The Traverse Area District Library (TADL) will seek a renewal of its 10-year millage on the August 6 ballot, which provides approximately 90 percent of the library’s funding. The move comes during a busy year for TADL, which is continuing to expand its programming and services – offering free community lunches this summer, launching a new streaming service for local musicians, and becoming one of only a handful of library systems in the nation to be designated as a Certified Autism Center.

With TADL’s current millage expiring at the end of 2025, the library will ask voters for a 10-year renewal this year. “If we waited and put it on the ballot in 2025, there’s no countywide election, so the library would have to incur the cost of a special election,” explains Library Director Michele Howard. “That’s $80,000 to $100,000, which is a lot of money that can go to books and programming and meeting community needs, so the board decided to go in 2024.”

TADL has operated on 1.1 mills since 1983. That millage rate typically gets reduced over time due to Headlee rollbacks. TADL is seeking to restore its millage back to the original 1.1 mills by renewing the current rate of .9044 mills, plus an additional rate of 0.1956 mills. Homeowners would pay $1.10 for each $1,000 of state equalized value (SEV) of their home. In the TADL service area – which includes Grand Traverse County, plus the portions of the City of Traverse City located inside Leelanau County – that’s $123.97 annually for the average homeowner, according to TADL.

The millage provides nine-tenths of the library’s funding, with the remaining tenth coming from state aid, donations, grants, and the like. It funds all the libraries in the TADL system, including the main Woodmere branch, East Bay, Kingsley, Fife Lake, Interlochen, and Peninsula. According to TADL, more than 419,000 people visited one of those branches last year, with the check-out value of items totaling nearly $16 million. TADL’s new Bookmobile library – launched in 2022 – also logged nearly 1,700 miles visiting daycares, schools, and senior living facilities.

While those numbers help illustrate TADL’s impact, Howard says that “the library is more than just statistics. We’re a group of locations and people working together to meet the needs of our community. The power of that group together, I think, is what’s important for people to know.” TADL is taking on several new initiatives this year as part of its mission to diversify its community services – ranging from new movie nights and local music streaming platforms to free lunches to expanded 3D printing services.

One of TADL’s most significant moves involved going through the process recently to become a Certified Autism Center through the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). To achieve that designation, at least 80 percent of a library’s public-facing staff must complete training on serving autistic and sensory-sensitive individuals. Ninety percent of TADL’s public-facing staff and 84 percent of all employees overall went through the training, with Traverse City Tourism helping to pay for the accreditation process.

“There are only 12 libraries in the nation that are certified, and six of them are the TADL libraries,” Howard says. Myron Pincomb, board chairman of IBCCES, says TADL’s “commitment to enhancing accessibility and inclusivity for autistic individuals and their families sets a great example for libraries everywhere.” Library staff will now be “better equipped to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for all visitors,” he adds.

After trying to become a food distribution location in past years, Howard says TADL was excited this year to be chosen as a partner in Gather 2 Grow, Feeding America West Michigan’s summer lunch program. The program offers free lunches for any children under 18 and developmentally delayed adults up to age 26. All meal options are nut-free, and various meal choices – including vegetarian and gluten-free – are available. Four TADL libraries serve as pickup locations, including Woodmere (Mon-Fri 11am-12:30pm), East Bay (Tues-Fri 11:30am-1pm), Kingsley (Mon-Fri 12pm-1:30pm), and Interlochen (Mon-Fri 11am-12:30pm).

“We as a community should decide hunger is not acceptable, and the more places that we can feed kids, the better,” Howard says. With individuals able to walk in and grab a free lunch, no questions asked, Howard says the program is “trying to break down the stigma and barriers” that often accompany food insecurity. She estimates the Woodmere branch is serving 60-100 kids a day; on big library event days, that number can reach over 200. Recent building renovations are helping with those crowds: TADL recently completed reconstruction of its first-floor restrooms, which are now all touch-free and feature two ADA/family stalls in the women’s room and one in the men’s room, along with new privacy barriers in the men’s room.

Technology and audio-visual programs are another area of library growth. TADL has significantly expanded its fleet of 3D printers, going from two initially to six now spread across the Woodmere, Kingsley, and East Bay branches. “When we decide to add a service, we look at a) if it’s something the community can use and b), is it something people probably can’t afford themselves,” Howard notes. Customers are using the equipment to print everything from boat and car parts to product prototypes to artwork to board game pieces, according to Howard.

The Sight & Sound department has launched a new film series called “Almost Midnight Movies,” with a late-night screening this past weekend of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” providing attendees with rice, toast, and water pistols for interactivity (costumes were also encouraged). The next event will be a screening of “Flash Gordon” in July, Howard says. TADL is also preparing to debut a new local music streaming service called TADL Waves, which will not only provide free music to patrons but support local artists. Local musicians can upload a song through July 8 to be considered for the program. A panel of jurors – including The Accidentals – will select up to 20 artists from the submission pool to become the “first wave” of featured artists. Each artist will receive a $250 honorarium and have their music spotlighted on TADL Waves. The inaugural lineup will be announced July 22 as part of TADL’s Summer Reading Club Finale Party, with TADL Waves planned to go live by August.