As merger discussions continue between MLC and INCOLSA, we expect to convene a membership meeting to approve the merger before the end of the year. The merger design team has been meeting regularly since July and expects to complete its work by November 12, when a Memoradum of Understanding (MOU) will be crafted. The MOU …Read more »

Merger negotiations between MLC and INCOLSA continue. The merger design team has met three times, and the next meeting will be September 29 in Fort Wayne. We plan to give an update about the merger at the MLC Annual Meeting on October 2. Representatives from INCOLSA will be on hand to talk about their organization …Read more »

Today MLC and INCOLSA jointly issued this press release: Lansing, MI – August 12, 2009 – Building on the collaborative relationship of the past year, the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC) and INCOLSA, Inc., announced that they have entered into a formal investigation to merge the two organizations. A merger design team consisting of MLC Executive …Read more »

Congratulations to Capital Area District Library staff for receiving an Honorary Mention in OverDrive’s recent outreach program contest. CADL’s ambitious Literature & Lyrics promotion employed a mix of media from in-library signage, to Facebook and MySpace pages, to ads on local TV stations, all directing the public to CADL’s downloadable media page. There, users could …Read more »

Michigan lost one of the giants of our profession when Dick Chapin passed away on July 30. Dick was director of the MSU library for nearly 30 years and moved it into the top tier of research libraries in the country. But not only was he a top-notch academic library director, Dick was a visionary …Read more »

MLC and INCOLSA have engaged a merger consultant, FIO Partners, to work with the boards and staffs to determine whether it is in the best interests of each organization to merge operations. Our first meeting with Jane Arsenault, the lead consultant for FIO Partners, is scheduled for July 29. We expect to have more information …Read more »

MLC’s Preservation Conference on June 4-5, 2009, will feature a number of vendors who have experience working with libraries on physical preservation projects. National Archives Publishing Company Preservation Technologies The HF Group Gaylord BMSCat Belfor Property Restoration There is still time to register for this two-day conference.  See MLC’s Preservation Conference Registration page for details …Read more »

Kevin Driedger of the Library of Michigan will speak on “Socially Networked Preservation” at MLC’s Preservation Conference on June 4-5, 2009, at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Kevin will examine how the library preservation community is currently making use of social networking, or web 2.0, technologies such as blogs and wikis. He will …Read more »

We are so pleased to announce that Ruth is MLA’s 2009 Librarian of the year! The letter from the MLA awards committee cited Ruth’s outstanding achievements over her years of providing service to Michigan libraries. In her award letter, Kristen Valyi-Hax, Awards Committee chair, wrote, “We appreciate your hard work and dedication on behalf of …Read more »

MLC was delighted to host staff members’ daughters.