Milan library offers variety of programs

The Milan Public Library continues to offer its patrons unique and interesting material while incorporating safety measures learned last year while it was shutdown due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

The library, located at 19 E. Main St., is part of the Milan-Berlin Library District which also includes the Berlin Heights facility.

Both facilities are Carnegie libraries, according to Marketing and Technology Librarian Christine Sholes.

A Carnegie library “is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie,” according to Wikipedia.

A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems, the site continued.

The Milan library was built in 1912 and part of the original building still exists complete with the original stained glass windows, Sholes said.

The original building currently houses the adult collection of books, she said.

“We’re very much deep in the history of the building itself,” Sholes said.

In the mid-1960s, Milan merged with the Berlin Heights library.

“We’re one entity,” Sholes said.

As part of the merger, the libraries also share one staff.

“It’s really like one big family,” Sholes said.

The library merger came years before Milan and Berlin Heights combined their school districts into Edison School District, she said.

Meanwhile, Milan Public Library expanded its community room in 2013 to make additional room for presentations and a meeting area.

Over at the Berlin Heights Library, an expansion is underway to expand its community room, Sholes said.

The project began in April and is being funded through “the Hinman Foundation and other donors to the library such as the Friends,” she said.

The expansion is expected to cost approximately $194,050.

So far, the project is three-fourths of the way completed and is expected to be finished in the near future, though a specific date hasn’t been set, Sholes said.

“We’re very excited about it,” Sholes said.

The expansion will allow the library to expand its programming as well as allow meetings and presentations to be held more “comfortably and safely” as patrons can maintain more social distancing, she said.

The library system as a whole has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to use measures that were put in place during the shutdown early last year.

For example, during the shutdown, the libraries began curbside pick-up, Sholes said.

The curbside pick-up proved efficient and helpful, not only during the pandemic, but also for disabled patrons, therefore, the library’s administration decided to continue to offer the service on a permanent basis, she said.

The administration also incorporated LEID lockers during the pandemic for patrons to pick up and drop off their materials without coming into the library or after hours when the facility is closed.

“LEID Products is the leader of electronic locker and cabinet storage systems with biometric asset protection and control such as fingerprint recognition, retina detection, keypad access and more,” according to its website.

The lockers are used by law enforcement, military, airports, health care centers, corporations, libraries and others, the website also stated.

The lockers as well as the curbside services are offered at both library locations, Sholes said.

As far as programming, Sholes said she feels the Milan-Berlin Library System stands above the crowd.

Some of the popular programs include cooking, craft, children’s hands-on play and learn, equipment rentals and more.

The children’s programs are very popular and use the latest information to best teach youngsters, Sholes said.

“Studies show playing is an important part of learning for children,” she said, noting that it is especially important in the current time of “digital fatigue.”

SUBMITTED Milan Public Library has retained the curbside pickup it began offering amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.