In November 2003, Bloomfield Hills decided not to renew its 39-year contract with the township library after it asked for $463,550 per year to provide services, a significant increase from the previous $276,000, the Daily Oakland Press reported April 29. Library Director Karen Kotulis-Carter said that previously Bloomfield Hills residents only paid an average cost of $158 per family per year, compared to the $297 in annual library taxes paid by the average Bloomfield Township family.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris ordered the township library trustees and Bloomfield Hills commissioners April 27 to work with a facilitator to negotiate a contract before she offered a ruling on Goldstone’s suit.
If Goldstone prevails, the 206 service contracts Michigan libraries have with local communities could be jeopardized, since a requirement to provide nonresident cards could eliminate the need for such arrangements, according to the April 28 Detroit News. A 1980 opinion by the state attorney general said Michigan residents are constitutionally entitled to fully use a library even if they do not live in the library’s community.
Posted May 6, 2005.