On April 23, the Canton Public Library launched a new blog at www.cantonpl.org/blog. To encourage a sense of community, the blog extends Canton’s “library as place” to provide an online space for library patrons to gather and explore and to share ideas and resources. The initial post invites the public to comment, saying, “We’ll feature …Read more »

Please see below for a call for papers for the Model T Conference to be held at the Henry Ford in Dearborn next year. Sounds like it might be a good opportunity for some Michigan libraries to publicize their automotive collections and digitization projects! The World of the Model T Conference July 17-19, 2008 Dearborn …Read more »

In honor of National Library Week 2007, Thomson Gale is launching librareo, an online community for libraries and the people who love them. To start off the project with a big splash, librareo is hosting an “I Love My Library” video contest. The top prize is $10,000 to be split equally between the videomakers and …Read more »

The Library of Congress (LC) has awarded the Washtenaw County Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (LBPD) the first annual Network Subregional Library of the Year Award. Congratulations to librarians Margaret Wolfe and Mary Udoji! LC’s National Library Service Director Frank Kurt Cylke said that the library has “demonstrated excellence as regional and subregional …Read more »

Kevin Driedger taught a book repair workshop at MLC last week. Additional photos of the workshop are available on MLC’s Flickr page. Check out Kevin’s Library Preservation blog too! Thanks for another great workshop, Kevin!

Mary Minow posted “Do Michiganders have a state constitutional right to library cards?” on the Library Law Blog.  See also WOOD TV story about the Goldstone v. Bloomfield Township Public LIbrary case to be heard by the Michigan Supreme Court today.

You will need a Flickr account to participate in the 365 Library Days Project. For those of you who do not yet have Flickr accounts, MLC has posted a PowerPoint presentation on our Web 2.0 Tools web page with step-by-step information on how to set up a Flickr account. Go to: http://mlcnet.org/cms/sitem.cfm/library_tools/web_2.0/ Update on the …Read more »

Libraryman, Michael Porter, launched the 365 Library Days Project on April 8. See his blog for details. Michael encourages libraries to sign up for the 365 Library Days Project. Participating libraries agree to upload 365 pictures from in, around or about their libraries and to tag: 365libs. He writes, “Just imagine what a valuable historic …Read more »

The Michigan Supreme Court will hear arguments tomorrow in the case, Goldstone v. Bloomfield Township Public Library.  See articles in Battle Creek Enquirer and Detroit Free Press. The case involves the question of borrowing public library materials by non-residents. For further information, see MLA’s PPC web page.

Stanford’s Copyright Renewal Database is now searchable online at: http://collections.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals/bin/search/simple The database covers the copyright renewal records received by the US Copyright Office between 1950 and 1993 for books published in the US between 1923 and 1963. Note that the database includes ONLY US Class A (book) renewals. The welcome page notes: “The period from …Read more »