12/1/2004
By Diane Haddad
Michigan's Detroit Public Library is giving out-of-towners a break.
Facing a public relations backlash over an annual fee for nonresidents to borrow materials or access special collections — including the Burton Historical Collection of genealogical and local history materials — Michigan's
Detroit Public Library <
www.detroit.lib.mi.us> (DPL) gave out-of-towners a break.
In June, the DPL announced that it would start issuing $100-a-year nonresident library cards in August. But a Q&A sheet released July 21 states, "DPL values the customers who make special trips to Detroit to use the special collections. These customers can pay a daily use fee of $10 per day to use any of the special collections."
John DuLong, leader of the grassroots protest group Advocates for the Burton Historical Collection <habitant.org/bhc>, calls the DPL's policy adjustment "good news," but says, "We will stick with the plan of action." That plan, which DuLong sent to DPL director Nancy Skowronski July 19, included initiating a library donation boycott and asking Michigan's attorney general to rule on the constitutionality of a public-library access charge. (DPL spokesperson Conrad Wesling says he already had the literature listing the new $10 daily-use fee before he learned of DuLong's letter.)