A lot happens in Michigan's state and local libraries, much of which apparently is taken for granted, undervalued and misunderstood by state leaders.
It's the only way to explain Gov. Jennifer Granholm's misguided Executive Order 2009-36 that would irreparably damage the Library of Michigan and its invaluable historical collections forever in an attempt to save $2 million and start a more "entrepreneurial" and "modern" Center for Innovation and Redesign.
The people of Michigan stand to lose their public libraries as they know them if the state House votes next week to approve Granholm's July 13 executive order without making very clear that they must remain whole and intact.
The order calls for eliminating the Department of History, Arts and Libraries, and relocating the state library and its holdings from the Library of Michigan building in downtown Lansing to Michigan State University and other locations. The order also establishes a board to examine establishing the new center.
The order ignited loud protest from genealogists, researchers and library advocates.
Granholm has since issued an executive directive to reassure library advocates that electronic databases, the state's electronic library and catalogue system and historical collection would remain open and accessible statewide. She also said the role of the state librarian would be "respected" and that librarians, historians and archivists would be sought to serve on the Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention Board.
It is yet unclear, however, whether the Library of Michigan's collections will remain whole and intact. The Center for Innovation and Reinvention proposal also needs more public scrutiny before the library is relocated. The Senate voted last week to disapprove the executive order and to keep the collections intact, but library advocates fear that won't stand up.
The center, at present, is little more than a lofty proposal prepared for Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon by the Liberty Science Center, which opened New Jersey's first major state science museum in 1993 in Jersey City. The 42-page report contains little detail about cost and who will pay for it, but it does include redesign drawings of the Library of Michigan building.
Indeed, the proposal makes the executive order look more like a ploy to find a home for the center than to save the state $2 million.
The state library and its collections are a state treasure. The Library of Michigan was founded in 1828 when Michigan was still a territory. It plays an important role today in assisting public libraries in outstate communities, colleges and schools. This role has become increasingly important in the age of the Internet, chainsawed state budgets and high unemployment.
Trading it in for a new model still in the design process would be a tragic move.
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