December 11, 2001

The Library of Michigan today announced grant awards for the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) fiscal year 2002 grant program. The Library of Michigan is the state administrative agency for LSTA and as such, processes over $4.6 million annually to benefit Michigan libraries and the populations they serve.

Twenty projects statewide will receive $1,452,683 in LSTA funding. Coupled with a 25 percent match requirement in the "collaboration and partnership" funding area, the total amount to be spent on these projects is $1,513,258. This cash match requirement leverages the LSTA dollars so that a greater number of local library projects may receive funding.

Any remaining LSTA funds received by Michigan are spent on statewide projects such as AccessMichigan. Visit http://www.accessmichigan.org/ for details on the core set of information resources such as e-books and online databases that AccessMichigan provides free of charge to every citizen in Michigan.

The LSTA program was enacted in September of 1996, as a continuation of the former Library Services and Construction Act. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administer the LSTA program on the federal level.

The Library of Michigan is part of the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, whose mission is to enrich the quality of life for Michigan residents by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage, and fostering cultural creativity.

Southeast | Upper Peninsula | Northwest | West | Mid/Central | Tri-City Area

Southeast Michigan

Grantee: Detroit Public Library (Detroit)
Funding Area: Library Services to the Underserved
Name of Project: Wireless Access on Wheels
Award Amount: $145,000
Project Goal(s): Make available a mobile wireless library to residents in areas of Detroit that are being underserved by current library services. The funds granted by LSTA will provide state-of-the-art access, materials and training for information technology to underserved customers. It is not acceptable for the children in elementary and middle schools that have no library, learning, or media resource centers to grow up without experiencing the library as part of the educational process. DPL is committed to bridging the digital divide and fostering innovation and technological improvements in our service delivery.

Grantee: Novi Public Library
Funding Area: Library Services to the Underserved
Name of Project: Tune In, Log On, Reach Out: Enhancing Specialized Library Services
Award Amount: $23,495
Project Goal(s): "Tune In, Log On, Reach Out" seeks to expand a successful Internet training program for senior citizens, enhance access to electronic resources, including the online catalog, for outreach patrons; and increase accessibility for persons with hearing impairments.

Grantee: Waterford Township Public Library (Waterford)
Funding Area: Collaboration and Partnership
Name of Project: Waterford Information Network Website
Award Amount: $24,396 (total project cost: $32,528)
Project Goal(s): Fully develop the Waterford Information Network website using the pilot project conducted during 2000 by the Waterford Public Library through the cooperation of the Waterford Library, the Media Network community access cable agency, and the Waterford Cultural Council. This will be a community-wide source of information for organizations, agencies, and service groups in Waterford Township.

Grantee: Oakland County Library (Pontiac)
Funding Area: Library Services to the Underserved
Name of Project: Supporting ESL Instruction/ELLIS & Libraries
Award Amount: $50,705
Project Goal(s): Improve the quality of life on non-English speaking residents of Oakland County; Support ESL students by establishing a network of libraries offering access to ELLIS (English Language Learning and Instruction System) software. Individuals will be able to access this tool without cost at various geographical locations throughout the county.

Grantee: Southfield Public Library (Southfield)
Funding Area: Technology and Networking
Name of Project: Wireless Computer Lab
Award Amount: $37,023
Project Goal(s): Provide "hands-on" computer training to the patrons of the Southfield Public Library. This supports the core value of the Southfield Public Library to meet the current needs of our community and anticipate future needs. This goal also supports the mission of the Technology Department to provide technology, which educates, informs and empowers Southfield residents.

Grantee: OWLS Region of Cooperation (Southgate)
Funding Area: Technology and Networking
Name of Project: Michigan Library Exchange (MiLE): The Next Steps
Award Amount: $100,000
Project Goal(s): 1) Share resources in southeastern Michigan, building upon existing resource sharing practices; 2) Provide a quicker and more efficient way to share holdings and availability information; 3) Provide patrons with the ability to initiate interlibrary loan requests on their own; 4) Provide for the delivery of requested materials into the hands of patrons more quickly; and 5) Develop a prototype system that would provide the above and provide a forum to address issues related to the internal library policies and procedures required for such a system to be successful.

Grantee: Brighton District Library (Brighton)
Funding Area: Collaboration and Partnership
Name of Project: Wireless Community Computer Training Lab
Award Amount: 34,050 (total project cost: $45,400)
Project Goal(s): 1) Target groups, primarily the elderly, that have been excluded and/or have limited access to technology, 2) Train target group to be knowledgeable, informed users of information sources, not merely skilled at using computers, 3) Provide computer technology training and assistance to the community regardless of physical location or limitation.

Upper Peninsula

Grantee: Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation, Inc. (Marquette)
Funding Area: Collaboration and Partnership
Name of Project: Upper Peninsula Resource Exchange and Delivery System
Award Amount: $79,900 (total project cost: $106,534)
Project Goal(s): UPRLC will establish a Peninsula-wide courier delivery system that will increase interlibrary loan between 33 multitype libraries and 5 schools on a REMC bus route. Seven public libraries that share an automated circulation system will allow patrons to place their own holds on all seven collections in a pilot project that will reduce staff time in the interloan process and make delivery to the end user faster and more accurate. U.P. multitype libraries will begin to interloan traditional non-print A-V materials and will develop shared collections to meet consumer demand for new media formats: e-books, DVDs, and CD audio books.

Grantee: Mid-Peninsula Library Cooperative (Kingsford)
Funding Area: Library Services to the Underserved
Name of Project: Automated software replacement and union catalog development
Award Amount: $46,547
Project Goal(s): The goal of the project is two-fold: To sustain and enhance automated services to the local citizens and multi-type libraries and agencies of each participating library's local community of users; and To provide citizens and multi-type libraries and other agencies in the Upper Peninsula region with up-to-date and expanded records for resource sharing through the Upper Peninsula Regional Online Catalog.

Northwest Michigan

Grantee: Mancelona Township Library (Mancelona)
Funding Area: Technology and Networking
Name of Project: Automation Sensation
Award Amount: $12,466
Project Goal(s): Provide patrons the necessary assistance to find and make effective use of information; improve the efficiency of staff effort; maintain accurate records of overdue materials to keep books circulating in a timely manner; provide a severely understaffed library with the means to serve the public with greater efficiency and effectiveness; improve the weeding process to maintain the collection.

Grantee: Hart Area Public Library (Hart)
Funding Area: Technology and Networking
Name of Project: Information Access: The Gateway to Our Future
Award Amount: $17,000
Project Goal(s): 1) meet the information needs of the residents of Oceana County by providing remote access to the library catalog and other statewide and local online resources; 2) improve regional and statewide interlibrary loan capabilities by adding the holdings of the Hart Area Public Library to the union catalog maintained by the Mid-Michigan Library League.

West Michigan

Grantee: Kent District Library (Comstock Park)
Funding Area: Collaboration and Partnership
Name of Project: Family Reading Festival
Award Amount: $14,629 (total project cost: $19,522)
Project Goal(s): Promote family literacy through a one-day Family Reading Festival in collaboration with community agencies and cultural organizations. Families in three underserved populations: 1) low-literate parents of young children who are current participants in the Kent County Literacy Council programs, 2) parents whose primary language is Spanish, and 3) children from families with income below the poverty line in the Kent County Head Start Program, will become more aware of library programs and services.

Grantee: Kalamazoo Public Library (Kalamazoo)
Funding Area: Library Services to the Underserved
Name of Project: Prime Time Family Reading Time
Award Amount: $13,663
Project Goal(s): Through the production of two six-week Prime Time Family Reading Time program series, increase the family literacy orientation of 40 at-risk families and engage them as library users. This is an intergenerational, family-focused literacy program developed by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

Mid/Central Michigan

Grantee: Wheatland Township Library (Remus)
Funding Area: Library Services to the Underserved
Name of Project: Empowerment through Technology
Award Amount: $10,185
Project Goal(s): Empower rural underserved residents by providing access to information and technological skills; Install public access computer equipment and provide training for the community.

Grantee: Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) (Lansing)
Funding Area: Collaboration and Partnership
Name of Project: Michigan Authors and Illustrators Database
Award Amount: $10,000 (total project cost: $13,333+)
Project Goal(s): 1) Provide a database of Michigan authors and illustrators to all ages of Michigan's residents that is easily accessible and free to all users; 2) Provide a database that will assist librarians in collection development, program planning, and patron service; 3) Include a retrospective of MAME's Michigan Authors, 1960, 1980, and 1993; 4) Maintain the database's currency through annual updates by MAME data entry members.

Grantee: Michigan State University Libraries (East Lansing)
Funding Area: Technology and Networking
Name of Project: InMICH II: Extending Access
Award Amount: $650,000
Project Goal(s): Build upon the InMICH I project, which showed the feasibility of a multitype library union catalog in Michigan. The new goals are: 1) make the InMICH consortium financially viable by buying the software; 2) make it possible for libraries not using Innovative Interfaces to participate seamlessly and cost-effectively by implementing NCIP protocols and by capturing and forwarding a search; 3) increase InMICH participation by at least doubling the number of libraries from 6 to 12 and to expand geographic coverage, including the upper peninsula, while maintaining the multitype nature of the union catalog.

Tri-City Area

Grantee: Flint Public Library (Flint)
Funding Area: Technology and Networking
Name of Project: Training Lab Upgrade and "Your Digital Library" Training
Award Amount: $31,750
Project Goal(s): Upgrade the computers in the library's Internet training lab to support the library's current training activities; Design and implement additional training ("Your Digital Library") for the public on the use of the library's online resources, including the web-based catalog, e-reference service, AccessMichigan databases, and MEL e-books.

Grantee: Flint Public Library (Flint)
Funding Area: Library Services to the Underserved
Name of Project: Begin With Books
Award Amount: $33,124
Project Goal(s): "Begin with Books" will enhance the parent-child reading activities of at-risk pre-kindergarten children through demonstrating the use of books with children with the express aim of having a positive impact on the child's language development, readiness for kindergarten, and the parent/caregiver and child relationship. The Flint Public Library will hire and train 30 storytellers from the ranks of the target population (single parents, the unemployed, families below the poverty line) who will then spend 10 weeks telling stories to preschool children at school or community sites.

Grantee: Public Libraries of Saginaw (Saginaw)
Funding Area: Collaboration and Partnership
Name of Project: Saginaw Calendar Connection
Award Amount: $18,750 (total project cost: $25,000)
Project Goal(s): Improve access to information about community services and events in Saginaw County, with the ultimate aim to improve awareness and use of community services and events, particularly by low-income families. Partner with city, county, school district and human service agencies.

Grantee: White Pine Library Cooperative & Mideastern Michigan Library Cooperative (Saginaw)
Funding Area: Technology and Networking
Name of Project: Next MILE: Connecting libraries of Eastern and Central Michigan
Award Amount: $100,000
Project Goal(s): Combine 29 individual school and public libraries' holdings into a web-accessible shared catalog; Link the shared catalog with 4 other online catalogs for school, academic, and public libraries via a Z39.50 interface so that the combined holdings of 123 library locations in eastern and central Michigan are made available to all citizens at home or in the library; Evaluate and report on the impact of broadened access in terms of increased interloan activity, cost savings to libraries and cooperatives, and shared catalog maintenance operations.

Updated 11/25/2009