News from Nancy
By Acting State Librarian Nancy Robertson

Whether we believe it or not, warmer weather is truly right around the corner. As the snow melts and spring blooms begin to poke from the ground, I am reminded that we are in a time of renewal. For Michigan's library community, the anticipation of new endeavors and initiatives is understandably clouded by the recent departure of former state librarian, Christie Brandau.

Department of History, Arts and Libraries Director Dr. William Anderson has received approval from Governor Granholm to coordinate a recruitment and selection process that will have the next state librarian in place no later than Nov. 1, 2005. In the meantime, I have been given the challenging but exciting opportunity to serve as your acting state librarian. I assure you that I intend to nurture the development of and, where appropriate, see to completion those programs initiated and supported by Christie.

Of course, the largest of these is the implementation of our statewide library catalog, MeLCat, which continues apace. Twenty-two libraries are now on board, with another 12 scheduled for spring. The new MeL gateway and the development of a process for federated searching also continue to blossom. Once completed, these enhancements will allow the user to cast a "power search" across all MeL components, finding quality information in MeL Internet, MeL digital resources, MeLCat, MeL databases, MeL eBooks, and MeL practice tests. Although the "new" MeL is already available in test mode while it is being refined, a media launch and publicity campaign are in the works for late spring or early summer.

The Michigan Library Digitization Task Force is moving forward with plans for the application and award process for $965,000 in 2004-05 state funding. Libraries statewide can apply for grants to (as the budget language defines) "digitize materials currently in the possession of libraries in the state to preserve, store, and make these digitized images accessible via the Michigan eLibrary." Application forms will be finalized and made available this spring, and award recommendations are expected in June.

While it's not financially possible for every library to receive a digitization award, it is possible for every library's staff members and patrons to benefit from this process. Many important local and regional resources throughout the state will soon be digitized, giving us all a richer knowledge and information base to which we can direct our patrons.

With all this on our plates, we look ahead to spring and all its newness: the new MeL, newly available statewide digital resources and, down the road, a new state librarian. Think spring, everyone!

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Launch of "New" Michigan eLibrary Postponed

The public unveiling and media launch of the new Michigan eLibrary (MeL) gateway and MeLCat, the statewide catalog and resource-sharing system - originally planned for April 11 - have been postponed. A new date for the launch will be announced soon.

An opportunity to showcase MeL as a powerful research tool for professionals, job seekers, students of all ages, hobbyists and everyone who seeks to enrich their lives with learning, the unveiling will highlight service enhancements while showing Michigan residents the many free resources available through MeL.

Stay tuned to Access for more details about the launch and how libraries can help let people in their communities know about all that MeL has to offer.

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Library of Michigan Offers FREE Daylong Genealogy Seminar March 26
By Kris Rzepczynski, Library of Michigan

On Saturday, March 26, the Library of Michigan will hold a free daylong genealogy seminar, designed to both introduce attendees to general family history topics of interest and highlight specific segments of the Library's special collections. The selected family history topics include Michigan Genealogy Research, AncestryPlus, Genealogy Research in the Rare Book Room, Census Indexes, Genealogy Manuscript Collections, and much more.

All of the one-hour sessions are FREE and will be presented by Library of Michigan Public Services staff. Attendees will receive a schedule with room assignments when they arrive. As always, free parking is available on Saturdays at the Library's parking lot off Kalamazoo Street.

Whether to offer better genealogy service for your library patrons or to learn more about the subject yourself, we hope to see you here on the 26th! For additional information, please contact the Library's Public Services Division at librarian@michigan.gov or (517) 373-1300.

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Women in Librarianship: Loleta Fyan
Compiled by Deb Bacon-Ziegler, continuing education coordinator, Library of Michigan

Every other year, as we plan the Loleta Fyan Rural Libraries Conference, we are asked, "Who is Loleta Fyan? Why is the conference named for her?"

In the spirit of Women's History Month, we highlight Loleta Dawson Fyan, state librarian of Michigan, 1941-1961. Mrs. Fyan carries the distinction of being the first professionally trained librarian appointed as state librarian of Michigan. Her long tenure resulted in a legacy that is evident today in the Library of Michigan and the Michigan library community.

Did you know:

• Each year the Michigan Library Association awards the Fyan Award, given to a librarian for outstanding service to the library community?
• The Loleta Fyan Rural Libraries Conference is funded partially by a donation Mrs. Fyan left to the Library of Michigan to provide education for librarians serving rural areas of the state?
• Mrs. Fyan advocated for library service to all residents, no matter in which area of the state they resided?
• She worked tirelessly to provide educational opportunities to library staff in order to raise the quality of library service in Michigan?
• She enhanced and strengthened the Library of Michigan in stature, in funding and in staffing?
• She solidified state aid to public libraries and a system of standards that would ensure quality service and local support?
• She helped take the position of state librarian out of the political realm and became the first non-political, professionally trained state librarian?
• She created the Michigan collection at the Library of Michigan and began the statewide newspaper project?
• She recognized library service to the blind and physically handicapped as a statewide need and incorporated it into the services of the Library of Michigan?
• She encouraged cooperation and funded demonstration projects of county and regional library service?

Compiled from a paper written by former State Librarian Christie Pearson Brandau and an article previously published in Access by Bernadette Bartlett, Library of Michigan.

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2005 Michigan Notable Books Make Great Reads for Patrons
By Kris Rzepczynski and Kim Laird, Library of Michigan

The Library of Michigan recently announced selections for the 2005 Michigan Notable Books, a list comprising a diverse group of titles. On topics ranging from the history of the UAW and growing up on a northern Michigan farm, to the Detroit Tigers' 1984 championship season and early Michigan pioneer life, the authors display a wonderful array of writing styles. Fiction is also well represented, with titles on topics including the logging industry, the mysteries of the father-son relationship, and a lovely literary rendering of how past sets the future.

This year's Michigan Notable Books authors are as diverse as the subjects of their books, yet their paths have crossed in a number of interesting ways. In one instance, two of our authors worked at desks next to each other in the Reuther Library at Wayne State University while researching their books. Several of the authors are Detroit Tigers fans and likely went to the same games. Our authors also all hail from an array of places: some are native Michiganians; others came here and fell in love with Michigan and never truly left; still others live in places like Washington, D.C., Arizona and Ohio. They all have one thing in common, however. They each wrote a notable book about Michigan.

The 2005 Michigan Notable Books authors will discuss their work and offer book signings (between 1 and 5 p.m.) on Saturday, April 30, 2005 at the Library of Michigan. An evening fund-raiser and reception hosted by the Library of Michigan Foundation in honor of the 2005 Notable authors will follow at 7 p.m. The 2005 Notable Books titles will be available for sale at the Museum store located in the building. Michigan Notable Books is a program of Michigan Week, which this year is celebrated May 21-27 (www.michigan.gov/michiganweek).

The Michigan Notable Books list is an annual selection of books representing the diverse history and culture of our state. Each year's list features books published in the previous calendar year that are about or are set in Michigan or the Great Lakes, or written by a native or resident of Michigan. Selections include non-fiction & fiction titles, typically have a wide appeal to the audience, and cover a range of topics and issues important to Michigan residents.

The 2005 Michigan Notable Books committee included Nancy Robertson (chair), Kim Laird, Randy Riley and Kris Rzepczynski, Library of Michigan; Karren Reish, Michigan Center for the Book; Randy Glumm, Waystation Books, Lansing; Mary Ellen Wood, Schuler Books, Okemos; Michael Rodriguez, Michigan State University and Michigan Library Association; Roger Rosentreter, Michigan History magazine; Sue Thoms, Grand Rapids Press; Ray Walsh, Archives & Curious Book Shops, East Lansing; and George Weeks, Detroit News.

For more information, please contact the Library of Michigan at librarian@michigan.gov or (517) 373-1300. To see a full description of each Michigan Notable Books title, go to http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607
,7-160-17447_18630_22778-109909--,00.html.

The 2005 Michigan Notable Books are:

American Vanguard: The United Auto Workers During the Reuther Years, 1935-1970 by John Barnard (Wayne State University Press)

Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age by Kevin Boyle (Henry Holt)

Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis (Wendy Lamb Books)

A Different Image: The Legacy of Broadside Press, an Anthology edited by Gloria House, Rosemary Weatherston and Albert M. Ward (University of Detroit Mercy Press & Broadside Press)

A Distant Thunder: Michigan in the Civil War by Richard Bak (Huron River Press)

Eight Steamboats: Sailing Through the Sixties by Patrick Livingston (Wayne State University Press)

The Indians of Hungry Hollow by Bill Dunlop and Marcia Fountain-Blacklidge (University of Michigan Press)

Mary Schafer, American Quilt Maker by Gwen Marston (University of Michigan Press)

Mr. Paradise: A Novel by Elmore Leonard (Morrow)

On the Brink: The Great Lakes in the 21st Century by Dave Dempsey (Michigan State University Press)

An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco (Philomel Books)

Pulling Down the Barn: Memories of a Rural Childhood by Anne-Marie Oomen (Wayne State University Press)

The Radioactive Boy Scout: The True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor by Ken Silverstein (Random House)

Remember the Distance That Divides Us: The Family Letters of Philadelphia Quaker Abolitionist and Michigan Pioneer Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, 1830-1842 edited by Marcia J. Heringa Mason (Michigan State University Press)

River Rouge: Ford's Industrial Colossus by Joseph P. Cabadas (Motorbooks International)

The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown U.S.A. by Lisa M. Fine (Temple University Press)

The Tarnished Eye: A Novel of Suspense by Judith Guest (Scribner).

True North: A Novel by Jim Harrison (Grove Press).

Ursula, Under: A Novel by Ingrid Hill (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)

Wire to Wire: Inside the 1984 Detroit Tigers Championship Season by George Cantor (Triumph Books)

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Continuing Education Opportunities from the Library of Michigan
By Deb Bacon-Ziegler, continuing education coordinator, Library of Michigan

2005 Loleta Fyan Rural Libraries Conference: Gateway to Information

Conference registration is now open! To access the registration form, visit the Rural Libraries Conference Web page. This site is your complete source for all information related to the conference, including reservations at Boyne Highlands and the preliminary conference schedule. Bookmark the site and check back often.

The 2005 Rural Libraries Conference will be May 2-4, 2005, at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs.

Beginning Workshop 2005

Beginning Workshop will be held June 6-8, 2005, at North Central Michigan College in Petoskey. New for 2005, Beginning Workshop will feature both self-directed study prior to the workshop and three days of face-to-face sessions in Petoskey. Participants who complete the workshop will receive 3.2 CEUs and be eligible for the Initial Certificate of Library Experience (Level VII).

The 2005 workshop, redesigned with a focus on the QSAC Essential measures, introduces participants to the basic components of public library work. The workshop is open to all, with priority given to attendees who need to earn the Level VII certificate for State Aid eligibility.

Full details, including registration information, will be available at www.michigan.gov/lma later this month.

Looking ahead...

TechEscape 3.0: Mobile Computing - the Michigan Library Association Library Technology Division, in partnership with the Library of Michigan, brings you this informative session on April 15, 2005.

Trustee Basic Training - The Library of Michigan and the Michigan Library Association are partnering to offer trustee training (various dates/locations around the state) in 2005. See http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/development.htm for details as they become available.

Mahoney Children's Workshops - This premier event is back for 2005 and better than ever! The August workshops will focus on services to children from special populations. Date TBA.

Workshop for New Directors & Their Trustees - November 2005. Come meet the LM library development staff and learn about the services available to your library. Date TBA.

Don't forget to check the Statewide Workshops and Events Calendar, your one-stop source for workshops, training events, conferences and other library-land happenings!

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Celebrate "Michigan on the Move" at Your Library for Michigan Week 2005
By Casey Warner, Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries

The Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries invites libraries around the state to take part in Michigan Week, the annual salute to everything that makes the Great Lakes State unique. Scheduled for May 21-27, with the theme "Great Lakes, Great Traditions: Michigan on the Move," this year's celebration will focus on the spirit of innovation and progress that have always characterized Michigan and its citizens.

There are many ways for libraries to participate in the grand tradition of Michigan Week, from something as simple as a book display to a weeklong celebration with activities for kids and adults. Here are just a few ideas:

• Set up a display of Michigan Notable Books. Host a book discussion on one or more of these or other Michigan-themed books.
• Invite an author who lives in or writes about Michigan to speak at your library. Search the Michigan Authors and Illustrators database for information about authors and illustrators with Michigan connections.
• With the Michigan Department of Transportation marking its 100th anniversary this year, plan a program exploring the achievements and progress that have kept Michigan residents on the move from Algonac to Zeeland (find resources at http://www.michigan.gov/mdot100).
• Michigan Week is a great opportunity to learn more about the historic bridges, waterways, lighthouses, railroads, airfields and car ferries that have kept Michigan moving for decades. Help patrons discover the historic sites in your community.
• Help your community get "on the move" towards better health by sponsoring a program about physical fitness and nutrition. Find more resources at the web sites of the Michigan On the Move or Michigan Steps Up programs.
• Prepare a community history display. Put out a call for photographs and artifacts.
• Plan a children's story hour with a Michigan theme or another youth program that teaches kids about their state's heritage. Check out the Teacher Resources page on the Department of History, Arts and Libraries Web site for ideas and resources to help young people learn about Michigan. Explore different topics in Michigan history, while helping to teach literacy skills, with help from The Mitten classroom activity packs.
• Ask a local historian to speak about community history or a historical re-enactor to bring a part of Michigan history to life.
• Invite an artist, photographer or musician who features Michigan or Great Lakes themes to show/play and speak about their work.
• Hold a Michigan film festival. Click here for more information on features filmed in Michigan.
• Offer a program to teach patrons about the many resources available to state residents through the Michigan eLibrary.
• Coordinate a storytelling festival with tellers from the area sharing tall tales, legends and histories of the county.
• Include the Michigan Week logo on promotional materials for your event.

Or you may come up with your own unique Michigan Week activities. However you plan to celebrate, the Department of History, Arts and Libraries can help get the word out with its online listing of Michigan Week events around the state. Click here to register your event.

For more information about Michigan Week, please visit the Michigan Week Web page or contact Jim Schultz at (517) 373-1586 or schultzjh@michigan.gov.

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The Librarian on the Loose Speaks! An Interview with Nancy Pearl
By Deb Bacon-Ziegler and Gloriane Peck, Library of Michigan

One of the enduring images of Summer 2004 was the librarian action figure (a.k.a. Nancy Pearl) visiting Noir Leather in Royal Oak to check out the latest in leather fashion. But did you know that the real Nancy Pearl has an enduring connection to both Michigan and the Library of Michigan? It's true! Young Nancy decided that she wanted to be a librarian early on, inspired by Miss Whitehead, the branch librarian at her local Detroit Public Library branch. Later, we sent Nancy Pearl to library school at the University of Michigan armed with a scholarship from LM.

Nancy generously agreed to be interviewed via e-mail for the Access newsletter. We hope you enjoy reading her thoughts on librarianship, reading and her connection to Michigan.

What are your favorite memories from library school at the University of Michigan? From the Detroit Public Library? Of the Library of Michigan?

My favorite memory from library school was the whole course I took in "controversial fiction." We all had to read a controversial book and then defend it in class. I read "The Last Temptation of Christ." I wrote all about my memories of the Detroit Public Library in my books "Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason," and its companion, "More Book Lust." I will always be grateful to the Library of Michigan for giving me a $2,000 (a lot of money in 1966-67) scholarship to attend library school. It meant everything to me.

What is your response to those who insist that reading is on the decline, and with it the importance of libraries?

I think people will always need stories in their lives, and that reading for pleasure, or personal enlightenment, or recreational learning will never go away. We (as a profession) need to think about how the Internet has changed what we do in our libraries, and how we might need to rethink what we do for our library patrons.

Where have you made the greatest professional impact? What do you consider to be your legacy?

I think that I'd like my legacy to be the students that I've taught in my reader's advisory courses at the iSchool at the University of Washington, and the workshops that I've done around the country. I hope [those students] will carry the message that reader's advisory service is a most important and worthwhile part of what we do as librarians.

One of our co-workers likes to say that before a librarian can retire, s/he must create another librarian. You are Miss Whitehead's librarian. Have you created any librarians in the course of your career?

I think that there are a couple of my students who "got religion" and went into the public library field as adult services librarians - I'm pleased about that.

Why are citywide reading programs important? Did you anticipate their popularity?

I think that book discussion groups create community out of strangers; discussing a book like "A Lesson Before Dying" or "The Sweet Hereafter" is a wonderful way to talk about difficult subjects. And a library is a safe environment to have those discussions. I always believed that community-reading programs were a good idea, but I had no idea that they would spread across not only the country, but the world.

What advice do you have for Michigan communities, particularly those that are small and/or rural, for getting a community-wide reading program going? How does a community go about choosing a book that will appeal to everyone?

What I am most pleased with in the spread of the "one book/one community" program is the way each community - large or small - has taken the idea and adapted it to its own needs. There's not just one right way to go about doing this. And really, in a sense the book you pick is less important than the discussions that you get going about the book. Different communities choose their books in different ways - there's no wrong way to choose a book. But you do need to select a book that will repay your reading with good discussion.

What advice do you have for libraries to promote books, programs, and reading given budget & staffing shortages? Given the many other options available to patrons (movies, TV, etc.)?

I think that knowledgeable and enthusiastic librarians are the key to making libraries vital and necessary to a community. There are many inexpensive, not time intensive activities that a library can do to promote its collections and programs - book lists, author visits, discussion groups are just a few. What about a play reading group that meets once a month? Or a poetry discussion group?

What is your best tip (or two) for connecting individual readers with books that they will enjoy?

I believe that people love the books they do not because of the particulars of the plot, but because of the feeling they get from the book - hence, my great belief in "appeal characteristics," which I discuss in detail in "Now Read This" and "Now Read This II," two books published by Libraries Unlimited. Joyce Saricks takes a slightly different but related tack in her book "Reader's Advisory Service in the Public Library."

What are your favorite childhood books?

Wow - there are too many to list - here are a few: "The Saturdays" by Elizabeth Enright; "The Moffats" by Eleanor Estes; "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Forbes; "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien; and "Space Cadet" by Robert Heinlein.

Novels for teens just keep getting better. Do you have a favorite teen novel or author that writes for teens?

I usually read whatever one of the young adult librarians at the library recommends. I've enjoyed the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" books.

What are your thoughts on how to turn kids on to reading?

We need to work at finding books that fit in with what a child likes to do - if he/she likes sports, then we would give them a sports biography, for example. It's really a question of turning kids into readers one book at a time. I'm also a big fan of reading aloud - no matter what age the child.

The librarian action figure sells better than any of the others. What do you think about that? Did you know that your action figure counterpart was on the loose in Michigan last summer? (see http://www.mla.lib.mi.us/development/
conference/2004/auction_lol.htm)

I'm thrilled about how well the LAF has done - it's a tribute to librarians everywhere. And I loved the idea of the LAF traveling around Michigan last summer. I got a copy of the photos and grin widely when I look at them. It was a great idea to do that.

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Movers and Seekers: Michigan Immigrants and Migrants
By Martha Climo, Michigan Historical Museum

"I write about pressures of family life, discovering my voice and ultimately myself through teaching, and all the beauty and adventure of growing up as an Arab American woman," said Lara Hamza, one of the many women featured in the Michigan Historical Museum's new special exhibit, Movers and Seekers: Michigan Immigrants and Migrants.

Lara immigrated with her family to Michigan in 1979 when she was 5 years old and now teaches at Henry Ford Community College and the Dearborn Public Schools. While her family was originally from Lebanon, her father Wafic Hamza was working as an architect in Libya when he planned to return with his family to Lebanon in 1979. Civil war broke out and they could not return home so came to visit relatives who were living in Dearborn.

Lara's mother, Insaf Hamza, remembers crying, "I feel I will never go back."

Movers and Seekers features the stories of 20th-century European, Middle Eastern, Mexican American, African American and Asian immigrants and migrants who left their distant homelands to live in Michigan. Some arrived in Michigan seeking jobs or education, others came as adoptees, and still others were refugees escaping war or religious or ethnic persecution. Their oral histories, three-dimensional objects, historic documents and vintage photographs help forge the connection between real-life people and Michigan's social history.

Your patrons may also be interested in the following related events held in conjunction with Movers and Seekers, all held at the Michigan Historical Museum:

• April 9 - Daughter from Danang special movie presentation
• April 16 - Beyond the Melting Pot: Asian Adoptees in the 21st Century
• May 7 - Ethnic Fest: A Presentation of the Many Cultures That Have Shaped Michigan

This exhibit runs through Oct. 9, 2005, at the Michigan Historical Museum in downtown Lansing. For more information, visit www.michiganhistory.org.

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SBPH Receives Grant to Purchase Braille Embosser
By Sue Chinault, manager, Library of Michigan Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

The Michigan Braille Transcribing Fund (MBTF) recently awarded a grant of $1,815 to the Library of Michigan Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (SBPH) for the purchase of a Braille embosser, needed to create Braille labels for locally produced cassette tapes.

SBPH carries talking books, which are recorded on cassette tape and circulated free through the mail to people who cannot read standard-print materials because of a visual or physical disability. Most of the SBPH collection is recorded at the national level and arrives pre-labeled and ready to shelve. The production of titles specific to Michigan and the Great Lakes or by Michigan authors is the responsibility of the Library of Michigan. SBPH relies on volunteers to narrate titles of local interest, and paid staff to duplicate and process the books. This MBTF grant will make it possible for people who read Braille to independently identify a title before it begins to play.

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NEWS FROM MICHIGAN CENTER FOR THE BOOK

"Summer Knight's Reading" Bookmarks Available

What suggestions can you give to adult readers during the Summer Reading program? Just in time for the Summer Reading program, the Michigan Center for the Book has designed a series of bookmarks for adults. The Summer Knight's Reading bookmarks list medieval history, fiction, biography or classics for adult readers. For those who want to go beyond the bookmarks, there is also a booklist with even more suggestions.

Download the bookmarks and booklist from the Center for the Book Web site at www.michigan.gov/mcfb - Summer Reading Program. For Quark files suitable for professional printing, contact Karren Reish at kreish@michigan.gov or (517) 373-3891.

The Michigan Center for the Book is a program of the Library of Michigan and its affiliates. Our goal is to promote an awareness of books, reading, literacy, authors and Michigan's rich literary heritage. For more information about the Center and its programs or for information about becoming an affiliate, contact: kreish@michigan.gov or (517) 373-3891.

New Web Site and Forum Offer Tips to Plan Successful Author Visits

Having trouble finding information on how to plan author events? Want to find out who else is having an event in Michigan so you can collaborate? Want to share insights about your events? The Michigan Center for the Book has created the new Author Visits Web site at http://michigan.gov/authorvisits. The site includes information on how to plan an event, links to publishers and author resources and a forum for librarians and other interested individuals to share information and collaborate with one another. Stop by and see how this online resource can help you!

New Grant Program Supports Literary Events in Michigan

The Michigan Center for the Book announces a new grant program for literary events in the state. The center will partially fund events or projects in Michigan that fulfill our goal to promote an awareness of books, reading, literacy, authors and Michigan's rich literary heritage.

Requirements to apply for funds are:

• The event must be free and open to the public;
• The sponsoring organization must be a Michigan-based nonprofit organization, library, or school;
• The request for funds must be no more than 50 percent of the total budget of the project/event or no more than $500, whichever is less; and
• The request for funds must be received at least three months prior to the start of the event.

Funds are limited and will be granted on a "first come, first served" basis in a given calendar year. Preference will be given to Michigan Center for the Book affiliates.

The Michigan Center for the Book is a program of the Library of Michigan and its affiliates. Our goal is to promote an awareness of books, reading, literacy, authors and Michigan's rich literary heritage. For more information about the Center, its programs or becoming an affiliate, contact:

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Web-Sitings: Women's History Month
By Gloriane Peck, Library of Michigan

These Web sites highlight women's achievements. For more sites, go to the MeL Internet Collection, http://web.mel.org/index.jsp, and search for women and history.

American Women's History: A Research Guide: State and subject indexes to sources, including digital collections.
http://www.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women.html

Ann Arbor: A Woman's Town, 1900-1975: A collection of clips from interviews with African-American women, supplemented with links and national and local timelines.
http://www.si.umich.edu/CHICO/aawomen/index.html

Canton Public Library Multimedia Bibliography: Books, Web sites and more.
http://www.cantonpl.org/specialc/wmnhstmo.html

Central Michigan University's Clarke Historical Library Resources: Women's Biography and Autobiography (http://clarke.cmich.edu/women.bio.htm) and Women's History: A Guide to Unpublished Resources (http://clarke.cmich.edu/women.manu.htm).

Gale Schools Women's History Month: Biographies, activities and a quiz.
http://www.galeschools.com/womens_history/index.htm

Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council: Preserves the legacies of area women.
http://www.ggrwhc.org/index.shtml

Guide to Women's Diaries at the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library: This finding aid includes diaries from the 1810s through the 1990s.
http://www.umich.edu/~bhl/bhl/mhchome/women/womenhis.htm

Michigan History: Remarkable Women from Michigan's Past: Articles highlight activists, athletes and others.
http://www.michiganhistorymagazine.com/extra/women/index.html

Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame: Biographies of honorees and lesson plans.
http://www.michiganwomenshalloffame.org/

National Women's Hall of Fame: Biographies of inductees.
http://www.greatwomen.org

National Women's History Project: A timeline of the women's rights movement, biographies and information for teachers, parents and students.
http://www.nwhp.org/

PBS' American Experience: Companion Web sites for presentations on specific women and on women's experiences.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/archives_th_bios_07.html
The companion site for "Not For Ourselves Alone," http://www.pbs.org/stantonanthony/, explores the women's movement.

Selected Chronology of Michigan Women's History: From the book Michigan Women: Firsts and Founders, Volume II.
http://www.h-net.org/~michigan/timeline/miwchron.html

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000: Primary documents and abstracts. Some materials are available by subscription only.
http://womhist.binghamton.edu/index.html

Women's History Collections from the Library of Congress' American Memory Project: Browse photographs, pamphlets and other images from the women's suffrage movement.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/browse/ListSome.php?category=Women's%20History

Women in American History by Encyclopaedia Britannica: Primary documents and biographies covering 1600 to the present.
http://search.eb.com/women/index.html

Women's Studies Learning Center: Online seminars and interviews from the Fathom Knowledge Network provide an international perspective.
http://www.fathom.com/special/whm/

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AROUND THE STATE

Cadillac-Wexford County Public Library Receives $10,000 Loleta D. Fyan Grant Compiled from a Michigan Library Association press release

Cadillac-Wexford County Public Library in Cadillac has been awarded the 2005 Loleta D. Fyan Grant for a proposal titled "MP3 @ the Library," outlining a plan to create an MP3 library of audio books to meet the technological information literacy skills of a growing slice of their patron population.

"This proposal received the highest score of all submitted, and of the four committee members who ranked the proposals, three ranked it number one. No other proposal ranked as high, nor did any receive a '1' ranking from more than one committee member," said James Stewart, chair of the Fyan Grant jury.

This $10,000 grant, given annually on a competitive basis, is named for Loleta D. Fyan, an ALA past-president (1951-52), who provided funds for the American Library Association (ALA) in her will. The grant supports a project that will develop and/or improve public library services, effect changes that are innovative and responsive to the future, and has potential for broader impact and application beyond a specific local need.

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Charlevoix Library Makes Digitized Obituaries Available to Patrons Submitted by Valerie Meyerson, director, Charlevoix Public Library

The Charlevoix Public Library and the Friends of the Charlevoix Public Library have announced the availability of digitized local obituaries. The Michigan Room Committee of the Friends of the Charlevoix Library is adding one obituary at a time to a database, as well as scanning each obituary. The obituary is searchable by date and name as well as relatives and nicknames. The actual obituary is also scanned and available to be viewed and printed.

One of the most common reference questions at the library is for obituary lookups. "Currently we have a volunteer who handles these questions, but many times it takes digging, searching and lots of patience to find the correct obituary," said Charlevoix Public Library Director Valerie Meyerson. Having the ability for a quick search, said Meyerson, will provide an ease of access that will benefit everyone, including library staff and patrons worldwide.

Currently there are seven years of obituaries available, 1998-2004. The library staff adds the current year's obituaries while the Friends of the Library work backwards to add the older papers. The Library owns all the Charlevoix Courier newspapers back to its inception in 1908, as well as the Sentinel from 1920-1936 and the Charlevoix Journal from 1883-1890.

To access the obituary database, visit the Charlevoix Library Web site at www.charlevoixlibrary.org and look on the header for the link. For assistance, contact the Charlevoix Library at (231) 547-2651.

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Houghton Lake Public Library "Page-Turners" Celebrate Six Years of Great Reading Submitted by Donna J. Alward, director, Houghton Lake Public Library

A birthday party atmosphere prevailed at the Houghton Lake Public Library as Page-Turners, a book discussion club for adult readers, began its sixth year of gathering readers together for good conversations about books. The celebratory evening included birthday cake, book-related prize drawings, and the first official Page-Turners "Jeopardy" game, which featured answers gleaned from the nearly 70 books that Page-Turners have read over the past five years.

Photo: Courtesy of the Roscommon County Herald-News

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Houghton Lake Public Library Named One of Best Small Libraries in America Submitted by Donna J. Alward, director, Houghton Lake Public Library

The Houghton Lake Public Library was recently cited as one of the best small libraries in America. The library was among the nearly 150 public libraries nominated for The Best Small Library in America Award and one of four to receive a "Special Mention." Co-sponsored by Library Journal and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the award was founded to encourage and showcase the exemplary work of libraries serving populations under 25,000. The criteria for the award included creativity in developing model services and programs, innovations in public access computing, demonstrated community support, and evidence of the library's role as a community center.

Said Director Donna Alward: "When the judges narrowed the submissions down, the grand prize was eventually awarded to the Haines Borough Public Library in Alaska, but we were pleased to make it to the final round and be included with such accomplished libraries."

According to Library Journal, what was common among the libraries was "the deep reservoir of support they draw from their communities. In tiny towns across the country, hundreds of volunteers move and shelve books, teach classes, caulk windows, or do any of the myriad, often mundane tasks that keep these libraries running. Their residents have a sense of ownership and a personal stake in their libraries that large facilities can only hope to match."

Alward noted, "The Houghton Lake Public Library enjoys phenomenal ongoing support from a core of volunteers that begins with the Library Board of Trustees who are all readers and believe reading and information are crucial to a good quality of life. Their decisions have supported the goal of providing a quality library and staff. Our volunteers regularly exceed expectations by providing what we need, when we need it: engineering expertise to review a contractor's change of work orders, two stunning homemade quilts from local quilters for program prizes, free art supplies and instruction from a local artists' guild for a children's art program, or occasional carpentry skills."

In 2001, the Houghton Lake Public Library was awarded the first State Librarian's Excellence Award from the Library of Michigan Foundation for exemplary public service and was cited for "enthusiasm, positive attitude, a passion for excellence and a 'can do' attitude." That grant included a cash award of $5,000 and was used to create a fireplace area with an adjoining wall of oak shelves to display new books and welcome visitors. "Staff wanted the award to pay for something that would be directly accessible by library users. Visitors love the warmth and comfort of our beautiful, roaring fire and we feel good knowing that it didn't cost our community a dime."

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Marshall District Library Director Renwick Garypie to Retire March 31 Submitted by Kevin Tomlinson, deputy director, Marshall District Library

Renwick Garypie, director of the Marshall District Library in Marshall, will retire on March 31, 2005. Garypie, a graduate of the University of Michigan, has served as director at Marshall since August of 1990.

Kevin Tomlinson became deputy director of the Marshall District Library on Jan. 24, 2005. Tomlinson is a graduate of Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science (Bloomington).

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