Michigan Governor Proposes Killing Department of History, Arts, & Libraries, Dropping State Librarian

Functions would go to Department of Education; Library of Michigan might move to university

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 7/14/2009

• Would save $2 million in first year
• Michigan Library Association warns of shortsightedness
• Legislature has 60 days to divide

Aiming to consolidate government during lean times, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has proposed eliminating the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries via executive order, transferring most Library of Michigan functions to the Department of Education, abolishing the position of State Librarian, and downgrading certain library services, including circulation and interlibrary loan of state materials.

The Library of Michigan, a major component of the department,would be split up. Granholm’s order, which Crain’s Detroit Business estimated would save about $2 million in the first year, also includes conceptual plans for a Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention (MCIR) in downtown Lansing, including “a transformed Michigan Library and Historical Center." A report on that possibility is not due until June 1, 2010.

MLA response
The state legislature has 60 days to approve or disapprove the executive order, according to Gretchen Couraud, executive director of the Michigan Library Association (MLA). While the MLA has not yet taken a position on Granholm’s announcement, Couraud noted that elements are counter to the association’s policy position, which calls for library functions to be kept whole and that the State Librarian position be retained. 

Couraud said that, while the library community was open to belt-tightening, the governor’s proposal was shortsighted. “The Library of Michigan is the only state agency that has had the vision, and succeeded, in moving the state forward to a knowledge-based economy with digital information and group purchasing,” she said.

She said that Library of Michigan saved taxpayers $72 million, if the $3.9 million spent on the Michigan eLibrary were compared to the cost of every library in the state purchasing databases independently.

The state Senate will hold a hearing Wednesday on legislation to keep the library functions whole and move them to the Secretary of State’s office, Couraud said, indicating that the future direction of state library services remains unresolved.

From the order
According to Granholm's order, the Department of Education’s Superintendent of Public Instruction “shall implement cost-saving measures designed to reduce expenditures while protecting the core mission of the library.” Unless determined to be impracticable, the measures shall include, but not be limited to:

• eliminating circulation of specific collections (including, but not limited to, the Main, Dewey, and General Reference Collections, the Michigan collection, the Michigan Documents collection, and the Rare Book collection) or, alternatively, transferring such collections to other suitable institutions
• eliminating circulation and document delivery for the law collection
• suspending or eliminating participation as a participating lending library in MeLCat (the statewide ILL system)

Also, library services for the blind and physically handicapped would be moved to the Michigan Commission for the Blind. 

Innovation plan
Also, the governor announced a “conceptual plan” for a Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention in downtown Lansing “that would help equip Michigan citizens for the knowledge-based economy through entrepreneurial and innovative programs.” 

A board would examine the establishment of “the new center that would be a transformed Michigan Library and Historical Center through a partnership with Michigan State University, the city of Lansing and other appropriate public and private partners.”

There’s no funding, however, attached to it. “All we know is what you’ve seen—they’re planning on appointing a board,” Couraud said.

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