Thursday, September 10, 2009

Save the Library of Michigan. The Library of Michigan traces its lineage back to 1828, when a young Michigan government established its first library at the capital which was then in Detroit. Since its inception over 180 years ago, the library has survived many economic crises and even a severe fire in 1951 to become one of the best institutions of its kind in the country. Unfortunately, it looks like it may not survive the administration of Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The governor has decided to break up the Library and disperse its contents in an effort to reduce expenditures. To sell this idea the collection has largely been portrayed as an assemblage of materials relating to family history, and indeed it is a great repository for genealogical inquiry. However, the Library of Michigan is also the largest collection of printed Michigania in the world. It is safe to say that the authors of practically every article and book written about some facet of Michigan's history have visited the State Library and/or State Archives in the course of researching their publications. But the Library of Michigan represents more than just a rich harvest of printed materials from and about our state. It is also the only institution in Michigan that attempts to comprehensively gather a complete set of U.S. government publications. When and if this collection is broken up, there will no longer exist within our borders a full federal documents depository. The Library of Michigan has these impressive textual and cartographic assets because it was created, in part, to be an informational resource for the benefit of state government. One of its main purposes is to serve as a conveniently-located treasury of data and wisdom that judges, legislators and state employees can draw upon when needed in the course of doing their respective jobs. To now disassemble this storehouse of knowledge and facts is surely one of the most ill-advised decisions ever made by a chief executive of this state. The governor's attempt to dismantle the Library of Michigan can be reversed by the Legislature if action is taken in the very near future. Fortunately, a measure to undo this shortsighted cost-cutting effort was recently approved by the Senate. If the Democratically-controlled House of Representatives can be convinced to do the same, the center of enlightenment for state government can yet be saved. This pruning or scattering of state government's accrued intellectual assets and preserved documentary memory is mainly supported by individuals who are members of the governor's political party. People who disagree with their views as to the future of the State Library should ask these lawmakers to change their minds now before it is too late to protect an essential part of Michigan's cultural heritage. For the full letter, see Le Roy Barnett, "Still time to save library", Lansing State Journal, September 9, 2009. [Red Tape Blog] 1:12:22 PM     Upcoming Events at HPL Yarnspinners September 9 7:00 pm Torrent House. Storytelling Group. Family Genealogy Workshop September 12 10:30 - 11:30 am Local History Department Learn how to do Genealogy research in the Local History Department. For more information call 231-722-7276 x 233 Scrabble FUNdraiser September 12 7:00-10:00 p.m. Masonic Temple “Read Muskegon,” Muskegon County’s nonprofit adult literacy organization, is hosting its First Annual Read Muskegon Scrabble® FUNdraiser on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 at the Masonic Temple, 396 West Clay. Amateur and serious scrabble players welcome. There will be food, fun, and prizes. Individuals or teams of four are urged to sign up now to raise money for adult literacy in Muskegon County. The entry fee is $25.00 for individuals or $100 for teams of 4 players. Or sponsor a team! Read Muskegon promotes adult literacy through free, one-on-one tutoring for adults in Muskegon County who cannot read or who have difficulty reading. Information and applications are available at readmuskegon.org, your local public library, or call Courtney Schaub at (231) 777-3926. Hackley Library Board Meeting September 15 5:30 pm Julia Hackley Room Open to the public. For more information call 231-722-7276 x 222 Herb Society September 15 6:00 pm Torrent House. Family Spelling Bee September 16 6:30 pm Youth Services. Form your own two person Spelling Team and join HPL's Spelling Bee. Teams must have one child and one adult. Try for the Best Speller Prize, or join the End of Bee Prize Drawing, open to all participants. Registration required. Call 231-722-7276 x 230. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230. Mini class on Searching the Catalog-1 September 16 2:00 pm Drop by the Julia Hackley room for a mini class. Feel free to bring your own laptop, otherwise the class is a watch-and-learn. This week's class is searching the Lakenet Catalog. For more information or to register call HPL at 231-722-7276. Monday Storytime September 21 6:45 pm Youth Services. Storytelling, picturebooks, fingerplays, holiday tales, and special fun. Each session ends with a craft project. Signup required. Call 231-722-7276 x 230. Toddler Storytime September 21 11:00 am Youth Services Stories and activities aimed at 18 to 36 month olds. Toddlers and grownups attend together. Registration is required. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230. Evening Toddler Storytime September 22 6:45 pm Youth Services Stories and activities aimed at 18 to 36 month olds. Toddlers and grownups attend together. Registration is required. Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230. Morning Storytime September 22 11:00 am Youth Services. Storytelling, picturebooks, fingerplays, holiday tales, and special fun. Each session ends with a craft project. Signup required. Call 231-722-7276 x 230. Contemporary Gospel Music September 25 1:00 pm Julia Hackley Room Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard will present a multimedia presentation of contemporary gospel music on September 24, 2009. Dr. Deborah Smith Pollard enjoys an exciting dual career as Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and host/producer of “Strong Inspirations,” a contemporary gospel music program that has been heard on FM 98 WJLB-Detroit since 1994. Pollard, who has lectured internationally on gospel music, has published articles in both academic and popular journals. Her book When the Church Becomes Your Party: Contemporary Gospel Music, was a Michigan Notable book for 2009. For more information or to register call HPL at 231-722-7276. Micigan Search and Rescue Dogs September 26 2:00 pm Youth Services Michagn SAR presents "What to do when you're lost in the woods" introducing search and rescue work to children. The program includes finding a hidden audience member! Please call the Youth Services Department at 231-722-7276 x 230. Write Edit Publish September 26 9:00 am - Noon Torrent House Many people are interested in publishing but don’t know how to get started. Some may be stalled in the writing process itself, others may have written work that needs editing, and still others feel their project is ready for query letters and editorial scrutiny. Peg guides writers through the process, giving specific, usable information on how to write that piece, how to edit it to top form, and how to present it to an agent or publisher for optimal effect. This is a workshop with hands-on exercises and specific examples. For more information call 231-722-7276. For more information or to register call HPL at 231-722-7276. 9:47:19 AM     New Websites Be sure to check our Resources Page to see the new websites we've added during the last week. 9:28:40 AM     Gov 2.0 Expo and the Apps for America 2 Challenge Winners. The Sunlight Foundation announced the winners of their "Apps for America 2: The Data.gov Challenge" at the O'Reilly/techweb Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase in DC yesterday. The web applications were to be built with data available from the U.S. Data.gov site. And the prizes go to... First prize: DataMasher.org. Combine and compare government data at the state level. Second prize: GovPulse. Making Federal Register access easier. Third prize: ThisWeKnow.org. Find government info by zip code. Prize for best data visualization: QuakeSpotter.org. Global view of earthquakes with links to quake-related tweets. Get complete information from Sunlight's press release. The one-day Gov 2.0 Expo is over, and the two-day Gov 2.0 Summit (with bold face names) is in progress. They are tweeting up a storm over at the Hyatt, using the hashtag #gov2s. [Update: They are using the #g2s tag, too.] I will blog more later on how the Gov 2.0 Expo went. [Free Government Information (FGI) blogs] 9:27:19 AM

© Copyright 2009 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 9/16/2009; 9:11:50 AM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien