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LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS
PENINSULA COMMUNITY LIBRARY
2893 Island View Road Traverse City, MI 49686
Creator: Peninsula Community Library
Title: Peninsula Community Library records
Inclusive dates: 1957-2022
Bulk dates: 1957-1958, 2000s
Extent: 2 linear feet
Call number: LHC 001 PCL
Language: Material is in English.
Acquisition: Reassigned to archive at end of primary use.
Accruals: Periodic additions to the collection are expected.
Access: The collection is open without restriction.
Photographs: See Volumes 1-2; Box 1 (Scrapbook and History New Library); Oversize Folder 1.
A-V Material:
Digital Material:
Copyright: Copyright is held by the Peninsula Community Library Processed By: Amy Barritt, 2013, 2017, Mary Morgan 2020, 2021,2022
Abstract
Records of Peninsula Community Library, focusing on the history of the institution as opposed to operating records. Collection was created and maintained by library staff. Series include: Advertisements, Early History, History, Newspaper Clippings, Periodicals, Staff, Stationery, Books of Local Interest, and Photographs.
History
From the Peninsula Community Library’s website, <http://www.peninsulacommunitylibrary.org/about-us.html>, retrieved 12 April 2013:
“The Peninsula Community Library, one of Peninsula Township's most beloved institutions, opened on a summer's day in 1957. Its collection was modest: a mere 700 books, mostly borrowed and housed in temporary quarters on the stage of the gym at the new Old Mission Peninsula School. With roots as far back as 1859, when the people of Peninsula Township first voted to form a library, the library had been housed in a private home until 1910 when the electorate voted to apportion its books among the various Old Mission one-room schoolhouses. On May 29, 1959, by the vote of the people, the Peninsula Community Library became an established township library under the requirements of the State of Michigan. Today, Peninsula Community Library is still an independent township library with its own elected governing board of trustees, operating by contract within and a part of the Traverse Area District Library. This partnership, along with the relationship the library has established with Traverse City Area Public Schools, has made the library a center of life that helps to bind a diverse, rural community together.”
In late 2016, facing an uncertain future with the sale of the Old Mission School, where the Library had rented a space for decades, the Board of the Peninsula Community Library, made a bold decision to build on the land that the Library had owned since 1980. In under three years, a fundraising campaign raised over 2.5 million dollars, all in donations. Architects, site engineers, and builders were hired and a beautiful farmhouse style building arose at the corner of Island View and Center Roads. The Library opened its doors to the public on September 7th, 2019.
Scope and Content Note
Advertisements includes materials created by the PCL to promote events and programs at the PCL. Some annual reports and newsletters are included in this series.
Early History includes letters of support by community members, tax assessments for the previous year, and other documentation supporting the permanent establishment of the PCL. A second accession for this series was made in 2017, adding a number of records concerning the funding of the established library, millages included, as well as the formation of the Traverse Area District Library and the legal proceedings that entailed. The slim volume on Board Meeting Minutes, 1960-1970, has little detail and is missing many dates. This series also includes records and correspondence relating to the operation of the PCL. Originally, this compilation of records was made available to researchers in a scrapbook format; the original order of this scrapbook was maintained. Digital reproductions of photographs in the scrapbook are available at: http://localhistory.tadl.org/collections/show/11.
History continues the “Early History” series, from the late 1990s to the present.
Newspaper Clippings includes photocopies and original clippings, focusing on notable
events and programs that have taken place at the PCL. Also includes articles from periodicals that are not newspapers.
Periodicals is a collection of Old Mission Living and Gather Old Mission periodicals that contains articles about residents and living on Old Mission Peninsula, including articles about the building of the new library.
Staff includes articles, obituaries and other publications focusing on staff PCL staff.
Stationery includes the current (as of 2013) and retired stationary utilized by the PCL.
Books of Local Interest includes books that were either kept by PCL staff, or donated, because of their rarity and local significance.
Photographs includes the contents of various scrapbooks kept over the years by PCL staff. Most of the subjects are of PCL patrons attending events, such as Summer Reading Club parties and holiday parties. Also includes a pencil drawing of the interior of the library, artist and date unknown. Any non-photographic media is also placed in this series, which can include audio or audiovisual.
Container No. Description
Advertisements [series]:
Box 1 1981-2009
Box 1 Summer Reading Club
Early History [series]:
Box 1 1953-1964
Box 1 1978-1988
Box 1 1997-1998
Box 1 Scrapbook, July 1957-1980
Box 1 Support Letters (Special Tax Election), 1958
Box 1 Board Meeting Minutes, 1960-1970
Box 1 Financial Records, 1981-1984
History [series]:
Box 1 Artifacts
Box 1 New Library Building, includes:
Peninsula Community Library, the Heart of the
Community, by Karen Lueck, 2019. An unpublished
picture book documenting the building process of the new
Library, located on the corner of Island View and Center
Road. Includes photographs of key donors.
Newspaper Clippings [series]:
Box 1 1964-2014
Periodicals [series]:
Box 2 Old Mission Living – 2016 (October, November), 2017
(January), 2018 (January, April), 2019 (January, May).
Gather Old Mission – 2019 (August, September,
November)
Staff [series]:
Box 1 2006-2009, 2017
Box 1 Reading Assistance Education Dogs
Box 1 Once Upon a Peninsula Coloring Book and Thank You
cards
Box 1 Kitchen Stories
Stationery [series]:
Box 1 Undated
Books of Local Interest [series]:
Box 2 Bannon, Laura. Who Walks the Attic?. Chicago; Albert
Whitman & Company, 1962. (Note: Book weeded from
circulation by the Peninsula Community Library.
Setting for the story is Old Mission Peninsula.)
Box 2 Mann, Bruce W. Leukemia: A Family’s Challenge.
Traverse City, Mich.; Prism Publications, 1987. (Note:
Book weeded from circulation by the Peninsula
Community Library. Concerns a former Old Mission
Peninsula School student, Michele Elizabeth Mann,
who died of leukemia in 1985)
Box 2 Elson, William H; Gray, William S. Elson-Gray Basic
Readers, Book Five; Chicago, IL; Scott, Foresman and
Company, 1936. (Created for middle school readers.
The setting of the last story in this book, entitled “Pat
Santa”, by Elliott Flower, takes place on Old Mission
Peninsula)
Photographs [series]:
Box 1 Miscellaneous
Volume 1 1970s-1999
Volume 2 2000-2021 includes COVID Memorial Tree planting photos and program
Drawer 1, Pencil drawing of library interior, undated
Oversize
Folder 1