Many of us have Michigan connections. Please help by send emails as listed below. Also, please feel free to forward this email to any other and all other genealogical groups you are part of. Hi Everyone: Michigan needs your help!!! I am forwarding the messages from the Michigan Genealogical Council. Please, if you have any interest in preserving Michigan's history, please follow the steps indicated below. The first message is for out-of-state residents. The second is for in-state residents. The third section describes in more detail what is happening in Michigan. The fourth section explains why the Michigan Genealogical Council is against the executive order. Thanks! Kim ____________________________________________________________________ OUT OF STATE RESIDENTS: Thank you for your message regarding our fight to keep the Library of Michigan's collection intact. All voices matter. We would suggest that you contact Governor Jennifer Granholm and urge her to rethink her decision to split the collection. You may wish to remind her that people from out-of-state travel to Lansing to use the library and its fabulous collection. To reach the Governor's office, you can visit her website at www.michigan.gov/gov. On that page there is a link to the Contact the Governor page. We would also encourage you to contact Senator Jason Allen, Majority Caucus Whip, Legislative Council and Commerce and Tourism Committee. This is where SB518 is currently being considered. This bill would alter the Executive Order and save the Library. The senator's e-mail is senjallen@senatemichigan.gov. Please share this with anyone who would like to give their support to our cause. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Cynthia Grostick, President Michigan Genealogical Council _____________________________________________________________ IN MICHIGAN RESIDENTS: The Council would like to encourage everyone to contact their legislators (in person, by phone, or by mail - snail mail is more effective) to help save one of our most valuable resources. For a listing of Michigan legislators, you can visit the following website: House (http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp) and Senate (http://senate.michigan.gov/SenatorInfo/find-your-senator.htm) __________________________________________________________________ FROM THE MICHIGAN GENEALOGICAL COUNCIL PUBLIC RELEASE july 15, 2009 To Whom It May Concern: As you may be aware, Michigan is facing a huge financial crisis. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm issued Executive Order 2009-36 dissolving the Department of History, Arts & Libraries and splitting the various functions between various other state departments. The Library of Michigan would be transferred to the Department of Education, and the Archives of Michigan would be transferred to the Department of Natural Resources. This order would take effect October 1, 2009. What is of concern is Section B (8) of the Executive Order that states: "Unless the Superintendent finds it impracticable, these measures shall include, but not limited to, all of the following: (a) 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, . . . (c) Suspending or eliminating participation as a participating lending library in MeLCat, (d) Eliminating or transferring to other suitable institutions the Federal Documents Depository and the non-Michigan genealogy collection." The Executive Order directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction to continue to look for ways to reduce library costs. Also in the Executive Order is the formation of a committee to look at how to further reduce costs for the next fiscal year. The Executive Order can be reviewed at: http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21975---,00.html In response to the Executive Order, ten (10) Michigan senators have introduced bills (SB 503 - SB 527) transferring all functions of the Department of History, Arts & Libraries to the Department of State. This would include a separate pot of money from the general fund, held by the Department of Treasury, for any donations. The donations that are not spent at the end of the fiscal year remain in the account and are not transferred to the general fund. These bills are currently in a Senate subcommittee. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2009-2010/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/20 09-SFA-0503-S.pdf . ________________________________________________________________________ While the Michigan Genealogical Council understands the crises the state is in financially, we feel that breaking up the collection at the Library, which has items dating back to the 1800s, is not the answer. Once this collection is gone, there is no going back. This would be a great loss to the citizens of this state as well as those that come to our state to use this collection. This would also be a blow to all public libraries, as they receive part of their funding from the library and have access to MeLCat, which is the system used for interlibrary loan. Please contact your family, friends, coworkers, societies, listserves, and anyone else you can think and encourage them to show their support for the Library and its fabulous collection. Let us band together and save our state's history. Thank you for your support, Cynthia Grostick, President Michigan Genealogical Council http://mimgc.org president@mimgc.org