Small-Town Innovation: Renovating and Reimagining the Library Experience

Summary

Chapter & Verse: Storytime from the Stacks Episode Summary: Small-Town Innovation: Renovating and Reimagining the Library Experience Release Date: July 10, 2025

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Introduction

In the ninth episode of Chapter & Verse: Storytime from the Stacks, hosts Dylan Geschel and Kate Van Aken delve into the transformative journey of Brianne McCrae, the Director at the Bad Axe Area District Library. This episode highlights the pivotal role libraries play in small communities, emphasizing innovation, community engagement, and the personal passion driving library leadership.

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Guest Introduction: Brianne McCrae

Brianne McCrae, a native of Bad Axe, shares her deep-rooted connection to libraries. With four years of directorship at her hometown library, Brianne paints a vivid picture of her lifelong relationship with books and community service.

Notable Quote:

"This library helped raise me. I love it here. I still love it here. And I'm really honored to work here and lead here."
— Brianne McCrae [02:24]

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Choosing a Career in Librarianship

Brianne recounts how her career path was inspired by her younger brother's decision to attend library school. Her seamless transition into librarianship underscores the familial and communal bonds that often guide career choices in small towns.

Notable Quote:

"I just stole his plan and I just ran with it... These are the best people in the world."
— Brianne McCrae [03:20]

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Renovating the Unionville Library: A Community Transformation

Brianne reminisces about her first directorship at the Columbia Township Library in Unionville. Facing a town with declining storefronts and a limited budget, Brianne and the community embarked on a surprising and ambitious renovation project.

Key Points:

• Initial skepticism about the town's potential for growth.
• Discovery of the library board's visionary plans during a board meeting.
• Transformation of the library into a modern, multi-functional space accommodating township offices and serving as a community hub.

Notable Quote:

"This new library was all the things that library is supposed to be... a place that's worth investing in. It's a place that's worth being proud of."
— Brianne McCrae [06:19]

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Transition to Bad Axe Area District Library

Despite the success in Unionville, Brianne felt a pull to return to her roots. Encouraged by her mentor, Mimi Harrington, Brianne took on the directorship at the Bad Axe Area District Library in 2021, embracing the challenges and opportunities it presented.

Notable Quote:

"It was a horrible process. In terms of the grant, it's one of those awfully complicated state funding... But I'm glad we did."
— Brianne McCrae [08:39]

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Library Renovations and Upgrades

Upon joining the Bad Axe library, unforeseen structural issues necessitated immediate renovations. Seizing the opportunity, Brianne secured a substantial capital grant to not only address urgent repairs but also to enhance the library's accessibility and functionality.

Key Improvements:

• New roofing to prevent future leaks.
• Enhanced accessibility features, especially in the children's room.
• Modern flooring, paint, and updated furnishings.
• Additional shelving and improved window installations.

Notable Quote:

"We added windows. We replaced some bad windows. We did a lot of things that needed to be done so that they didn't cause even more problems later on."
— Brianne McCrae [10:35]

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Making an Impact: Supporting Visually Impaired Young Patrons

Brianne shares a heartfelt story about a young patron with visual impairments. This experience galvanized her commitment to inclusivity, leading to the establishment of a juvenile large print collection.

Key Points:

• Identification of the lack of accessible reading materials for visually impaired youth.
• Securing grants and donations to build a comprehensive large print collection.
• Enhanced the library's ability to serve all community members equally.

Notable Quote:

"It's a reminder to me that sometimes we don't know what barriers are standing between our patrons and library services until it just smacks us upside the head."
— Brianne McCrae [12:31]

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Innovation Through the Bookmobile Project

One of the most unexpected and impactful initiatives Brianne spearheaded was the introduction of a bookmobile. Funded through ARPA grants, the project extended the library's reach to underserved populations within the community.

Key Highlights:

• Acquisition and customization of a Ford Transit van into a functional bookmobile.
• Partnerships with local businesses and organizations for support.
• Regular stops at apartment complexes, nursing homes, and community centers to provide accessible library services.

Notable Quote:

"It just started a real conversation in our town about library services and the possibilities of a library beyond the four walls of our building."
— Brianne McCrae [15:31]

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Lessons Learned: Embracing Leadership and Overcoming Challenges

Transitioning from a librarian to a library director presented Brianne with unforeseen challenges, from managing public finances to navigating political climates. Her journey underscores the importance of stepping out of comfort zones and embracing new responsibilities.

Key Lessons:

• The distinction between being a librarian and a library director.
• The necessity of proactive leadership and relationship-building.
• Overcoming personal apprehensions by embracing opportunities.

Notable Quote:

"The secret to being comfortable with doing a job like being a public library director is you just say yes... It just isn't magic. You just do it and you do it."
— Brianne McCrae [20:35]

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Addressing Future Challenges and Advocacy

Looking ahead, Brianne identifies the persistent political challenges facing libraries, especially in rural areas. She emphasizes the need for building trust, fostering open dialogues, and actively listening to diverse community voices to safeguard the library's mission.

Key Points:

• Anticipation of ongoing partisan environments affecting library policies.
• Commitment to community engagement and inclusive conversations.
• The vital role of libraries as optimistic, joyful institutions dedicated to public service.

Notable Quote:

"Another really important thing, I think personally, is if you're trying to create a strong community, you have to listen to people."
— Brianne McCrae [26:09]

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Celebrating the Unique Charm of Bad Axe

Towards the episode's end, Brianne shares the local lore behind the intriguing name "Bad Axe," adding a personal and cultural touch to the community's identity.

Key Points:

• Origin of the town's name linked to a historical legend involving a rusty old axe.
• The library's display of the axe head as a point of interest for visitors.
• The playful interactions with out-of-towners fascinated by the town's name.

Notable Quote:

"We get out-of-towners every summer that come in to look at, quote, the real Axe... It's fun though."
— Brianne McCrae [29:10]

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Conclusion

Brianne McCrae's narrative epitomizes the essence of small-town librarianship—resilient, innovative, and deeply intertwined with community well-being. Her dedication to renovating spaces, expanding access, and fostering inclusive environments serves as an inspiring blueprint for libraries aiming to redefine their role in the 21st century.

Closing Remark:

"Libraries represent basically the best, best parts of humanity. The impulse to share and to help your neighbor and to do all the good things. It's a wonderful career."
— Brianne McCrae [22:33]

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Join Us Next Month: In August, Dylan Geschel and Kate Van Aken will host Mary Gallop, Director of the Clinton Township Public Library, to continue exploring inspiring library stories across Michigan.

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Episode Sponsor: Midwest Tape and Hoopla

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This summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting the transformative work of Brianne McCrae and the vital role of libraries in fostering community resilience and innovation.

Transcript

[Dylan Geschel]

Welcome to the Chapter and Verse Storytime from the Stacks, an original podcast series from the Michigan Library association and Library Cooperatives of Michigan. We would like to give a shout out to our episode sponsor, Midwest Tape and Hoopla. I'm Dylan Geschel, interim executive director of the Michigan Library association where we lead the advancement of all libraries through advocacy, education and engagement. And I am joined by my co.

[Kate Van Aken]

Host, Kate Van Aken from White Pine Library Cooperative. I am super excited to be here with Dylan from MLA to share stories from one of our member libraries from Badaxe. White Pine is a co op of 48 member libraries that encompasses 13 counties in the thumb of Michigan.

[Dylan Geschel]

Great. Thank you, Kate. Really happy to have you as our co host today. This is our ninth episode and in every episode we provide insight and inspiration from different Michigan library leaders who are really bringing purpose to their work and proving that libraries positively change their communities and positively change the communities that we all work and live in. With us today is Brianne McCrae, director at the Bad Axe Area District Library. Welcome to the podcast, Brian.

[Brianne McCrae]

Thanks very much. I'm so excited to be here.

[Dylan Geschel]

Really nice to have you with us. I think what we'll do to start out is maybe just have you tell us a little bit about your background.

[Brianne McCrae]

Yeah, I'm born and raised in Bad Axe, which is where I currently work. I've been at my hometown library here for. I think this is year number four already. It's gone really fast. My husband and I have two children.

[Dylan Geschel]

So why don't we take it a step back before we really dive into more questions. What's your first memory of being in a library?

[Brianne McCrae]

Brianne I grew up in this library. I don't really remember not coming to this library. I think I read through the entire children's section when I was a kid. Even the bad stuff like Hardy Boys and Girl Talk. We spent a lot of time here. My parents still joke that we basically built one of the wings of the library with our overdue book finds, which is great. That's good parenting because we always had books in our house. I have so many memories of my parents reading to me, of reading myself when I was older. This library helped raise me. I love it here. I still love it here. And I'm really honored to work here and lead here.

[Kate Van Aken]

So you talk about your love of libraries and especially the Bad Axe Library, but how did you decide that this was going to be your career, your path?

[Brianne McCrae]

Yeah, I stole it from my little brother. I have to give him credit here. I had Finished my undergrad degree and I was trying to figure out what to do with my life and what direction I wanted to go in. And he announced one day he was going to go to library school after he finished college. And I thought, oh my gosh, it was like a thunderbolt, right? And I thought that's what I wanted to do. And so a big sister, I stole his plan and I just ran with it. We are happily a multi librarian family. He is currently I'm an assistant director down in Ohio. So yeah, it just felt right and it has felt right ever since I joined this profession. These are my people. I order weird stuff from Mel all the time. I get books for my kids that are like the Epic of Gilgamesh for kids. And people just sit it on my desk and they say enjoy and they don't look at me weird. These are the best people in the world, Rhian.

[Dylan Geschel]

I know for a lot of librarians and library workers, some of the most meaningful things about the job is just knowing that your work is making a positive contribution to other people's lives in your community. I wonder if you can talk about a memorable moment where you feel like you really made a, a difference in someone's life through your work and kind of to add on to that maybe how you feel like you change lives every day through your work at the library.

[Brianne McCrae]

I think that's such an awesome question. So my first directorship was in the town of Unionville at the Columbia Township Library. It's a tiny library, it's a couple thousand people in the service area. There were two other part time staff members when I worked there. I started there in 2015. The community of Unionville is awesome, but it has had some hard times and you go through town, a lot of the storefronts are closed. You get this impression sometimes that maybe the town's best times are behind it or anyway, that was my impression coming as an outsider making that 40 minute drive. But then I just, I really couldn't have been more wrong about that town. The library board there is also the township board. And I remember sitting in a board meeting and just out of the blue somebody mentioned, oh yeah, we were thinking about adding onto the library and I thought, oh, that's fantastic. Do you mean I really didn't see it coming. And I had modest expectations. My mind went to where Huron county minds always go. And that's a pole building, right? So that's how people build things here. It's economical, it makes sense, it gets the job done. And I thought that would be fantastic if we just added on like that. That is not what happened. These folks had such vision and I was just really blown away by it. By the time we were done, we had this gorgeous library that looked like a picture out of a magazine. And it was awesome. They added on space for the township offices. We got a whole new library. Our library became a meeting room and it just completely transformed this building. And it made such a statement in the town. We poured our heart and souls in this project and I'm so proud of what we accomplished. But it wasn't until we reopened to the public that I think I really properly understood what we accomplished. People would come up to me constantly and say things like, I can't believe this is our library. This looks like something you'd see in the city, something you'd see in a college. Or they would say, I can't believe we have something like this in Unionville. And I hadn't really understood the power of public places and public architecture and how they can make people feel important. And I think the subtext of what people were saying to me was I didn't know Unionville was a place that anybody would think was worth doing this, that they didn't maybe think it was worth a beautiful modern building. So this new library was all the things that library is supposed to be, right? We did entertainment, education. It was a meeting place, a place for local government. But I think it also stood as a statement to the town that this is a place that's worth investing in. It's a place that's worth being proud of. And I think it was just so impactful to me to see that pride and optimism in our community.

[Dylan Geschel]

That is such a powerful story. I think it speaks to the idea that local public libraries are really at the heart of every small community. Like you said, like on the surface, maybe you weren't sure, but that small town local library is a point of pride and service. It becomes a part of people's daily lives.

[Brianne McCrae]

And it's like in small towns, it's the place, right? There aren't multiple public places, there's churches, but it's the place for everyone. And it's. It was just a really cool thing to go through.

[Dylan Geschel]

And you touched on this too, Brienne. But it strikes me that when you have a valued local library, you're helping people visualize a brighter future for that town or region. Right? We might not have a lot, but we have this learning place that's freely available, open to everyone, a beacon for what Unionville or Any town can be.

[Kate Van Aken]

So I had the opportunity to see the Columbia Township Library before and after, and it's truly amazing. It is just a gem in that community and used all the time. You walk in and there are people sitting by the fireplace and there's kids and they have the outdoor space. And it really, it's amazing what you and that board were able to do in that community. Fast forward a little bit. The Badax library director position became available. Share with us how that kind of happened.

[Brianne McCrae]

Yes. So the paint was basically still drying in Unionville and I got a text from my friend and mentor, Mimi Harrington, who was the director of badx, and she said, I'm going to retire. And I said, no. And she said, yeah, I'm going to retire and you should consider throwing your hat in. And I thought, oh, no. It was like, maybe you could work for a few more years because I just finished this and I want to enjoy it. Judy Weed it was not the easiest decision in the world, but I could not resist my hometown library. I live three miles away. It's where I grew up. I know the people here. This place is really important to me. So even though it basically killed me to leave Unionville, especially after we had done all that work and had this cool new space and all this excitement, I did start here in summer of 2021, and it was a fabulous decision and I'm really glad I did.

[Kate Van Aken]

But that also then entered in another phase of your second renovation, right?

[Brianne McCrae]

Yes. Yes, it did. So it wasn't real long before it became apparent that we were going to have to do some facilities work here. The roof was leaking, it rained inside my office. It was. There were things that had to be done. And so we started with low key discussions about what obviously the roof needs. We'll do that. But what maybe do we want and do we want to think about adding on? Do we want to repurpose our space? Do we want to do this, that and the other thing. So out of the blue, In July of 2023, we got a notification that labor and Economic Opportunity from the state was offering this capital grant. And I don't know about you, but I had never seen a capital grant for libraries. It was like a unicorn, right? So we jumped on it and I told the board, it was like, we have to try this. And blessedly, Valentine's Day, we got a email from the state saying that we were going to get a quarter of a million dollars to do a renovation project here at Badex, which was wildly exciting, as you can probably imagine, right? So work just wrapped up here a month or two ago. So we got our new roof. We improved accessibility, especially in our children's room. We did new flooring, we did new paint. We replaced many of the furnishings that were original to my childhood, literally. We got additional shelving, and we just generally freshened things up. It looks phenomenal, but it's also functional, which is really important. We added windows. We replaced some bad windows. We did a lot of things that needed to be done so that they didn't cause even more problems later on. So it was what an opportunity. And I'm so glad that we were able to do it. It was a horrible process. In terms of the grant, it's one of those awfully complicated state funding by way of federal funding nightmares. And we just did it with brute force to get through this really quick two month window of application. But I'm glad we did.

[Dylan Geschel]

Brian, we talked a little bit already about how you and your library impact people's lives. What about a time when a patron made a big impact on your life?

[Brianne McCrae]

So one of our young patrons here has a visual impairment. And when she was little, picture books were great because the print tends to be so big. But as she aged into chapter books, her family was having a really difficult time finding resources that work for her. And after a conversation with her mom, I just felt like my eyes were really opened to what she was experiencing and how frustrating it was, how isolating it was from her peers to not be able to find books that she could physically read. And I just thought, we have to fix this, right? So as a librarian, it's your professional nightmare for someone to come into a library, want a book, and not be able to find something that works for them. But as a mom, it broke my heart. She's the same age as my daughter. I just thought, we've got to fix this. So I reached out to our wonderful community foundation and I got a grant to start a juvenile large print collection. And we've since leveraged memorial donations and some other funding to add to it. And for. For the size of a library. We have an awesome collection of youth large print right now. And seeing this kid come in and be able to browse and choose from a whole bunch of choices just like everyone else was absolutely awesome. It was impactful to her family because I think it demonstrated that we care about people. Do you know, we care about them, we care about their daughter. We want this place to be for everyone. But it was impactful to me because it was such a Reminder to me that sometimes we don't know what barriers our standing between our patrons and library services until it just smacks us upside the head. And since then, I've tried to be more intentional to search out these barriers and to look for them. But sometimes you just need that mom to come up to you and say, listen, this is the problem we're having. Can you help me solve it? And it was awesome that we were able to.

[Dylan Geschel]

Yeah. That also makes me think about just the really broad nature of reader's advisor type work. It's, you think, for every reader, their own book, sometimes that goes beyond genre, that becomes accessibility issues that you have to navigate.

[Brianne McCrae]

Yeah. This summer we've noticed a lot of Spanish speaking families in our children's room, which is awesome. But I'm thinking that's something we need to start looking into is Spanish language books. And FedEx used to be literally the least diverse place in the entire world, I think. But times are changing and it's cool to be able to try to change with them a little bit.

[Kate Van Aken]

So what do you think's been the most interesting or unexpected thing that's happened to you in the library and how has it impacted your life and your patrons lives?

[Brianne McCrae]

100%, our bookmobile. So this is probably the most fun project I have ever worked on in libraries, and it did take us by surprise. So I had just started working here at Bad Axe when there was ARPA funding available for a wide variety of things, but one of the things that you could use it for was an outreach vehicle. And I thought, how cool would that be to have a bookmobile in Badex? Because I tend to think of that as something for bigger libraries and with more resources and all these things. But it just fell into our lap. So we used our ARPA funds to get a Ford Transit van, like a plumber van, basically, and to outfit it as a BookMobile back in 2022. And it was just so cool. So it turned into a really fun partnership between our local Ford dealership, who did all the work for us, and a local company that did vehicle wraps and all these different preschools and daycares and senior centers and all the different people that said, yeah, we would love for you to come visit us with your bookmobile. And the board was awesome. I said, hey, if the state will pay for this, are you cool with us doing this? And they're like, you know, sure, go ahead and try. What will it hurt? But after we got this bookmobile up and running, I was blown away by how excited People were about it. I didn't really expect it, to be honest, but when we first started posting stuff to social media, it went nuts by our fairly modest standards here. The newspaper wanted to know what was going on. I had a bunch of older folks coming up to me all the time telling me stories about bookmobiles that they had children in the different places they had grown up. We even got mentioned in the MLA weekly update, which was pretty big deal for us. We felt famous, but yeah. So we debuted our bookmobile at our town's Christmas parade in November 2022. And it was just so cool, walking next to this outreach vehicle with a bunch of kids from our STEM program handing out candy and seeing how excited people were. People were just absolutely delighted by this. And I felt like it just started a real conversation in our town about library services and the possibilities of a library beyond the four walls of our building. And at the same time, we were working to expand access to some of our local unserved populations in the surrounding townships. And it was just a really cool moment of optimism and excitement, I think, for this town. In terms of what the library was.

[Kate Van Aken]

Doing, how did you decide on the wrap for the van? I'm thinking I would just be, oh, my gosh, I would like this, I would like that. How did you come up with a wrap for it?

[Brianne McCrae]

It was a back and forth thing. So I first said, I want it to feel like this. And then they would send me something. I'm like, no, that doesn't feel like what I want. And then we would do it again. And then I started getting a little more nitpickety, probably. But we ended up with a really cool design that I love. It's bright, it's colorful. It just really fits what we were going for.

[Kate Van Aken]

It is very bright and very colorful. And I'm assuming there's no Pinterest page for library wrap van. I need to start that.

[Brianne McCrae]

Yeah, it's a much smaller bookmobile. Usually they're like these rockstar buses. Do you know what I mean? But ours is just a little van.

[Kate Van Aken]

It looks fabulous to a little kid coming up to that. Huge. Did you notice then maybe more folks you hadn't seen before are utilizing the bookmobile that didn't have the ability you can to come into town as often, maybe so.

[Brianne McCrae]

We definitely have stops bi weekly at one of our local apartment complexes for the exact reason that we've had a lot of folks from that complex say to us that transportation is an issue for them. And having reliable transportation is not always easy. We thought, let's bring it to you. Do you need maintenance? Thing with some of our we go to a lot of the nursing homes, so people who obviously can't necessarily come to us, we go to them. And it's been a really nice outreach. And again, it comes back to the idea of what can we do to make people in this town know that we value them, know that we see them, and that we are trying to reach out to them and not just sit here in our building and wait for people to come to us, meet.

[Kate Van Aken]

Them where they're at.

[Brianne McCrae]

Exactly.

[Kate Van Aken]

Let's take a quick break to hear.

[Brianne McCrae]

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[Brianne McCrae]

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[Dylan Geschel]

Brianne When I hear you talk about all the different experiences you've had, even just between these two libraries, when it comes to renovations and your bookmobile and everything else that you're up to, you have a lot of experience in libraries. What's something that you wish you knew before all of that? When you first started your career? What do you wish you had known?

[Brianne McCrae]

I would say that being a library director is a very different thing than being a librarian. It's not something that they necessarily prepare you for that while at library school. I think library schools produce great librarians, right? They teach you to be empathetic and to understand reference and to do all the things. But I really do think that having to claw through the trenches of tax millages and public finance and furnaces that go out and human resources and earn sick time and all this stuff is what really teaches you how to be a library director. And it's a very different ball game. And I don't think I appreciated that very much. When I made the transition from library.

[Dylan Geschel]

Into library director, that really resonates with me. As a former library director, I learned to do the job on the job, didn't know what I was getting into. I had to figure out in real time that these admin skills are necessary and accelerated work. And I often tell people when I started working in libraries it was because I loved reading and writing. But I stayed in libraries because I fell in love with the leadership aspect of it.

[Brianne McCrae]

That's really interesting because people look at me crazy when I tell them that weeks go by and I don't touch a book. It's just a very different job and it's a wonderful job and it's an interesting job, but it's just not the same.

[Dylan Geschel]

Yep. I think about that frequently when I'm like at my kids soccer practice. And the only thing parents might know about me is that I work with libraries. So they ask me about books and so you'll be surprised to know much time to read as I used to.

[Kate Van Aken]

Very true, you guys, very true. But I think the patrons are just what make it the best place to work. Right. And especially in small towns, you get to see some of the same people every day. And if they don't come in, you're like, where's Mary today? You're part of their lives. And especially somebody like you. Brie, you've grown up there. You lived there, you went away to school, but you came back. And I think for that community to see, see that you grew up here and you came back and where you're at is just. If I lived in that town, I'd be like, we are so lucky. We are set. This is great. So when you think about your career so far, what do you think as far as lessons go? What has maybe been a really impactful lesson that you may have learned? Doing these renovations, getting a bookmobile, dealing with staff, dealing with advocacy. What has been a lesson you've learned?

[Brianne McCrae]

I think the biggest lesson has been to just go for it, right? You can't be a chicken. Sometimes you just have to do the scary things. I think when I was younger, I really did think that there were these different categories of people, right? So there were the people who were brave and outgoing and people. Right. And then there were people like me who were more introverted, who maybe didn't really like the spotlight and all the attention. And I thought those were fixed categories. And I think the older I get, the more I realize that the secret to being comfortable with doing a job like being a public library director is you just say yes. When you get invited to speak at a meeting, you do it. When you get invited to be on a podcast, you say yes. They get easier as you do them, because once you're there, you just do it because you have to. And it's. It isn't magic. There is no special way of getting better at it. You just do it and you do it and Then eventually it's not scary anymore. And I don't think I understood that when I was young, and I really thought, this is just what it is, and it's always going to be scary.

[Dylan Geschel]

So much about your insights here, Brian, and your career trajectory is so similar to my own. Like, when you talk about that, I. I can confirm the secret sauce for introverts professionally is saying, yes, absolutely. Follow through on opportunities, and you'll just get more comfortable as you go.

[Brianne McCrae]

And librarianship, I think, at least traditionally, has been filled with people like us. It's good to hear.

[Kate Van Aken]

Yeah, it's filled with people like that. But you do say yes because you know you're not doing it for you. You're doing it for your community. You're doing it for your patrons, and that's why you say yes. It's scary. It's intimidating. It's all those things wrapped up. But you're like, I have to do this.

[Brianne McCrae]

Yeah, absolutely. Like, I never would have dreamed of calling people from Congress and senators to harp on library budgets. But you do it because it has to be done.

[Kate Van Aken]

Yeah.

[Dylan Geschel]

What do you wish everyone understood about your job as a library director?

[Brianne McCrae]

It is literally the best job in the world. It really is. Every Wednesday morning, there is a toddler or two that wanders into my office and gives me a hug because it's playgroup day. And it's like, it doesn't get better than that. My husband drives our bookmobile in the Christmas parade, and I get to wave like the queen out the window. These are really good things. We get to unbox all the new books and pick out what looks good. I have taken a charter bus full of people down to the Detroit Opera House and called it work. We do all of the good things. It's a job that's about people. It is fundamentally optimistic and joyful. I think libraries represent basically the best, best parts of humanity. The impulse to share and to help your neighbor and to do all the good things. It's a wonderful career.

[Dylan Geschel]

That's a great summary of why you are the right person for that job. You bring so much drive and passion to the work. It's obvious when we hear you talk about your library and your work.

[Kate Van Aken]

So that's all well and good. Right. But what do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing libraries and librarians in the next decade?

[Brianne McCrae]

Yeah, that's the big question, isn't it? I don't like to speak for librarianship as a whole, but I think I do have enough experience with rural libraries that I feel comfortable speaking about that. None of us know. But I don't think that the political climate is going to change significantly in the next decade or so. I think we're going to find ourselves still in this kind of contentious, hyperpartisan atmosphere that we're in right now. And my goal is focusing on building relationships and trust in this community. And I hope it's easier for me because I'm from here, right? And I think people know me. They know my family, they know my husband's family. But what I want is for us to show up in this community, for this community to get outside the walls of the library and to show people by our actions that we love and value people in this town and we want to help. And I think that's the best way we can defend the library's mission and to build up goodwill for what we're doing here. Another really important thing, I think personally, is if you're trying to create a strong community, you have to listen to people. I challenge myself on this because I think we all have this impulse to say, I know what they're going to say. I know how people like that are going to think. And I think what we need to do, what I need to do is to proactively seek out people that we assume aren't going to agree with us and listen to what they have to say about libraries. And it's not always things we want to hear. And I think we have to try our best to hear their concerns as sincere fears and true concerns, and not just, okay, that's just politics, or that's just fear mongering, but to hear it as their truth. And it doesn't mean we can accommodate everything, and it doesn't mean we can ignore laws to make people happy. But it does mean that we can have the opportunity to lead by not siloing ourselves off. Because I think that is so easy and so tempting sometimes to just talk to other people who already agree with us and hear exactly what we want to hear and just perpetuate that cycle. And I think the way to reach out to the community is to have those conversations with people where they say things. And you think, I really honestly disagree with that. But then hearing it and saying, okay, where's our middle ground? And sometimes I think the middle ground is honestly just values. It's like, you want what's best for children, I want what's best for children. We both care about that. And I appreciate that you care about that. I don't know. It's a hard question.

[Dylan Geschel]

I love that, though, too, because it gets at something that's really vital to being a public servant. Right. We work for the people and want to be able to help them where we can. On a related note, what do you wish that people understood about being a librarian that they don't?

[Brianne McCrae]

That it can be a little hard and dispiriting right now? We have not, I'm happy to say, had any serious issues here in Bad X with people attempting to ban books or any of these things where they're making the library into a battleground. But we've seen some really scary stuff in nearby libraries that, frankly, it makes me afraid and angry, and it's really complicated, and it's hard to not feel that way. But when you see people calling for members of your profession to be literally put in jail for differences of opinion on how to select books, that's a lot.

[Dylan Geschel]

Yeah, that's tough. Especially when the people working behind the scenes, like yourself, are so completely committed to the library service to the community.

[Brianne McCrae]

I just wish they would know the people the way I know them, and I feel like they would have to feel differently, but maybe not.

[Dylan Geschel]

And I know it doesn't wash away the difficulty for everyone involved, but I think speaking to that positive work and the spirit of the library like you are today, that's part of what's needed. So thank you for being a rock star librarian and spreading the good word.

[Brianne McCrae]

Oh, thank you.

[Dylan Geschel]

Kate, do you want to take us off with one more question for Brianna?

[Kate Van Aken]

Yeah. I think probably a lot of listeners are wondering about the name Bad Axe. And I want to share something. Last week, when you had your renovation open house and your kickoff to summer reading, state librarian Randy Riley was there, and he mentioned that he had never been to Bad Axe and that he had read about it probably in fourth grade, like when you're learning about Michigan. So he was excited to go. But I think that there's a little story behind the name of the town. People go to Hell, Michigan, or Paradise, Michigan because of the name. So I'm assuming people also visit you because of the name.

[Brianne McCrae]

So, according to a local legend, the town of Battix was named by a guy called Captain Pabst, who was a military surveyor. And apparently he came across a campsite at a crossroads with a rusty old ax stuck into a tree. And then supposedly that tree was cut down later in the 1800s, and the burl with the axe head was passed from person to person until it was donated to the library in the 70s. And so we have this display of this axe head thing sitting in our library, and we get out of towners every summer that come in to look at, quote, the real Axe, which we display out in our front window, and they usually stand around a little shyly until they get the courage to ask if I think it's the real Axe that the town is named for, and I usually have to say no, but realistically, I have no idea. It just looks really suspicious to me. I'm not an expert on Civil War axes, but there's no place for it to connect to a handle, so I don't know. Who knows? It's fun though.

[Kate Van Aken]

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing it.

[Brianne McCrae]

I do feel like I'm bursting their bubble though.

[Dylan Geschel]

Thanks again for joining us today, Priyan, and thanks to everyone for listening to the July episode of Chapter and Verse Story Time from the Stacks. We also wish to thank our episode sponsor, Midwest Tape and Hoopla. Join us each month for new episodes and be sure to subscribe. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Much appreciation for listening and we'll see you in August when Kate Andrade, the Co Op Director at Woodlands Library Cooperative, and I will sit down with our guest, Mary Gallop, Director of the Clinton Township Public Library. See you next month.