A full slate
Hancock District Library Planning Committee is complete
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HANCOCK -- The Hancock Public Schools Board of Education held a special meeting Thursday and appointed two board members and one community leader to the new District Library Planning Committee. Board Secretary Emilie Lancour and Trustee Taylor Paul accepted the nominations for appointment. Community Organizer Carolyn Dekker was also appointed. The new board also includes two Houghton city council members, Dean Woodbeck and Whitney Warstler, who were appointed by the council Wednesday.
Lancour said she is excited to get to work on this issue. "We've been having lots of emails going back and forth with legal and communicating with the city on all of those pieces," she said. "I think getting this planning committee together, even though its short term, will be a good thing."
Public comment before the committee was approved saw Dekker and another library supporter, Ruth Gill, relay their excitement. Gill said she hopes the board follows the city's lead and tackles creating a millage before the Aug. 11 deadline.
"I'm really encouraged that the school board called this special meeting tonight," she said. "It shows that it [the board] recognizes the extraordinary value that the Hancock Library represents to both the students and the residents of the Hancock School District."
Superintendent Chris Salani clarified what the new district library would look like before the board voted on the appointments. He said the district library will be within the limits of the already existing Hancock School District (Hancock Township, City of Hancock, Quincy and Franklin Townships.)
However, the new district library, if the millage is passed, will not be affiliated with Hancock Public schools -- other than where it is located. Salani said it will be completely funded by taxpayer money.
"It's not Hancock Public Schools who will be asking for a millage," he said. "It's going to be this entity [the committee] to help support services -- public library space -- within our district boundaries."
The five committee members will need to move quickly to meet the deadline. Salani said the millage language needs to be drafted, reviewed by library lawyer Anne Seurynck and approved by the State Librarian before it can be officially submitted.