Finding aid of Peninsula Community Library Records

Dublin Core

Title

Finding aid of Peninsula Community Library Records

Subject

Traverse City (Mich.)

Description

Finding aid of the Peninsula Community Library records collection. Collection is part of the holdings of the Peninsula Community Library.

Creator

Barritt, Amy; Morgan, Mary 1957 -

Source

Local History Collections, Peninsula Community Library, Traverse City (Mich.)

Publisher

Peninsula Community Library

Date

2024

Contributor

Peninsula Community Library staff

Rights

This document is protected by copyright law. Contact the Peninsula Community Library for permission to reproduce, display or transmit this document.

Relation

Peninsula Community Library records

Format

PDF

Language

English

Type

Document

Identifier

LHC001pcl-findingaid.pdf

Coverage

Peninsula Township, Grand Traverse County, Michigan

PDF Text

Text

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 & 2; Oversize Folder 1.
A-V Material:
Digital Material: http://localhistory.tadl.org/collections/show/11
Copyright: Copyright is held by the Peninsula Community Library
Processed By: Amy Barritt, 2013, 2017, Mary Morgan 2020,
2021,2022,2024

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, Books of Local Interest, Early History, History,
Newspaper Clippings, Periodicals, Photographs, Staff, Stationery and World
Events.

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.

Books of Local Interest includes books that were either kept by PCL staff, or donated,
because of their rarity and local significance.

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 1990s to the present, including
information about the new Library that opened in September, 2019 and the land
acquisition of the property that it resides on.

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.

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.

Staff includes articles, obituaries and other publications focusing on PCL staff.

Stationery includes the current (as of 2013) and retired stationary utilized by the PCL.

World Events includes documents, photographs, and newspaper clippings, curated by
the Library staff, of significant events that have occurred in the world. In some cases,
such events have impacted the operations of PCL, such as the COVID pandemic that
began in 2020.

Container No. Description

Advertisements [series]:

Box 1 1981-2009
Box 1 Summer Reading Club

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)

Early History [series]:

Box 1 Funding and Millages, 1953-1964
Box 1 Scrapbook, July 1957-1980
Box 1 Support Letters (Special Tax Election), 1958
Box 1 Board Meeting Minutes, 1960-1970
Box 1 1978-1999 (includes contracts and resolutions from 1982, 1984, 1993,
1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and reconfirmation of PCL status and
Board powers 1997/1998)
Box 1 Financial Records, 1981-1984

History [series]:

Box 1 Artifacts
Box 1 New Library Building, includes various documents, photographs, and the
book Peninsula Community Library, the of the Community, by
Karen Lueck, 2019. An unpublished picture book documenting the
building process of the new Library (includes photographs of key
donors).
Box 1 Land purchase documentation (corner of Island View and Center Road),
including a land appraisal dated October 9, 1998.
Box 1 Concise History of PCL, dated 10/1/2009, by Vicki Shurly

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)

Photographs [series]:

Box 2 Miscellaneous
Volume 1 1970s-1999
Volume 2 2000-2021 includes COVID Memorial Tree planting photos and program
Drawer 2, Oversize Folder 1 Pencil drawing of library interior, undated

Staff [series]:

Box 2 2006-2009, 2017
Box 2 Reading Assistance Education Dogs
Box 2 “Once Upon a Peninsula - A Collection of Stories and Drawings
Recounting Childhood Memories of Life on Old Mission Peninsula”,
Narrated by Tim Carroll, Illustrated by Yvette Haberlein, Produced
by Mary T. Morgan, 2021, Self Published. Also OMP School “thank
you” cards, General Service Agreement with artist, original book
run receipt with Mixam (self publishing company)

Box 2 “Kitchen Stories - Shared Recipes from our PCL friends”, compiled by
PCL Staff, 2022, Self Published.

Stationery [series]:

Box 2 Undated

World Events [series]:

Box 3 COVID documentation, including government and MLA/ALA
Communications and staff protocols

Box 3 Solar Eclipse, April 8, 2024 - article by Jane Boursaw re: patrons viewing
the Eclipse

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  1. LHC001pcl-findingaid.pdf