2012 Newsworthy Events

Harper Woods Public Library Receives Target Grant
Funding to Support 2013 Literacy Programs
October 22, 2012 – The library has received a $2,000.00 grant from Target Corporation to provide quality children's programming in 2012. The money will be used for storytimes, the Summer Reading Club and other literacy programs.

“We are excited to again partner with Target on these programs,” said Library Director Dale Parus. “We have had a long-standing relationship of working together to benefit the community.”

The grant is part of Target’s ongoing efforts to build strong, safe and healthy communities across the country. These efforts include Target’s long history of giving 5 percent of its profit to communities. As part of this commitment, Target is on track to give $1 billion for education by the end of 2015 to help kids learn, schools teach and parents and caring adults engage.

“At Target, we are committed to serving local communities where we do business,” said Laysha Ward, President, Community Relations, Target. “That’s why we are proud to partner with the Harper Woods Public Library as we work to strengthen communities and enrich the lives of our guests and team members.”

Target also gives through its signature programs such as:

-Take Charge of Education, a school fundraising initiative that provides undesignated funds to local schools for whatever they need most, from books and school supplies to classroom technology.

-Arts Accessibility, free or reduced-price admission to arts and cultural events nationwide.

-Target School Library Makeovers, a program that leverages Target’s world-class design expertise to transform school libraries across the country with new construction, furniture, and technology, as well as 2,000 new books.

-Education Grants and Awards, including Books for Schools Awards, Target Field Trip Grants and Early Childhood Reading Grants, that provide schools, libraries, teachers and nonprofit organizations the resources they need to bring learning to life and put more kids on the path to graduation.

About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at more than 1,763 stores across the United States and at Target.com. The company plans to open its first stores in Canada in 2013. In addition, the company operates a credit card segment that offers branded proprietary credit card products. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit through community grants and programs; today, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. For more information about Target’s commitment to corporate responsibility, visit Target.com/hereforgood.

Contacts: Target Media Hotline, (612) 696-3400

Beaumont, heart group donate AED to library
C & G Newspapers
Harper Woods
October 9, 2012 - Mayor Ken Poynter knows how lucky he was that he had his massive heart attack last spring at just the right time to be saved.
He knows how lucky he was that he wasn’t alone in his home, but at a church where they had an automated external defibrillator.
Now, Beaumont Hospital, which had donated the defibrillator that saved his life, and the American Heart Association have given one to the Harper Woods Library in Poynter’s honor.
“It was a sobering moment to learn of the mayor’s heart condition this spring, and it was great that the library was approached about the AED by Beaumont, given how tight budgets are,” Library Director Dale Parus said in an email, adding that the donation “was a pleasant surprise.”
Poynter’s heart attack happened while community members were gathered at a church for the memorial service for John Bruneel, another longtime committed resident in the city.
As Poynter was getting back on his feet and out in the community last spring during his recovery, he made a comment that he could be “Mr. Defibrillator” because of what happened to him.
“I thank Beaumont for having made that donation … at the church I was at, or else I wouldn’t be here right now,” he said recently.
The heart attack changed Poynter’s life, and he has since been devoted to healthier living through such things as better food choices.
An AED gives an electrical charge to someone who is having a cardiac emergency. It gives users step-by-step vocal instructions, and the machine assesses whether the person needs the electrical shock so that it only administers one if necessary, according to Beaumont.
“The earlier defibrillation is administered, the better chance of survival,” Dr. Georges Ghafari, chief of Cardiovascular Services at Beaumont in Grosse Pointe, stated in a press release. “The use of an AED helps ‘bridge’ the gap between the time a person has a cardiac event, to the time when EMS arrives on the scene.”
Poynter called Beaumont a “committed and devoted community partner” and stated in a press release that “the Harper Woods Library will now be better prepared to handle cardiac emergencies on the spot.”
Harper Woods Library staff attended a recent workshop to learn more about the equipment and assisting someone in cardiac distress, Parus said.
“About half of the staff are interested in going further to receive full CPR certification,” Parus said.
You can reach C & G Staff Writer April Lehmbeck at alehmbeck@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1043.

Library reading program brings families together
C & G Newspapers
Harper Woods
April 20, 2012 - Tameka Clark and her four children got to act out books — for example, pretending they were on a campout, reading in a dark room by flashlight — through a library program that turned reading into some family fun nights. Click here for the full story.

Library gives patrons e-books, remote access
C & G Newspapers
Harper Woods
March 23, 2012 - While some libraries are scaling down on what they can offer residents due to tough financial times, Harper Woods is finding ways to give its residents more options and easier access to books, music and more.

The library has teamed up with OverDrive to give library patrons access to a large selection of audiobooks, e-books, video and music. Library users don’t even have to be in the library to access items, because they can do it through the library’s website remotely if they have a Harper Woods library card.

For the full story as it appeared in the C & G Newspaper, click here!