Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Katrina Linde-Moriarty, director of the Portage Lake District Library, is requesting a contract extension with the Hancock Schools Public Library.

HANCOCK — Portage Lake District Library (PLDL) Director Katrina Linde-Moriarty addressed the Hancock School Board earlier this month on the topic of an eight-month extension on the contract between the Hancock School Public Library and the PLDL. The extension is requested to align the contract to the fiscal year of the PLDL, which runs from July 1 to June 30. The contract would also include some amendments to the existing agreement.

Linde-Moriarty also discussed amendments to the agreement, which includes a requested contract rate increase, and will add a new section describing membership types. Those will include in-district memberships for residents with property inside the Hancock School District, student and faculty memberships, which will cover both Hancock School District and PLDL employees. The new section will also address out-of-district memberships, for outside of the Hancock School District. A sub-portion of the section will set an annual membership rate for out-of-district members.

Linde-Moriarty recommended an out-of-district membership, for the duration of the eight-month extension, be $25 per year.

“I feel like that might be achievable for most people in the district, for an equal exchange of services and goods.”

Linde-Moriarty said they would work with Interim Superintendent Chris Salani to determine the best way to collect those funds without putting the library at a security risk by having money in the library, particularly after school office hours.

Another item addressed is that, since the initial contract was signed, in 2018, hours of operation have not been amended or adjusted. The amendment, Linde-Moriarty said, would align with the HSPL’s current hours of operation. The hours of operation will need to be agreed upon jointly by the Hancock School Board and the PLDL Board.

Since Nov. 1, 2018, HSPL has been operated by PLDL. PLDL is staffing the Hancock library and providing books and other materials, access to library databases, interlibrary loans that enable patrons to borrow books from other libraries, and programming.

According to statistics posted on the PLDL website, since the 2017-18 school year, just befor the contract was signed, to the present, library visits have increased 392%, 5513 new items have been added to the library’s collection, and library material check-outs have increased 166% over the four year.