ccessccessAPublished by the Library of Michigan November 2003 Issue Volume XXI NO. 5 ISSN 1051-0818

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PreservationN o v e m b e r

Library of MichiganCelebrates Opening ofMartha W. Griffiths MichiganRare Book Room10-Year ‘Labor of Love’ Honors Michigan’sFirst Woman Lieutenant Governor

by Sarah Lapshan, Public Information Officer,Department of History, Arts and Libraries

The Library of Michigan recently celebrated the completion and official opening of thenew Martha W. Griffiths Michigan Rare Book Room. The Library of Michigan Foundation— which was instrumental to ensuring this room was designed and constructed entirelywith private funding — hosted the inaugural celebration on October 28.

“This is a fitting tribute to Martha Griffiths who was, by all accounts, a state treasure.She was an avid supporter of Michigan libraries and Michigan education,” said GovernorJennifer M. Granholm. “The addition of this room will share her legacy of education withthe entire state.”

State Librarian Christie Pearson Brandau added, “This project was a labor of love forour employees, our donors and library supporters throughout the state. The room’s grandopening truly marks a milestone for both the Library of Michigan and our foundation.

Having it unveiled to the public during the library’s 175th-anniversary year is just icing onthe cake!”

The Library of Michigan’s Rare Book collection is comprised of more than 17,000 vol-umes, including printed books, maps, letters, prints and other formats covering subjectmatter such as natural history, law, angling, travel and exploration, Native Americans andMichigania. The Library of Michigan Foundation has provided the funding for the designand construction of the room, which is located on the fourth floor of the Library ofMichigan. Also, through the creation of a special endowment fund, the foundation willsupport the conservation and preservation of rare materials, as well as the future acquisitionof additional materials.

State Librarian Brandau said the new reading room and state-of-the-art storage complexare very important additions because they provide the necessary environmental conditionsand security for the rare materials. This room also creates an inviting and suitable place forthese important research materials to be used by the citizens of Michigan, said Brandau.“We have long had this exceptional collection,” she said. “Now, at last, we have the properhome for its storage and use by all who wish to see these treasures!”

To see photos and renderings of the Martha W. Griffiths Michigan Rare Book Roomand pictures from the October 28 celebration, visit www.michigan.gov/hal.

In ThisIssue

Access to anAcclaimedAcademicResource

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PreservationReminders forLibrary Staff

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History of theService for theBlind andPhysicallyHandicapped

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E.E. Knight Elementary Library

East Jackson High School Library

Foote Hospital Library

Grass Lake Junior/Senior High LMC

Greyhound Intermediate School

Hanover-Horton Schools

Holt Junior High School Library

Lansing Catholic Central Library

Leonard Elementary Media Center

Mason High School LMC

Northwest (Kidder) Middle School LMC

OIM/Information Services

Otto Middle School Library

Pattengill Media Center

Pennock Hospital Library

Pewamo-Westphalia High School Library

REMC-13, Ingham I.S.D.

St. Thomas Aquinas School

Stella Thompson Library, Eaton Rapids HighSchool

Thomas Cooley Law Library

Warner Elementary School Library

Western High School LMC

Announcing Access to anAcclaimed Academic Resource –Brought to You by MeL!by Brian Saad, GALE

The Michigan eLibrary (MeL), the anytime,anywhere information gateway to selected Internetresources, full-text magazines, newspapers and elec-tronic books, is proud to provide academicresearchers with a renowned source of peer-reviewedscholarly content – Ingenta.

Ingenta is one of the United Kingdom’s top 20Web services, providing published content fromreliable academic research sources. Now, through aunique alliance with Gale®, Ingenta’s more than4,700 scholarly and academic electronic journals areintegrated within Gale’s InfoTrac Web® databases.

Scholarly research with precise results

Ingenta is used by a wide range of informationprofessionals, academics and students in both aca-

State ResidentsHelp ChooseMichigan Reads!Titleby Casey Kremers, Department ofHistory, Arts and Libraries

During the month of October, Michigan resi-dents had the opportunity to pick their favoritefrom among the five titles carefully chosen by theMichigan Reads! book selection committee –Barnyard Song by Rhonda Gowler Greene, Duckon a Bike by David Shannon, Kiss Good Night byAmy Hest, Mama Cat Has Three Kittens by DeniseFleming and One Dark Night by Lisa Wheeler.

As this issue of Access went to press, votingwas still taking place, but you can check theMichigan Reads! Web page atwww.michigan.gov/hal to find out the winningtitle and other details about the program. We areupdating the Web page frequently with new infor-mation and resources, so please check back often.

CALNET Gives Gift to MichiganLibrariesby Jo Budler, Deputy State Librarian

When CALNET (the Capital Area LibraryNetwork, Inc.) voted last spring to dissolve,Secretary/Treasurer Marion VanLoo reports, itsmembers were asked what they wanted to do withthe resources to which each was entitled. A largenumber of the libraries decided to donate theirportion to the Library of Michigan Foundation.According to VanLoo, these members were specif-ic in their desire that the library community inMichigan benefit from the dissolution of CAL-NET, which has been instrumental in resourcesharing in its area.

On behalf of all Michigan libraries, specialthanks goes to these libraries for their contribu-tions:

Ashley District Library

Capital Area Career Center LMC

Chi Memorial Library, Holt High School

DeWitt High School Library

demia and the corporate world, with more than 60percent of traffic from the United States and approx-imately 60 percent from academia. The “Ingentaadvantage” includes:

More content from scholarly e-journals

The peer-reviewed, scholarly content fromIngenta dramatically expands Gale’s offerings,which in turn provides more research solutionsfor libraries.

Faster and more effective searches

The powerful combination of InfoTrac Web andIngenta shortens research time and dramaticallyimproves the effectiveness of the research. Forexample, a searcher who starts with a library cat-alog search can link directly into relevant infor-mation in InfoTrac (using 856 links from Gale’sMARC and ASCII record sets with InfoTracInfoMarks®) and from there, run searches thataccess full text from InfoTrac and Ingenta.

Core periodical databases plus e-journal subscriptions

Libraries subscribing to both InfoTrac Web andIngenta have access to the vast array of Ingentacontent right from their InfoTrac Web session.

A win-win for academics

The Gale and Ingenta alliance has produced anintegrated, combined service. Libraries canchoose InfoTrac OneFile™Plus or ExpandedAcademic ASAP™ Plus. As part of the regularlibrary subscription, users will receive:

• a single interface to search combined con-tent;

• integrated results sets of InfoTrac andIngenta content;

• the ability to access scholarly articles fromup to 4,700 Ingenta academic and profes-sional titles, based on the library’s subscrip-tions; and

• the ability to buy individual articles in digi-tal format from Ingenta publishers wherethe library does not hold a subscription.

Much more than just a link

The Gale and Ingenta combined service allowslibraries to integrate their core periodical contentand e-journal subscriptions into one interface:

InfoTrac. In addition, it provides a solution for aca-demic libraries that need access to a wide range ofscholarly materials in a simple, familiar and easy-to-use search system. Users can access the contentfrom campus or remote locations, enabling distancelearners to use OneFile Plus or Expanded AcademicASAP Plus as a virtual library of periodical content.

The Gale Ingenta Combined Service is availablefor the following InfoTrac Web products: InfoTracOneFile and Expanded Academic ASAP.

Activate the Gale Ingenta Combined Service byconfiguring this preference for your Gale productusing the InfoTrac ITConfig maintenance program.To access InfoTrac ITConfig, you need to have theappropriate URL for your account along with theusername and password. This URL is different fromyour database access URL and can be obtained bycontacting Gale technical support.

Log into InfoTrac ITConfig and select “loca-tions” from the menu on the left-hand side. Select“modify location” next to the loc-ID/name of yourinstitution. Scroll towards the bottom of the pageuntil you see the Ingenta section.

You will see two radio buttons.

• “Activate Gale/Ingenta Combined Serviceswith e-commerce option”

• To enable the Gale Ingenta CombinedServices and provide users with the abilityto purchase digital copies of articles, selectthis radio button. This is also known as“pay-per-view” option.

• “Activate Gale/Ingenta Combined Serviceswithout e-commerce option”

• To enable the Gale Ingenta CombinedServices without the ability to purchase digi-tal copies of articles, select this radio button.

Click on the “save” button at the bottom of thescreen.

Once you activate the Gale Ingenta CombinedService, ITConfig will open the Ingenta accountinformation screen. You will be prompted to enteryour existing Ingenta account information or registera new account with Ingenta.

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If you have an existing Ingenta account, enteryour account information (username and password)and select “continue.” You will get a message indi-cating your Ingenta account has been verified. Youwill be prompted to confirm your account informa-tion by clicking “yes” or “no.” (Clicking “no” willre-display the Ingenta information screen where youwill have to re-enter your username and password.)

Once this information is entered, you will bereturned to the summary screen, where you will beable to see the details of your account. For yourlocation, you will see the type of service selectedalong with your Ingenta account information. Youwill also see a link to “manage my Ingenta,” whichwill give you access to the “manage profile” pageson the Ingenta Web site. This will allow you toupdate your Ingenta account profile.

Please enable the Gale Ingenta CombinedService for each loc-ID/name (location) in yourinstitution’s account, and specify whether the e-commerce option will be used or not.

When you have finished modifying your loca-tions, exit from the ITConfig program.

Further Gale Resources:

How to find your location IDhttp://access.gale.com/authentication/cookie_cut-ter.html#FindMyLocID

InfoTrac Config [ITConfig] user manualhttp://www.gale.com/pdf/customer_service/manu-als/itconfigguide.pdf

Ingenta technical bulletinhttp://www.gale.com/pdf/customer_service/bul-letins/ingenta.pdf

Contact Gale technical supporthttp://www.gale.com/customer_service/contact/index.htm

Upcoming Continuing EducationOpportunities from the Library ofMichigan

GATES TRANSITION WORKSHOPS

Your public access computers from the GatesFoundation were wonderful, but now they areaging. Where do you go from here? Join us asGates Foundation staff members provide anoverview of the Gates computers operating systemand support issues, as well as upgrading, re-purpos-ing and stretching the lifespan of your Gates grant-ed computers.

Presenters: Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation staff

Time: 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Cost: Free

CEUs: 0.4

11/10 Library of Michigan, Lansing

11/12 University Center, Gaylord

WORKSHOP FOR NEW DIRECTORSAND THEIR TRUSTEES

This workshop provides information on theservices the Library of Michigan offers to librariesacross Michigan. We strongly encourage all newdirectors and trustees to attend this informativeworkshop.

Presenters: Library of Michigan staff

Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Cost: $20

CEUs: 0.5

11/13 Library of Michigan, Lansing

For more information on all workshops offeredby the Library of Michigan, please visit our Website at http://www.michigan.gov/hal. On the leftside of the screen, click on Exhibits & Events, thenclick on Conferences & Workshops, then Library.

For more information about the above work-shops, you may also call Jenn Houseman at (517)373-1580.

Don’t forget our free Learning More @ theLibrary of Michigan patron training sessions andour Abrams Genealogy Series as well! For moreinformation on these classes, visit our Web site orcall the library at (517) 373-1300.

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Best-Selling Author RichardFlorida to Speak at Dec. 11“Creating Cool” Conference

by Tamara Real, Get Real! Communications

Dr. Richard Florida, author of The Rise of theCreative Class and How It’s Transforming Work,Leisure, Community and Everyday Life, will be thefeatured speaker at a one-day conference to takeplace at the Lansing Center in Lansing onThursday, December 11. Entitled Creating Cool:Linking Culture, Community and the Economy, theconference is designed to bring together cultural,economic development, civic and government lead-ers seeking creative solutions to community chal-lenges. The conference is jointly presented by theMichigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs andMichigan Department of Consumer and IndustryServices with assistance from numerous otherorganizations, including the Library of Michigan.

“We are delighted to be a part of the process oforganizing this important event,” noted StateLibrarian Christie Pearson Brandau. “Libraries playsuch a vital role in the well-being of their commu-nities that this is an event that they certainly willnot want to miss, as our state works to attract andretain a creative class of workers. Libraries need tobe at the table as community leaders envision theirfuture development.”

The event will feature presentations showcasingexamples of how arts and culture can be creativelyused to stimulate and enhance economic develop-ment on the local level. The first such gathering ofits kind, this event is part of the “cool cities” initia-tive of Governor Granholm, who will open the con-ference with introductory remarks. Other speakerswill include Dr. William Anderson, director of theDepartment of History, Arts and Libraries, andDavid Hollister, director of the Department ofConsumer and Industry Services.

Teams of individuals from local communitiesare encouraged to attend. For registration materi-als, visit www.michigan.gov/hal or call Get Real!Communications at (734) 669-4360.

MeL Tools for the YoungResearcherby Janice Murphy, Librarian, Library of Michigan

Michigan eLibrary offers a range of databases toMichigan students this fall. Three are part ofInfoTrac: InfoTrac Student Edition (IS), InfoTracJunior Edition (IJ) and Kids InfoBits 1.0(KI).

The Student Edition is designed for highschool students. You may have used it in the pastunder its prior name, SuperTOM. It includesaccess to a variety of indexed and full-text maga-zines, newspapers and reference books for informa-tion on current events, the arts, science, popularculture, health, people, government, history, sportsand more. Of the three databases, it has the mostinclusive list of magazines with 409 titles. Its refer-ence set includes 16 titles, compared to five titles inInfoTrac Junior (these five titles appear in both:Columbia Encyclopedia, Merriam Webster’sBiographical Dictionary, Rand McNally Maps, theReader’s Companion to American History and theWorld Almanac and Book of Facts) and eight titles inKids InfoBits 1.0. There are no common titlesbetween KI and either IS or IJ. The other 11 refer-ence titles in IS are All Our Yesterdays, AmericanReader, Asimov’s Chronology of Science and Discovery,Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Benet’s Reader’sEncyclopedia of American Literature, Constitution ofthe United States, Encyclopedia of American Facts andDates, Great Thinkers of the Western World, HarperEncyclopedia of Military Biography, MerriamWebster’s Dictionary of Quotations and MerriamWebster’s Geographical Dictionary.

The Junior Edition reincarnates SuperTOMJunior. It is designed for students in junior highand middle school, with magazines, newspapers andreference books (most are full-text) for informationon current events, the arts, science, popular culture,health, people, government, history, sports andmore. The 152 periodicals included in this data-base cover the years 2000-2003.

Kids InfoBits targets the research needs of stu-dents in kindergarten through fifth grade. It fea-tures a visually graphic interface to appeal to thisage group. A subject-based topic tree search is usedto access full-text of age-appropriate, curriculum-related magazine, newspaper and reference contentrelated to current events, the arts, science, health,government, history, sports, etc. Coverage of somemagazine titles begins as early as 1986, but most donot begin until the mid-1990s or later. Its eight-

title reference suite consists of the BlackbirchEncyclopedia of Science and Invention; theBlackbirch Kid’s Almanac of Geography; theBlackbirch Kid’s Visual Reference of the World;Kidsbits; three Junior Worldmark titles -Encyclopedia of the Nations, Encyclopedia of theCanadian Provinces and Encyclopedia of the States;and Merriam Webster’s Elementary Dictionary.

In addition to research materials, KI includesa teacher’s toolbox, which is not linked to in theother databases. The toolbox has links on how tojudge information, the mechanics of writing apaper, citing sources and organizing a report.This information would also be of value to manyjunior and senior high students. The name ofthe section may be misleading – it contains infor-mation you would ordinarily get from a teacher,rather than being for the teacher. The text is inlarge font and easy to read. The dictionary link inthis section indicates that you can search by justtyping the first few letters of a term. This featuredoes not seem to work, however. Typing ‘gir’ or‘dino’ nets zero results, but ‘giraffe’ and ‘dinosaur’both garner brief definitions. Information foundunder ‘help’ is written in language for the higherend of the target audience. Many children wouldneed the help of an adult to understand theseexplanations and instructions.

As mentioned above, IS has a journal list of409 titles versus 152 in IJ and 118 in KI.However, a few titles are unique to each database.For example, Children’s Playmate and Enviromanare in KI but not IS or IJ. Consumer Reports,CosmoGirl!, Field & Stream (West ed.) and GoodHousekeeping are a few of the titles listed in IJ butnot IS. Because of the slight differences in con-tent, there may be occasions when it would beappropriate to use more than one of the databasesto investigate a topic.

Michigan students should be well armed tomeet most of their research challenges this yearthrough these MeL databases.

Preservation Reminders forLibrary Staffby Carol Fink, Assistant Rare Book Librarian, Library of Michigan

Performing simple preservation activities on aregular basis is easier than you might think. Thefollowing list of easy but powerful actions will helppreserve and conserve your library’s collections.

Paper-based materials:

• Encourage stack maintenance personnel toglance at the top and bottom edges ofprinted materials for paper clips, foreignpapers, folded edges, etc., before reshelving.

• Routinely snug-up bookshelves to mini-mize air flow. In case of fire, oxygen in thegaps allows the fire to spread more quickly.

• Remove books by pushing back the bookon both sides of the one you seek andgrasping it around the spine. Comment onhow to remove books from the shelf eachtime you lead a patron to the stacks.

Audiovisual materials:

• Rewind audio and video tapes completelybefore reshelving. In case of disaster, thetape’s leader may be the only portion dam-aged – this part can removed, therebyallowing the tape to still be useful.

• Whenever possible, store audio and videotapes in plastic cases in a separate section ofthe stacks. Plastic is more water-resistantbut burns at a hotter temperature. Morefluid is needed to extinguish burning plas-tic than paper, so mixed materials canresult in far more damage than if kept sepa-rately.

Shelving tips:

• Avoid shelving library materials on the topshelf when a fire suppression system is pres-ent, as they absorb much of the fluidintended to put out the fire below. Also,try to keep the bottom row of paper mate-rials at least four inches from the floor.Accidental floods (water pipe leaks orbreakage) seldom cause deeper water levels.

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Preservation awareness/preparedness:

• Create a written disaster plan and testthe plan to ensure it works smoothly.There are many online and printresources to help draft working plans.Go to www.michigan.gov/hal, thenclick on Services and Collections, thenRare Books to find many resources forpreservation/conservation information.

• Post decorative (colored and/or illus-trated) signs that list preservation activi-ties all employees should follow.Recommendations such as the follow-ing make a great deal of difference toyour collection’s longevity:

• Avoid rubber bands, paper clips,post-it notes and thick inserts.

• Limit food and drink aroundlibrary materials.

• Handle books with care – carry nomore than can easily be supportedwith one arm (frees up the otherhand for opening doors, etc.).Take care to not overload booktrucks (overfiling stresses weldedjoints).

• Place all food wastes in a lidded,communal bin. Ensure this bin isemptied daily and the trashremoved from the building beforethe end of the day.

• Evaluate all cleaning products for com-patibility with library materials. Seewww.nedcc.org/plam3/tleaf43.htm foruseful information and much moreabout preserving library materials.

The Library of Michigan has a unique kitof preservation awareness materials availablethrough interlibrary loan. The FadingMemories kit has many of the tools that bringpreservation awareness to the attention ofpatrons and employees alike. Contact theLibrary of Michigan Interlibrary LoanDepartment at (517) 373-8926 to borrow oneof these kits.

WWWWeb-Sitings by Kyle Ripley, Reference Assistant, Library of Michigan

Digitization, Print and PhotoPreservation

Colorado Digitization Programhttp://www.cdpheritage.org

Digital and Multimedia Center, includingVincent Voice Library (MSU)http://digital.lib.msu.edu

Making of Modern Michiganhttp://mmm.lib.msu.edu

American Memory: Historical Collections forthe National Digital Libraryhttp://memory.loc.gov

ProQuest’s Digital Vault Initiativehttp://www.proquest.com/umi/umi-vault.shtml

Yale University Library Digital Collectionshttp://www.library.yale.edu/libraries/digcoll.html

Canadian Initiative on Digital Librarieshttp://www.nlc-bnc.ca/cidl/inforese.html

Indiana University Digital Library Programhttp://www.dlib.indiana.edu

United States Digital Map Library (USGenWeb Project)http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/maps

A Home to Call Our Own:Michigan State Library, 1961 to 1980by Carol Fink, Assistant Rare Book Librarian, Library ofMichigan.

Following Loleta Fyan’s surprising ouster inMarch of 1961, Governor John B. Swainsonappointed Genevieve M. Casey (1962-1967) to thetop librarian position in the state. It had been 10years since a fire destroyed the State Library’s quar-ters in the Cass Building, and still the library’s col-lections resided in multiple buildings. Two ofGovernor Swainson’s budget recommendations thatyear were for the construction of two buildings –

one that would house the Law Library Division ina new Supreme Court building and the other, anew facility for the State Library. However, yearlyrequests for a new building that could house allthe library’s holdings would not be seriouslyaddressed by the Michigan Legislature for years tocome.

In 1963, a state reorganization moved admin-istration of the State Library from the State Boardfor Libraries (which retained an advisory role) tothe Department of Education. Also in 1963, theDudley Building, formerly the John Deer FarmImplement Company, was remodeled as the newheadquarters for the State Library. In just fourmonth’s time, library staff moved over one millionvolumes into 60,628 feet of floor space.

The first floor of this new location was read-ied to receive materials of the Library for theBlind that previously had been housed in Saginaw.Staff members were able to employ the previoustenant’s 225 feet of conveyor belt to facilitatetransporting materials to the loading dock formailing. Public Act 552 of 1960 had enabled thephysically handicapped to utilize library materialsdesigned for the blind. This generous piece oflegislation increased circulation from 635 items in1960 to 280,347 in 1966/67. The demand forthese materials nearly tripled the number of stafffrom three to 11, and with the assistance of 70volunteers, over 51,000 recordings were made fordistribution.

In conjunction with Western MichiganLibrary School, the State Library sponsored a pro-fessional trainee program allowing any libraryschool student enrolled in a minimum of eighthours per semester at an accredited school to workat the State Library – with the caveat that theywould continue to work at the library for twoyears after graduation.

A study conducted by Nelson Associates, aNew York management consultant firm, investi-gated reference and research resources inMichigan’s academic libraries. Their findingsshowed that though the state of Michigan had aworld-famous collection of resources, it still didnot meet the information needs of its residents.As library allocations amounted to only five centsper capita, the study recommended Michiganlibraries investigate more ways to provide servicescooperatively. In 1965, the State Library beganoffering centralized cataloging to 125 public andschool libraries and distributed over 10 millioncards. A new service in 1967 offered a daily “hot-line” phone call to fourteen community college

libraries. By being the conduit through which col-lege students could obtain specialized materials, theState Library helped college libraries better managetheir budgets by supplying materials readily avail-able in another library.

The battle between public library systems over$2.5 million in penal fines was resolved when theMichigan constitution was rewritten in 1963. Anadditional $1.5 million allocation each year enabledsmall and large public libraries to offer enhancedservices. Though still not complying with theAmerican Library Association’s recommended fairshare, grants to Michigan libraries increased tobetween 30 and 60 cents per capita.

Genevieve Casey resigned in late 1967 to jointhe faculty at Wayne State University in theDepartment of Library Science and in the Center

for Urban Studies. An article in Library Journal1

noted that apparent conflicts with the Departmentof Education caused Casey and five other employ-ees to resign in a six-month period. The turmoilcaused by these rapid departures was tempered bythe appointment of Francis (Frank) X. Scannell asState Librarian. Scannell had left the State Libraryin 1965 to work as head of reference services forMichigan State University and was well known andliked by State Library employees.

House Bill 4920 was passed in 1968, providingfor coordination of local library operations andstrengthening the resources of the State Library tominimize competition with regional libraries.Critics of this bill suggested the State Library justclose its doors to walk-in patrons. To address thatproposal, House Bill 4920 included wording thatprevented the State Library from purchasing generalmaterials and kept the doors open to any visitor.

The 1970s saw more cooperative effortsbetween public and school libraries. In 1972, theState Library instituted a book exchange programthat donated over 20,000 books per year to librariesacross the state. Just one year later, representativesfrom the State Library met with Michigan academicand public library system directors to form theMichigan Library Consortium (MLC).

The search for an adequately designed facilitystill proved elusive through most of the decade.President Nixon’s fund impoundment policiescaused Frank Scannell to remark, “from the ware-

house, to the warehouse, to the poorhouse.”2

The State Library found a staunch friend inSenator William Faust. Senator Faust strongly sup-ported the State Library’s basic need for a properlydesigned, permanent facility in which to reside.8

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His comments, “It’s a good operation. But thefacilities they have to work with are a disgrace

to the state”3 were addressed in the early 1980s.Faust, as Senate majority leader, recommendedin the legislative priorities for 1980 that theState Library transfer from the Department ofEducation to the Michigan Legislature. If thetransfer were approved, the Legislature wouldstrive to reverse the downward spiral in libraryservices and address the deteriorating conditionsin the law library and main library buildings.

History of the Service forthe Blind and PhysicallyHandicappedby Andrew Wilson, SBPH Services and Data Analyst

Library service to the blind began on March3, 1931, as President Herbert Hoover signedinto law the Pratt-Smoot Act, which called for$100,000 to be administered by the Library ofCongress to provide blind adults with books.

Nineteen libraries were chosen across theUnited States to circulate 157 books, whichwere embossed (Braille or Moon type) underthe Books for the Adult Blind Project. Two ofthose libraries were in Michigan – the WayneCounty Library to serve Detroit and WayneCounty and the Michigan State Library for theBlind in Saginaw to serve the rest of the state.

In 1933, the Pratt-Smoot Act was amendedto include talking books, books that wererecorded on vinyl record. Record players need-ed to be purchased by the nearly 80 percent ofthe blind population who could not read Brailleor Moon type, but during the Great Depressionfew blind individuals could afford the recordplayer. In 1935, President Franklin Rooseveltsigned an executive order allowing the Libraryof Congress to build and distribute record play-ers free of charge to those who needed them.

The service continued through the waryears, with unique challenges posed to thoselibrarians serving the blind. The firstConference on Library Services for the Blindwas held in November 1951, which helped solvemany of these challenges. The 1951 conferencealso recommended expanding the service to

children. On July 3, 1952, the Pratt-Smoot Actwas amended, with the word adult removed. By1954, 20 percent of the talking books and Braillebooks being produced were for children.

The 1960s were a decade of change for theBooks for the Blind program. In 1960, open-reelmagnetic tapes were added to the Braille books andtalking books on record that the Library ofCongress provided. In 1963, the Michigan StateLibrary for the Blind was moved from Saginaw toLansing, where it occupied the first floor of theDudley Building on Michigan Avenue. In 1966,President Lyndon Johnson signed Public Law 89-522, which expanded the program to serve individ-uals who were physically unable to read or handlestandard printed materials. By 1968, flexible discswere introduced to replace the bulky and heavyrigid vinyl records, and 1968 also saw the changefrom open-reel cassettes to standard cassette tapes.

In the 1970s the Michigan State Library for theBlind program expanded with the development ofsubregional libraries, local libraries designated toprovide library service to the blind and handi-capped in a specified part of the regional library’sservice area. Two subregional libraries opened in1972 – the Grand Traverse Area Library for theBlind and Physically Handicapped, which servedeight counties in northern Michigan, and theWashtenaw County Library for the Blind andPhysically Handicapped, serving Livingston andWashtenaw counties. Eight more subregionalsopened across the state between 1973 and 1979.

In 1977, the National Library Service for theBlind and Physically Handicapped instituted achange in the cassette format. The books on cas-sette began to be recorded at a slower speed (15/16)and use four-track recording, enabling six hours ofa book to be recorded on one 90-minute cassettetape.

The Easy Cassette player was introduced in the1980s. Designed for people who had difficultyoperating the standard four-track cassette player, theEasy Cassette player featured automatic playbackonce the cassette was inserted.

Three more subregional libraries opened in the1980s, one to serve downtown Detroit, one to serveMacomb County and one to serve five counties insouthwest Michigan.

Two advances for patrons were made in the1980s. The first In-WATS line was established in1983 to allow patrons to contact the Library ofMichigan Service for the Blind and Physically

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Handicapped (SBPH) 24 hours a day, seven daysa week. In 1989, the Library of Michigan SBPHreceived its first piece of adaptive technologywhen Consumers Power Company donated aKurzweil Reading Machine. This allowed patronsto scan documents, which were then read back bya computerized voice.

In 1990 the Library of Michigan SBPH creat-ed the Audio Materials Production Center, whichserves as a focal point for the volunteer narrationprogram. This program records materials notavailable through the National Library Service andconcentrates on Michigan-related books and top-ics.

Two subregional libraries closed in 1990, theSouthwest Michigan Library for the Blind andPhysically Handicapped in Portage and theWillard Library for the Blind and PhysicallyHandicapped in Battle Creek. The patrons in theten counties served by these libraries had theirtalking book and Braille service transferred to theregional library in Lansing.

Library of Michigan Foundation funds wereused to purchase a collection of descriptive video-cassettes in 1996. The described video collectionfeatures popular major motion pictures, with anarrator who describes the visual elements of amovie so that individuals with little to no visioncan enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters.

Currently the Library of Michigan Service forthe Blind and Physically Handicapped is awaitingthe release of digital talking books from theNational Library Service, which will allow the userto jump to a specific section of a book withouthaving to fast forward and rewind. Planned forrelease in 2008, digital talking books will besmaller yet will have more information than canfit on a four-track cassette.

Michigan Center for theBook Takes Part in NationalBook Festival

by Casey Kremers, Department of History, Arts and Libraries

The Michigan Center for the Book and itsaffiliates participated in the October 4 NationalBook Festival on the National Mall in Washington,D.C. Hosted by First Lady Laura Bush, the thirdannual National Book Festival was organized andsponsored by the Library of Congress.

As part of the festival’s Pavilion of the States, anexhibit of staffed information tables on reading andliteracy programs and events from around the coun-try, the Michigan Center for the Book promotedthe rich literary and cultural heritage of Michiganby providing materials about Michigan authors,Michigan books for children and young adults, theRead Michigan program and Michigan history.Thanks to Travel Michigan and the Department ofTransportation, the center’s display also promotedMichigan tourism by featuring the Michigan TravelIdeas magazine and Michigan state maps.

The National Book Festival—a celebration ofbooks, reading and creativity—featured over 80award-winning authors, illustrators, poets and sto-rytellers for the public to meet. Programs will becybercast at the Library of Congress Web site atwww.loc.gov/bookfest.

The Michigan Center for the Book’s affiliatesinclude Baldwin Public Library, Brighton DistrictLibrary, Canton Public Library, Clinton-MacombPublic Library, Genesee District Library System,Grand Rapids Public Library, Hackley PublicLibrary, Hamburg Township Library, HerrickDistrict Library, Kalamazoo College UpjohnLibrary, Madonna University Library, MacombCommunity College Library, Mott CommunityCollege Library, Novi Public Library, Oak ParkPublic Library, Peter White Public Library,Plymouth District Library, Saginaw Valley StateUniversity Library, Southfield Public Library andWest Bloomfield Township Public Library.

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published it himself after failing to find a publisherand how he landed a three-book deal from a majorpublisher. He also discussed his visit to Greenlandto do research for his third book and how helearned to ice sail from a world champion iceboatpilot. The audience was enthusiastic and thorough-ly enjoyed the oft-humorous program by thisUniversity of Michigan graduate. One audiencemember stated that she enjoyed the presentation somuch she could have listened to Grace for anothertwo hours.

The event was funded in part by a grant fromthe Michigan Council of Arts and Cultural Affairsand the National Endowment for the Arts as part ofthe Art Adventure program. The Michigan Centerfor the Book and the Alpena County Library aresponsoring Art Adventure in an effort to foster agreater appreciation of literature, art and illustrationin Michigan’s smaller communities.

Fremont Area DistrictLibrary Hot TitlesNewsletter

For the past year, the Fremont Area DistrictLibrary has provided its patrons with a monthlye-mail newsletter called Hot Titles. The newslet-ter contains a list of bestsellers, book club picksand future releases. Currently the e-mail list hasover 60 subscribers, an astounding number for alibrary serving a population of 13,000. Patronscan sign up for the list using a form on thelibrary’s Web page(http://fremontlibrary.net/Reference/hottitles.html) or by filling out a paper subscription formin the library.

The intention of the newsletter is to notifypatrons of new and popular books that thelibrary has, as well as to let them know when abook by a prominent author is released. Patronscan then place themselves on the waiting list forthe books that they want instead of waiting forthe books to spend some time on the libraryshelves.

Best-SellingAuthor TomGrace VisitsEau ClaireDistrictLibrary

The Southwest Michigan LibraryCooperative awarded a grant to the Eau ClaireDistrict Library to bring best-selling authorTom Grace to visit recently. This was the firstadult program held in the library’s newly com-pleted community room. Grace spoke abouthow he came to write his first novel, how he

2003 Access Team: Back row - Kyle Ripley, TimWatters, Casey Kremers, Jo Budler, Linda Neely,Andrew Wilson, front row - Becky Cawley andKarrie Waarala. Not pictured, Marnie Elden andJennifer Houseman.

If you have anews item youwould like tocontribute, please contactCasey Kremers at517-373-5578 oremail: ckremers@michi-gan.gov.

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Would you like to receiveAccess ?Return this form to: Jennifer Houseman

Department of History, Arts and Libraries

P.O. Box 30007 Lansing, MI 48909

Name

Position

Company

Business Address

City State Zip

Library of MichiganState LibrarianChristie Pearson Brandau

Deputy State Librarian, Statewide OperationsJo Budler

Deputy State Librarian, Internal OperationsNancy Robertson

Graphic Design/LayoutMarnie M. Elden

Contributing Writers:Christie Pearson Brandau, Jo Budler, Carol Fink,Casey Kremers, Sarah Lapshan, Janice Murphy,Tamara Real, Kyle Ripley, Brian Saad, AndrewWilson

Library of Michigan Board of TrusteesWilliam Anderson, Director of HAL; ChristiePearson Brandau, State Librarian; Senator IrmaClark-Coleman, Elaine Didier; Thomas Genson;Senator Tom George, Bettina Graber; Cliff Haka;Representative Kathleen Law, Gayle Spearman-Leach, Elaine Logan; Representative Mike Nofs,Frances Pletz; Chief Justice Maura Corrigan repre-sented by Barbara Bonge

Library of Michigan Foundation Executive DirectorJudith Moore

Foundation Board of DirectorsAlbert F. Zehnder, President; Carl English, VicePresident; J. Lawrence Lipton, Treasurer; ChristiePearson Brandau, State Librarian; Glen L. Bachelder;Mark Hoffman; Mary McCormack; Thomas J. Moore;Tiffany L. Patzer; Frances H. Pletz; Gail Powers-Schaub;David A. Spencer, Ed.D.;Tim Swope, David Tate andHonorary Members: Michelle Engler - Former First Lady;Frank D. Stella; Richard D. McLellan, EmeritusFounding President

The Library of Michigan is part of the Department ofHistory, Arts and Libraries. Dedicated to enriching thequality of life for Michigan residents by providing access toinformation, preserving and promoting Michigan’s heritage, and fostering cultural creativity, the departmentalso includes the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, theMichigan Film Office and the Michigan Historical Center.

This publication is available in an alternative format: Braille or audio cassette. Please call 517-373-5614 for more information.

Department DirectorDr. William M. Anderson

Deputy DirectorMark HoffmanAccess (ISSN 1051-0818) publishes information aboutthe Library of Michigan and its activities plus othermaterials of interest to the Michigan library communi-ty. Please direct comments or questions to:Casey Kremers, Communications SpecialistDept. of History, Arts and LibrariesP.O. Box 30738 • Lansing, MI 48909Phone 517-373-5578 or fax 517-373-5700TTY: 517-373-1592 or the Michigan Relay Center: 1-800-649-3777

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November Access 2003