A Bright Future for the Troy Michigan Public Library

Newly refunded Troy library sees bright future. (Oakland Press, 8/3/2011)

Excerpt: A planned public closure of April 30 was put off when the Troy City Council vowed to find other ways to keep the library open.

Despite four requests to operate an independent library that were turned down by voters last November, the Troy City Council decided to let voters decide on a five-year dedicated millage on Tuesday. This time, the voters approved the millage request by a margin of 12,246 to 8,799 votes.

“It’s been a tough year,” Kwik said. “With the layoffs last year, we were down from 120 employees to 70, and now we’re down to 55 as people went off to find new jobs.”

Of the 45 library employees, only four are full-time as compared to 15 before the July 2010 layoffs.

With a new millage that’s dedicated to library operations only, Kwik and the staff at the Troy Public Library are planning how to get things back up to speed.

Related posts:
After contentious millage vote, library focuses on providing services.  (8/4/2011)
Millage vote wrap-up.  (8/3/2011)
It's official.  (8/2/2011)
Biggest library story of the day, continued.  (8/2/2011)
Very early vote tally.  (8/2/2011)
Keep your fingers crossed for Troy Public Library.  (8/2/2011)
Kids speak up for the Troy Public Library.  (8/1/2011)
Partisan politics emerge in Troy Public Library vote.  (8/1/2011)
Residents to vote on library village on August 2.  (7/28/2011)
Patrons speak up for their library.  (7/24/2011)
Safeguarding American Families:  Vote yes to save Troy Library.  (7/14/2011)
Troy mayor is upbeat.  (7/14/2011)
Oakland Press editorial.  (7/14/2011)
Book burning listed on Detroit News events calendar.  (7/12/2011)
Troy Chamber supports millage request for library.  (7/10/2011)
A half-million dollar library collection up in flames?  Not gonna happen.  (7/9/2011)
Is it just me or are things heating up in Troy Michigan?  (7/6/2011)
The battle lines are drawn.  (6/28/2011)
August 2nd a "This Is It" moment for the Troy Public Library..  (5/17/2011)
Working to keep the library open.  (5/10/2011)
Will there be a library after June 30th?  (4/20/2011)
Keep the Troy Public Library open:  Council members told to 'figure it out'.  (4/19/2011)
May Day!  May Day!  Two Michigan libraries set to close on May 1.  (4/17/2011)
Library to close on May 1.  (2/23/2011)
Troy Michigan (population: 80,000) still on track to close its library.  (2/8/2011)
Voters wave bye-bye to their library.  (11/3/2010)
Giving voters more choices than they need.  (8/13/2010)
Library threatened with closure, part 2.  (5/19/2010)
Library threatened with closure, part 1.  (4/25/2010)

After Contentious Millage Vote, Troy Michigan Public Library Focuses on Providing Services

Troy library vows to increase services. With tax hike OK'd, more materials and programs on the way. (Detroit News, 8/4/2011)

Excerpt: "We're going to look at enhanced services that will change the way we do business," said Phillip Kwik, the library's director of public services.

"We haven't had the chance to be real creative. We weren't thinking of a future."

Kwik said the library is looking into self-checkout machines, new materials and reinstating story time programs and classes. There are also plans to evaluate staffing, which was reduced to 70 people in July 2010 after layoffs, and through attrition is now down to 55.

"We want to plan and see where the holes are now and what we can do," he said. "We'll also engage the community and see how they want their millage money spent."


Related posts:
Millage vote wrap-up.  (8/3/2011)
It's official.  (8/2/2011)
Biggest library story of the day, continued.  (8/2/2011)
Very early vote tally.  (8/2/2011)
Keep your fingers crossed for Troy Public Library.  (8/2/2011)
Kids speak up for the Troy Public Library.  (8/1/2011)
Partisan politics emerge in Troy Public Library vote.  (8/1/2011)
Residents to vote on library village on August 2.  (7/28/2011)
Patrons speak up for their library.  (7/24/2011)
Safeguarding American Families:  Vote yes to save Troy Library.  (7/14/2011)
Troy mayor is upbeat.  (7/14/2011)
Oakland Press editorial.  (7/14/2011)
Book burning listed on Detroit News events calendar.  (7/12/2011)
Troy Chamber supports millage request for library.  (7/10/2011)
A half-million dollar library collection up in flames?  Not gonna happen.  (7/9/2011)
I)s it just me or are things heating up in Troy Michigan?  (7/6/2011)
The battle lines are drawn.  (6/28/2011)
August 2nd a "This Is It" moment for the Troy Public Library..  (5/17/2011)
Working to keep the library open.  (5/10/2011)
Will there be a library after June 30th?  (4/20/2011)
Keep the Troy Public Library open:  Council members told to 'figure it out'.  (4/19/2011)
May Day!  May Day!  Two Michigan libraries set to close on May 1.  (4/17/2011)
Library to close on May 1.  (2/23/2011)
Troy Michigan (population: 80,000) still on track to close its library.  (2/8/2011)
Voters wave bye-bye to their library.  (11/3/2010)
Giving voters more choices than they need.  (8/13/2010)
Library threatened with closure, part 2.  (5/19/2010)
Library threatened with closure, part 1.  (4/25/2010)

Book to Film: Golf in the Kingdom

Doug Moe: Golf a great game, just not on film. (Capital Times, 8/1/2011)

Excerpt: It was never going to be easy to make a film out of “Golf in the Kingdom,” Michael Murphy’s 1972 novel that, to some of us, is the best golf book ever written.

Murphy thought it was going to happen more than a decade ago. He told me so the only time I ever spoke to him.

“Clint absolutely swears he will do it before 2000,” Murphy said when we chatted in October 1998.
Clint was Clint Eastwood, who owned the film rights to the novel — a somewhat mystical account of a golf match in Scotland and its aftermath — for many years.

Sean Connery also was interested for a long time. Connery wanted to play Shivas Irons, the novel’s wise and mysterious golf pro.