Our Traveling Library : Darlene Hellenberg

Story by David Stone

Darlene Hellenberg, Interim Director of the Ferndale Area District Library, wants all Ferndale residents to have access to the wonderful materials the FADL has to offer. That’s why, in 2015, they began a delivery service to apartment complexes. And that’s why, on Wednesday, December 7, Ferndale’s Traveling Library, and Ms. Hellenberg, paid their monthly visit to Withington West and Autumn House apartments.

They “provide specially selected titles for residents to check out and borrow for one month. With the Traveling Library,” she said, “we’re able to service an area of our community that can’t always make it into our building to access materials or services.” She hopes more people at Withington West and Autumn House will sign up. She would also like to hear from other apartments or residences that could benefit from this service. She likes to speak of the impact this program has had. “One of our outreach patrons lost a ton of weight because of the cookbooks we brought.”

Then she told me how she determines what books to bring. She told me that “when we sign people up for cards, we gave them a little form with a series of questions.” From these answers she determines what kinds of books people will want. She then uses that information to select popular authors and their more recent books. Later, the book selection is based on what they started checking out.

I asked our dedicated library director to tell us a little about herself. “I grew up in Ferndale,” she replied. “I am a Ferndale High School graduate. I have worked at the Ferndale Library on and off since high school.” Hellenberg began her library career as a library page, and has since “worked in most of the departments of the library. She went on to say that her “favorite area of library life is getting to buy the adult fiction. Putting a book in the hands of somebody who is excited and wants to read, that’s my favorite part.”

She explained to me how the nature of our community influences the types of books she orders. She pointed out that if a book has a “sort of off-beat title” she will almost always give it a try. She likes to order books that may be “getting a little buzz but are not super mainstream.” She also pointed out that “new book authors, first book authors do well.”

Hellenberg wants to make the library available to even more Ferndale residents. If anyone has difficulty getting to the FADL, “They can call me and we can figure out something. It may be something as simple as signing people up for library cards, and if they are mobile, they can come here and use the library. She also mentioned that if they are not mobile, they can be added to the Traveling Library’s list of stops.

So, if you would like to get to the library but are unable to do so, call Darlene Hellenberg. Perhaps the library can come to you!

Ferndale Area District Library,  222 E. 9 Mile, Ferndale, MI. 48220
(248)546-2504
info@ferndalepubliclibrary.org