Livonia library needs help winning national contest named for 'Parks and Rec' character

Despite the honor's namesake having some disdain for public libraries, Livonia library director Toni LaPorte hopes the Robert and Janet Bennett Library will be named the nation's best library in an online voting bracket it's currently involved in.

The bracket, put on by a group named Engaging Local Government Leaders, has pitted 32 libraries across the country in a March Madness-style bracket for literary dominance. Livonia's main branch library, 32777 Five Mile, is a No. 13 seed in the competition, squaring off against the Schlow Centre Region Library in State College, Pa. Those interested in voting for the best library can do so by casting a ballot online.

Voting takes places on the ELGL's website and can only be done once per email account. Voting for the round of 32 continues through Friday and the city will find out whether it moves on to the round of 16 later this weekend.

Livonia's library is one of two libraries from Michigan in the contest: the Central Library in Grosse Pointe is a No. 4 seed in the tournament, taking on the Free Library of Philadelphia.

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The award going to the top library in the voting competition is the Leslie B. Knope award, named for Amy Poehler's character from "Parks and Recreation." It's an interesting selection for the award's name, given that Knope railed against the library in Pawnee for attempting to take a lot in the community her department wanted and build a branch library on it.

"The library is the worst group of people ever assembled in history," she said in the tongue-in-cheek show. "They're mean, conniving, rude and extremely well-read, which is dangerous."

LaPorte said it doesn't appear there's any financial reward for coming on top, but said winning would make for some wonderful exposure to the Livonia library.

"Wouldn't it be fun if we won?" she said.

Contact David Veselenak at dveselenak@hometownlife.com or 734-678-6728. Follow him on Twitter @davidveselenak.