Archive for April, 2009
James Craven of the University of Michigan, our featured dinner speaker at the MLC Preservation conference on June 4, will entertain conference attendees with stories of three unique projects: the restoration of the Book of Martyrs, 1563, the conservation of a 1664 map of Brazil, and the unfolding and conservation of a 1447 parchment belonging to the Special Collections Library, a transfer of property by King Charles of France.
For detailed information on the two-day Preservation Conference, and to register online, see MLC’s Workshop Registration page: https://members.mlcnet.org/workshops/viewcourse.html?id=197
Please contact Heather Thomas at MLC (800-530-9019 x133) with questions or for assistance with registration.
April 24th, 2009
MLC was delighted to host staff members’ daughters.
April 23rd, 2009
Please use this FAX number to reach MLC: 517-492-3808 Due to circumstances out of our control our main fax number is out of order. Service should be restored to our regular number by May 8th. Additionally, the new number will remain in service permanently.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
April 23rd, 2009
Our luncheon speaker at MLC’s Preservation Conference on June 5 will be Nancy Kraft of the University of Iowa. Nancy’s talk, “Disaster Response and Recovery: A Tale of Two Rivers,” will be the closing presentation at our two-day conference.
The Cedar River runs through Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In early June 2008, the river came up fast and ugly, going way beyond the 500 year flood plain, more than 12 feet over the projected flood level, exceeding all past records. On the plus side, the water receded rapidly allowing disaster response efforts to begin within a few days after the event. The Iowa River runs through The University of Iowa. The Iowa River rose slowly, allowing staff time to prepare. It, too, exceeded all previous records but did not get as high as projected. The Iowa River went down slowly. Nancy E Kraft, Preservation Librarian, from the University of Iowa Libraries will discuss how staff coped with the flooding to salvage library and museum resources.
For more information on the Preservation Conference and to register online, go to MLC’s Workshop Registration page: https://members.mlcnet.org/workshops/viewcourse.html?id=197
April 21st, 2009
Diane McKee from Howell Carnegie Library kindly gave permission for me to post these photos of Richard Douglass speaking at the Beginning Workshop in 1987.
April 14th, 2009
This past week on the michlib-l listserv, it seems fitting – and a little ironic – that the posts were about either Richard Douglass or AV lending. In the 1980’s, Richard Douglass was the driving force behind Michigan libraries buying videos to lend to their patrons.
Hard to believe today but when videos first became available, libraries did not rush out to buy videos to add to their lending collections. With the exception of Richard Douglass at the Ingham County Library, most public libraries were opposed to starting library video collections for a variety of reasons – too expensive, patrons will damage them, don’t want to compete with video stores, our patrons don’t want videos and will never buy home VCRs – the list goes on. Undaunted, Richard Douglass traveled around the state to encourage Michigan public libraries to start video collections. And, once he had convinced libraries that the world would not end if they bought videos, he started his second crusade – to get libraries to move beyond instructional and G-rated videos. I believe many Michigan library staff would agree that the best, most enjoyable, and informative programs at any Michigan library conference were the lively and hilarious movies-and-books selection sessions put on by Richard Douglass and Melissa Barnard.
Richard felt strongly about Michigan residents’ access to a wide variety of movies from their local libraries. One of his favorite stories was of the family who checked out “Wild Strawberries” and “Police Academy” for a home movie night and who returned them the next day saying that they loved them both and wanted more of the same. I don’t know what Richard recommended for a follow-up “more of the same,” but I’m sure he came up with something.
On a personal note, I was lucky enough to get to co-present with Richard at Beginning Workshops and other programs around the state when I was just starting out at the Library of Michigan in the early 80s. My first public speaking experiences were road shows with Richard, and I owe my speaking style to him. He was a wonderful mentor to me and taught me to respect the work that public library staff do every day for their communities. Richard was a terrific asset to Michigan public libraries, and his untimely death last week at age 65 is a loss to us all. I will miss him greatly.
April 14th, 2009
