Novi Library Proposal

I have decided to do my argumentative essay on the Novi Library Proposal. The proposal will expand the current library of 23,190 square feet to 60,000 square feet, with the option of expanding the library to 90,000 square feet in 2030. The current Novi library was built in 1976 when Novi's population was 22,525, however Novi's current population is over 53,000. Novi's population is estimated to reach 80,000 by 2030. The current library is old, outdated, and way to small. The size of the library is the biggest issue. There was a proposal in 2001 for the library to be expanded, but the people of Novi rejected it. The previous proposal asked for 20 million dollar bond, but the citizens of Novi would had to have paid an annual fee as long as they lived in the city. This year's proposal is asking for a bond between 14 and 16 million, and the citizens will only have to pay an annual fee for twenty years compared to the lifetime fee of before. If you have a house value between 175,000-220,000 then your annual fee is $29.83; 220,000-400,000 then your annual fee is $37.62; 4000,000 and above then your annual fee is $68.40. This is a close estimate as to what the costs will be, but the exact price will be determined in the the next month and a half.

I spoke with Robert Cutler, the Novi Library Board President, and he explained that they really can't just add on or expand the current library because it was not designed for this. The old library will have to be pretty much torn down and then rebuilt. If the proposal is approved at the polls the expanded library will be 10 percent of the old building library and 90 percent new. They will keep some of the old building but not much. The major concern for many citizens is what will they do when the library is under expansion. Cutler explained to me that they will hire a professional company to move all of the current library equipment and put it in a new building off site. The off site location will be five minutes away from the current library. This will allow for the citizens to still have a library while the expansion process is ongoing. The cost of moving off site will be close to a million dollars, but this is already included in the 14 to 16 million dollar estimate.

The current library was never meant to serve such a big population. It has served the community well for over 30 years, but it has way to many problems. As mentioned above, size is the biggest issue. The lack of space limits the number of library programs offered, the number of books they can order/store, and the addition of new computers. In addition, the library staff has terrible working conditions because their work area in the back is extremely small. These are just a few of reasons why the current library needs to be expanded, but their are plenty more. I will mention and explain more of the problems throughout the entire paper. If the people of Novi do not vote "yes" on this year's proposal they are making a huge mistake. If the library does not get redone soon, more and more problems are going to arise and become very evident. Each year the library expansion gets delayed the construction cost will rise 5 to 10 percent per year due to the increase in material costs. The time is now for the people of Novi to vote yes, and I am going to try to convince them of this.

Last Couple Weeks

These next four weeks of classes will be quite interesting. I already have a lot of work to do and I am sure that plenty more is on the way. Right now, I am starting to work again so that is taking up a good amount of my time. I know that I am lucky compared to other kids who have to work more hours than I do! It is hard to focus during this time of year because the weather is getting nice, and I do not want to be stuck inside writing papers, doing group projects, and studying for exams. Unfortunately that is what college demands of you. I am counting down the days to the end of the semester.

One bright spot this weekend was watching the NCAA tourney. My bracket is pretty much busted. I have three out of the four final four teams left, but so do a lot of other people. I picked the Georgetown Hoyas to win it all, so I am sticking with them. The last couple of games should be good. Let's Go Hoyas!

Photo Essay Revision

Yesterday I finished putting the final touches on my photo essay. I added two more pictures, which is not a lot, but I thought they were good enough to be in there. I got some good feedback last week from everyone. All the comments were very positive and I really appreciate what they had to say. I tried to take out some of the words in the captions-I hope it helps! These are the only major changes I made to the essay. I don't know what else I could do. If anyone has anysuggestions, please let me know!

Photo Essay Progress and March Madness

Well, I finished the photograph essay today. I think that I might want to add some things here and there, but overall, I am very pleased with how it turned out. I tried to take pictures that would be interesting and ones that would capture the theme I was going for. I definitely exceeded the one hundred word minimum. I didn't try to, but all the writing I put in the photograph essay was necessary. I wanted to make sure everyone had an understanding of each picture and its importance to the central theme of the essay. I think people will learn something new about Novi and come to understand Novi as a "Booming City."

March Madness, what else do I need to say. It is by far my favorite time of the sport year. There is so much excitement to each game, and you are always on the edge of your seat. I love filling out my different brackets, even though I end up losing money. I wish the first weekend of the tournament wasn't over, but I look forward to the rest of it. Let's Go Hoyas!

Flickr Pictures

I choose this picture because little kids might walk past this and wonder what this words means. No young kids should have to be subjects to this kind of language at such age. I can only see problems from this kind of language.

I really don't think that this type of graffiti is necessary. I don't see any good that can come from this. Who cares that KING BNE was here. It serves no purpose and it makes the wall and the city look dirty. It does not make the city better by any means. This person probably had nothing better to do, so they decided to do something like this.

The person who did this obvioulsy has some talent, but yet again I do not see the need for it. To me, graffiti like this one just takes up space on a wall. I see this as destruction of property and people who do this should be be punished.

Overall, I am not a fan of graffiti. I wish that people would stop writing on walls and buildings that do not belong to them.

Graffiti

In reading this article, it is quite clear that Kriegel opposed the idea of graffiti. I personally do not like graffiti . The thing that stuck out the most to me was the fact that Kriegel still remembers the hate words written on the walls of the tunnel. After all these years, the discriminating words are the ones burned into his memory. I feel bad for kids like Kriegel, who were subject to learning the meaning of these words this way. No kid should have to learn/experience these words at the age of eight. They are to young, and they can be influenced to accept these words as if they are true. Kriegel obviously did not accept them, but other kids might. In my opinion, graffiti usually has more negative things to say rather than positive. I do not see graffiti a lot, but the times I have seen it, it has something derogatory to say. I don't see the need for gaffiti.

What I liked in this article was how Kriegel would say something, then say what his opposers would say, and then explain why he thinks their wrong. In a sense, you have both sides of athestory. One side in favor of graffiti, the other one not. I thought it made the article more interesting and added some credibility to it.

This is a picture from FadedDetroit. I really can't make out what some of the words say or represent. There were some more explicit pictures, but I decided to go with one instead.

Novi as a "Booming City"-Final Draft

I have lived in Novi for six years now and since I moved here, I have seen the city develop, grow, and expand. New buildings, restaurants, houses, etc. are constantly being built in Novi. The Southwest Michigan Council of Governments reports that Novi is the fastest growing municipality in Oakland County. In 2005 Novi had a population of 53,115, but in the year 2030 the population is estimated to increase to 79,264. For this reason, Novi must continue to expand and develop, and that is exactly what Novi is doing! These pictures will help you to see how Novi has become this "Booming City" and how it continues to grow before our very eyes!


The St. John's Providence Hospital, located at Grand River and Beck Road, is building a brand new, 200 bed, state of the art hospital. The new hospital will be 500,000 square feet. In addition, the hospital is building a new hotel with 108 rooms. Novi wants people from all over the country, not just Michigan, to have a hospital where families can stay in a nice suite hotel, while their loved one is receiving the best possible care. The hospital should be completed in the Spring of 2008. Unfortunately, as of right now, there is no set date for the hotel completion.

This picture and the one above are pictures of the hospital being built....

The tent and the surrounded area is where the new hotel will be located....Construction workers just broke ground about six weeks ago...

Almost everyone is familar with Twelve Oaks Mall. I thought that this mall couldn't get any bigger, but I was wrong. A new Nordstrom department store will be built (165,000 square feet), which will add 20-30 new stores. The expansion does not just stop here. Macy's, which use to be Marshall Field's, will also add 60,000 square feet. The entire mall expansion will bring over 800 permanent jobs and 1,100 construction and design-oriented jobs to Oakland County.

The Novi area is recognized for having a great school system. Novi added its already superb school record with the addition of Detroit Catholic Central High School. The school opened in August 2005 and it is located on Wixom Road. This is an unbelievable school, with everything at the students disposal. It has five computer labs, a wonderful science laboratory, art and music studios, two gymnasiums, and great sports fields and stadiums. This school has over 1,100 students and it will surely attract many students and families to the Novi area.



These are two pictures of Catholic Central....The land for the school was donated by Mr. Pelleritio, and the money to build the school was provided by former alumni and raised through various fundraisers...It is a huge school....A great addition to the city and the school system......

Novi's population continues to grow and grow. People keep on moving to Novi, so new houses and subdivisions must be built for people to live in. It is amazing to me how many new houses are constantly being built in the city. Everywhere you turn, you see construction and signs for new homes. As you can tell, these are not your average starting homes.


This is a picture of a house that is under construction...The subdivision is called Cheltenham Estates located on Beck Road before Ten Mile Road.

And this is what a finish house looks like in Cheltenham Estates...pretty nice...

This house is part of a new subdivision called Mirabella Estates...This subdivision, which has ten houses, has been built in only a year and a half....Works still needs to be done, but the houses are almost finished...This subdivision is located on Meadowbrook Road between Eight and Nine Mile Road...

This house is also part of Mirabella Estates...This is a picture from behind the house...As you can tell the house is pretty much complete, but there is work to be done in landscaping department


This house is part of the Mission Pines subdivision....It has just been completed...This subdivision is just past Mirabella Estates on Meadowbrook Road....Mission Pines took about two years to complete and it contains eight brand new houses...


Look at this...More plans and construction for 13 new luxurious homes...All of this space is for the new homes...The subdivision is called Normandy Hills...

This is another picture of the area that will be used for the new subdivision...Normandy Hills is located on 8 Mile Road just past Meadowbrook Road...

These last three subdivisions (Mirabella Esates, Mission Pines, and Nomandy Ells) are all located within 200 yards of each other... You can find new homes/subdivisions being built all over the city...The city truly is expanding and adjusting to the population increase...

With more people visiting and moving to Novi, the city has to have more restaurants and stores for people to enjoy. Novi is handling this problem pretty well.

Uno Chicago Grill is an excellent restaurant to enjoy with family and friends. It was built just over a year ago...

Melting Pot is a new addition to the city's already wonderful restaurant selection...

However, the building of new restaurants never ends in Novi...

This might not look like much now, but a new TGIF restuarant and Panera Bread are coming to Novi soon...This is located on 8 Mile Road and Haggerty...

In addition, Novi has also built little shopping/strips malls like these two....

With the population expected to reach 79,264 in the year 2030, Novi is building and preparing its future today.

While the rest of Novi keeps on developing and expanding, one building stays the same-the Novi public library. This library was built in 1976, when Novi's population was one third of what it is today. There will be a proposal this November on the ballot for the citizens of Novi to determine whether or not they want to expand the existing library. I plan on doing my argumentative essay on this issue, arguing for why the people of Novi need to vote "yes." The people of Novi rejected a proposal in 2001 because the proposal was poorly thought out and there was no clear idea as to what the new library would look like. This time, it is very different. I spoke with both the Library Board President, Robert Cutler, and the Mayor of Novi, David Landry, and both agree on the fact that the current library is inadequate. With the growing population, the current library cannot meet the citizens' needs/demands. The proposal will expand the library from 23,190 square feet to 60,000 square feet, with the option of expanding it to 90,000 square feet in 2030.

The city of Novi has become a "Booming City" because it has kept growing and adjusting. Now is the time for the citizens of Novi to step up and to make sure that the library expansion is approved at the polls. Everything has changed in Novi, and the library needs to change with the growing population. Here are some pictures of the current library.....

This is one of only two rooms set aside for kids/adults who need to study or do research....They are not very comfortable or spacious...In talking with several librarians they need at least two or three more rooms like this one....

There are four tables (A,B,C, and D) with six computers at each table...This is not nearly enough...Good luck trying to get one of these after school from 3-5 or on the weekends...They probably need double this amount...

This room in the library is designated for the kids' program. Novi library has the biggest and most popular kids' program in the state. However, as you can tell, this room is not big at all, so kids, and the adults leading the program must squeeze into the room. Also, many parents would like to stay and watch what their kids' are learning, but due to the size of the room, they must leave.

This is part of the adult section of the library...There is not much room between each isle, which makes it difficult for everyone to move around, especially handicap people...Also, many people struggle with getting books from the top and bottom shelves...

This part of the library is the children section for kids in the 8th grade or younger....

Novi has become a desirable city to live and visit. Hopefully, now you have an understanding and appreciation for what is going on in Novi and why I like to think of it as a "Booming City." Now, the city and people of Novi need to focus their attention on expanding the library.