Local library receives donation from community business

The Marquette City Commission meeting tonight held a special presentation for a community center.

UP Health System Marquette presented the Peter White Library Development Fund with a $30,000 check to be used for their endowment fund. This donation comes at a crucial time for the library as budget cuts have hit them hard.

“We are seeing a lot of threats to our funding. Our funding just isn’t where we would like it to be. We have for the last several years had to reduce what we have been able to do. An endowment will help us build an account for the future and help maintain those valuable programs that people have come to expect,” said Peter White Library Director Pam Christensen. “It’s very important that people have a place to go in the community where they can get information, they can be entertained, they can find programs and services that are recreational and we just welcome all people of all ages in our community and that’s very important.

The library is not just a place to check out books these days. The Peter White offers a place for the community to congregate, enjoy educational sessions as well has a quiet place to enjoy reading a book.

“The Peter White Library has special needs outside just their routine expenses that they have, if they want to expand into a new area, or maybe they are looking at a new median,” said Jim Bogan, UP Health System Marquette President. Libraries are a resource center today, they’re not just books. Nowadays people don’t necessarily read that many books. I think this gives the library the opportunity to develop other initiatives.”

The result of the donation to the endowment fund will not be evident right away. The fund will grow and that income will be used in years to come to support the library.