Arguably Karen Kotulis Carrter had more impact on the the cultural aspects of Bloomfield Township and the surrounding communities than any other single individual. As a result the news of her retirement came as a shock to many who probably couldn't name own their Mayor. During her tenure which spanned three decades the The Bloomfield Township Library or BPTL grew to be the premier library in Oakland County. Of note were the many cultural programs the library offers such as Chamber music concerts which were also televised on Cable TV. Other programs such as creative writing and memoir writing classes and other community classes started at the BPTL and became elsewhere as well.
A retirement of a person with such stature brings the question what's next and the inevitable speculation. The concept of "district library " is but one example. That would be one or more libraries serving multiple communities. For almost thirty years in the last century the Birmingham Baldwin Library and the Township Library functioned as one library, with a single director overseeing two elected library boards and two libraries. That union went away, in the early part of the 21st century,. possibly as a result of the BPTL's desire to expand it's building.
One observer of the area library scene remarked that, cooperation did not seem to be part of the Township
Library's Culture While that may or may not be, It can be said that with the exception of the Baldwin Library's 2010 initiative to the City of Bloomfield Hills no other library has approached cooperation with other communities in a mannerThe Library culture would consider acceptable. Curiously Baldwin'a
initiative came shortly after Doug Koschick a 20 plus years veteran at Baldwin was appointed Library Director in 2010..
A library's culture is defined by it's history./ If you are interested in history of libraries in southern Oakland County in the early part of the 20th century and the emergence of the Bloomfield Hills Township Library a title we can recommend is
Library Lore a spiral bound flip book which appears on the BPTL website. You may access it by
clicking here. The book is a work in progress. It currently ends in the late 20th Century with both Baldwin and the BPTL ending their joint directorship. Township Library Director Kotulis Cartere said that bringing the book up to date will be a task of Library's 50th anniversary (1964-2014) celebration next year.
Having enjoyed Volume One it will be interesting read the sequel.
2014 will be a very interesting year for both Baldwin ( an expansion and the conclusion of first chapter of the library's venture with the City) and the Township Library's silver anniversary.
We will have much to say on both subjects and hope to interview out going Director Kotulis-Carter in a future post.
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