By Sabrina Martell
Special to the Independent
Staff member Lindsay Lore announced the Belleville Area District Library’s plans to implement a new user app at the library board’s regular meeting held on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
Lore, the Circulation Department Head at the library, was invited to the board meeting by Library Director Mary Jo Suchy to present the new app project to the board during the Director’s Report. Once available to the public, this app will offer patrons access to their library records directly on their phones. The library staff will not know the full functionality of the app until the implementation process is complete, but according to Lore, users will likely have the opportunity to view their current borrows and holds, as well as check out books using their library card linked to the app.
An implementation specialist from The Library Corporation will work alongside Lore and Library Assistant Director Hilary Savage to develop the app. Together, they will tailor The Library Corporation’s standard app TLC Go! to fit the specific needs and programming of the Belleville Area District Library. Lore stated that other libraries with their own TLC Go!-based apps, such as the Milford Public Library, also offer patrons a look at their library’s newest items.
Another potential feature of the app is ISBN scanning, which allows users to check a book’s availability at the library by scanning its ISBN code. “So if you’re at a bookstore and are like ‘oh this looks good’, you can scan the back barcode and see if the library has it,” said Lore. Cardholders with the Belleville Area District Library will also have the ability to use the library card on their app to check out books at other The Library Network-member libraries without the need to have their physical library card on them.
“We try to make it as easy for people as it should be,” said Library Director Suchy.
Since the project is in its early stages, the library staff do not know yet when the app will be ready. “It’s going to take a little bit,” Lore said when asked by board member Dan Fleming. “It depends on how often we are able to meet for our implementation meetings. I imagine there would be several before we’re ready to go live with it.”
The first implementation meeting for this new app will take place the week of Sept. 14.
In other business at the 40-minute meeting, the board:
– Approved resolutions authorizing the library to levy its three tax millages on its December 2026 tax bill; – Heard Suchy report the library current has more revenue than budgeted for and spent less than budgeted for in the 2026 fiscal year;
– Listened to Such’s debrief of the tornado warning on Thursday, Sept. 3, which took place the same day as Belleville High School’s first home football game of the year. Because of the game and the library’s reintroduction of its “Game Day Game Day” program for the occasion, teens were visiting the library at the time of the warning, and they had to take cover under library desks;
– Heard Suchy announce the library is hosting a presentation on Pewabic pottery, titled “Pewabic, Detroit’s Pottery” on Thursday, Sept. 17;
– Learned the library is replacing their self-check machines and self-check print release machines, which will cost around $32,000;
– Acknowledged the 20th anniversary of Belleville’s African American Literature Book Group, and commended the Independent article “Belleville’s African American Book Club Marks 20 Years” by Emily Flesch, highlighting the milestone;
– Heard Board member Cichewicz’s summer gardening updates. Cichewicz said that she thinks she picked another 12 quarts of beans on the day of the meeting, in addition to the roughly thirty quarts she already had canned.