Read On: Library agreement reached

HOUGHTON — An agreement has been reached that will allow residents of one U.P. community to keep checking out books at their local library.

Chassell residents will be allowed to continue using the Portage Lake District Library at least for now. Voters approved a proposal to pull out of the library district last November, which would have been effective at the end of this year.

But an agreement between the library and Chassell Township extends that deadline for another year.

Library Director Dillon Geshel said, “In exchange for that service, the library will receive the township’s portion of state aid revenues for the 2018 year and penal fine revenues. The township has also agreed to forfeit any rights they have to the library’s existing assets, under this agreement.”

The District Library Agreement states that whenever a party withdraws from the district, they are entitled to a portion of the library’s assets, but only if they intend to use those assets for continued service for their residents at qualified public libraries. Since Chassell doesn’t have one, they can’t make use of those funds.

This agreement is only temporary, however.

Geshel said, “After 2018, Chassell residents would have to purchase a non-resident membership to use and access library materials, unless their board were to furnish a plan that included a millage with a library, at which point we would invite them to rejoin the library district.”

For non-district residents, the cost for a membership is $85 a year for an individual or $130 for a family.