When I asked Christensen about the ups and downs of the process she told me the most difficult part of the experience was "trying to keep the communication flowing between the many committees, the architectural/engineering team, the Board of Trustees, the staff and the public." At one time the Building Committee had a dozen people, the Steering Committee sixteen, the staff forty, a Board of Trustees five and many professionals and consultants. "Making sure everyone had the information they needed to make intelligent decisions was a full-time job," says Christensen.
  On the flip side are the rewards of this laborious venture. Christensen has kept her optimism going because of the great people she's had the privilege to work with. The volunteers were always eager to go the distance. Certainly seven years immersed in a building project is a long time. But Christensen says one must realize that, "we planned for this building to meet the needs of the community for the next fifty years. In perspective, every hour spent on the project was time well spent."
  The staff took me on a tour of the nearly-finished library. I could see through the sawdust how the old and the new work splendidly together. Christensen says, "When the library becomes ‘the place to be' for children, teens, parents, adults, senior citizens, community visitors and all residents, our mission will be accomplished."
—Claudia Drosen

Marquette Monthly(TM), Copyright 1999-2008 * Site Comments? Web Design