Natalie Bazan, w
idely regarded as a superstar director for the Dorr Township and Hopkins District libraries, is being courted seriously by the Alvah N. Belding Library.
Bazan this week is at a national conference for library officials and is weighing a second offer from Belding. She was asked to come back for a second interview, but she turned down its original offer.
But since then, Belding officials have sweetened the pot. And it comes down to what it usually comes down to — pay and benefits.
“Belding’s offer is higher than I get now and they offer benefits and retirement,” Bazan said Thursday in an e-mail message. “I love the area, I love the people I work with — patrons, staff, library boards, even the media — but I would also love to be able to pay off my student loans, be able to take care of my health and plan for retirement.”
The Belding Library web site indicates it has an interim director.
She said she has not made up her mind yet about what she will do.
Bazan first became director at the Hopkins Public Library in 2011 and in August 2012 spearheaded an effort to turn it into a district library with a dedicated millage. She also has secured more than two dozen grants, the most interesting of which was free books from the U.S. Library of Congress.
She was hired to be Dorr Township Library Director in addition to her duties at Hopkins in the fall of 2013.
Bazan said both Hopkins and Dorr started paying toward her insurance last year 
but its one of the cheapest insurances that can be found.
She added, “Both Hopkins’ and Dorr’s (library) boards know about the offer (from Belding). My goal wasn’t to worry anyone.”
She earned her bachelor’s degree at Grand Valley State University and then picked up master of arts and master of library science degrees at the University of Kansas and the University of Illinois at Urban-Champaign. Before working at Hopkins she was a graduate student cataloger at University of Illinois, a circulation assistant at Kent District Library and front-end supervisor at Michaels Stores.
Her roots actually are in West Michigan.
“I grew up on a dead end dirt road in Salem Township on the border line between the Hamilton and Hopkins school districts,” she recalled more than three years ago. “I have lived in big cities and traveled around, but I came home after I completed my degree to try to make a difference in a small town. My heart is in helping small towns, not big cities.”
But, she cautioned, “I believe that every job and project should be a stepping stone to better things in your career. You need to build on what you have done.”
Peg Otto, president of the Dorr Township Library Board, said she has been working hard to persuade Bazan to stick around. Bazan once again received high praise for her work from the Dorr Township Board at its meeting earlier this week.
This reporter, in an editorial in April 2013, wrote, “Her dynamic, passionate workaholic approach to a little library in a little town has brought interesting and unusual results, leaving some local folks to wonder if she’ll be here much longer before she’s lured elsewhere by the bright lights and big city, or more probable, the big bucks.”
PHOTOS: Natalie Bazan dressed in striking attire she enjoys wearing in her spare time.
Alvah N. Belding Library