2024 HIGHLIGHTS
Educational Beacon & Cultural Anchor
y Strived to meet the diverse educational, recreational, and cultural needs of the community by offering over 350 classes, lectures, concerts, and groups.
y Promoted an appreciation of music by offering free jazz, blues, folk, and holiday concerts attended by over 1,000 community members.
Community Engagement
y Enabled access to library materials for residents of American House, Charlevoix via monthly outreach visits
y Helped slow the summer learning slide while promoting a love of reading with over 400 participants in the Summer Reading Club
y Created community dialogue and literacy via two regular book clubs and a community read capped with an author visit in collaboration with the University of Michigan Biological Station.
y Enabled a stress free reading environment for children with our “Read with Gemme” therapy dog reading program.
y Empowered social connections, early literacy skills, and a whole lot of fun with our ever-popular Storytime and playgroups for kids.
Your Beloved Building
y Your beloved building belongs to you thanks to your diligent repayment of the bond that enabled the building’s purchase
y Grew green thumbs with our Garden Spot complete with a seed library, propagation station, and gardening books
y Continued important infrastructure upgrades
y Accommodated changes in library usage by adapting the Coeling Computer Lab into an active space stocked with games and our Library Of Things
y Collaborated with the Charlevoix Cinema III and film loving volunteer Colin Morris to celebrate the silver screen through free film series at the Cinema and a film discussion group at the library.
y Teamed up with Charlevoix Kiwanis and Munson Charlevoix Hospital to provide new parents and caregivers early literacy materials and new baby supplies
y Gave our teens something to anticipate with monthly Teen Subscription Boxes packed with a great read, snacks, and activity ideas
y Celebrated young makers at the Youth Craft Market with over fifteen participating young entrepreneurs selling their homemade goods in the library
Great People
y Celebrated a final Margaret Duerr Award by honoring Mike and Rhea Dow and their outstanding contributions to the community
y Honored tireless, super volunteer Mary Ann Chew for her countless hours in service of the Friends of the Library
y Continued to aim for professional, respectful, utterly outstanding customer service to our community
OPERATING REVENUES:
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Local Tax Revenue: $1,098,600
Earnings on Investments: $65,400
Contributions from Local Units: $52,800
Donations: $133,800
State of Michigan Funding: $9,900
Other: $18,500
Total Revenue: $1,379,000
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS: REVENUES:
Total Revenues:
Total Expenses:
Wages and Benefits: $729,900
Contractual Services: $72,300
Occupancy: $212,500
Supplies and Materials: $122,800
Other Operating Expense: $96,700
Total Expenditures: $1,234,200
BY THE NUMBERS
How You Use Your Library
Visitors to the Library
y 104,800 community members utilized the library last year. 14,900 of those visits occurred in July, our busiest month.
Educational & Recreational Classes and Programs
y 12,500 attended one of our over 350 classes, lectures, programs or groups.
Community Meeting Space
y The library’s meeting spaces were reserved over 660 times and used many more times on a drop-in basis.
Read, Watch & Listen
y You borrowed 69,200 physical items and 30,895 digital items from the library. Almost a third of the items borrowed from the library were ebooks, downloadable audiobooks and downloadable magazines.
Technology
y The library’s Wi-Fi was used 68,000 times while our desktop computers were used over 5,500 times.
Your Information Resource
y Library staff answered over 18,600 of your questions.
MOST BORROWED ITEMS OF 2024
ADULT FICTION
“The Women” by Kristin Hannah BORROWED 218 TIMES
ADULT NON-FICTION
“ Brave the Wild River” by Melissa Sevigny BORROWED 48 TIMES
YOUTH BOOK
“Amulet” by Kazu Kibuishi BORROWED 44 TIMES
Charlevoix Public Library
220 W. Clinton Street
Charlevoix MI 49720
charlevoixlibrary.org 231-547-2651
TEEN BOOK
“Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah Maas BORROWED 51 TIMES
Library Success Story: Glass Artist and Author, Craig Mitchell Smith
I completed my memoir and treasured coffee-table book of photos of my glass art, Heart of Glass, in early winter, 2025. My deepest gratitude goes to the Charlevoix Public Library staff for providing ample space and access to resources to get it done.
My friend and editor Jennifer Harsha Carroll and I began working on the book I dreamt of producing two years ago. We found that working in my art studio, so full of color, light and lake views made it difficult to stay on task.
What better place to turn than the Charlevoix Public Library? We found we could reserve a study room and spread out. I’m a high energy guy, always on the move, and need to pace while I talk and work.
The second floor Trustees Room proved our favorite. We set up the computer and our photographer, Rick Stringer, pulled images while Jennifer and I crafted the words. All the while I paced around the conference table. Many happy days were spent in the library and walking the beautiful grounds making our book.
I hope the book will someday rest on a shelf in the Charlevoix Public Library. It will launch in June 2025 and we are planning a celebration in Charlevoix.