MeL will remain with us for another year

The Michigan Library Association sent out communications for the state of public library funding, including the ever-useful MelCat system. We are relieved to hear that the Library of Michigan has been enabled to spend federal dollars, as well as, remains staffed which ensures that they will continue providing assistance to statewide programs and services. There was also a sizeable one-time increase in state funding for MeL (Michigan eLibrary), further padding the ability to continue this invaluable service.

If you aren't sure what MeL is, it is a system all throughout Michigan that connects libraries who share their collection with other participating libraries. For instance, if you were looking for a particular book that was not at your home library but it was in another library somewhere in the state, as long as they are part of MeL you can borrow it from that library and have it sent to yours to pick up. And MeL is not only limited to books, if a library allows a material to circulate via MeL, it will show up in the OPAC. Some examples are American Girl Dolls, video games, magazines, CDs, research journals, vinyls, among various other types of things.

MeL is not only convenient and diversified, but it also serves the wonderful purpose of opening up opportunities to the more rural areas of our state. Without this service, materials that would benefit someone who is not geographically within the service area of a collection goes without. Imagine a homebound college student taking online courses and they are attempting to write a research paper on the effects of pesticides on our agricultural process and its lingering affect on food. Instead of focusing only on online research, they can request research journals from other colleges or institutions and get those sent to their local library for someone to pick up. Without MeL, this would not be possible.

By visiting mel.org, you can search for materials on their website and see what might be available for you to borrow. Explore how this service might benefit you, and as you do keep in mind how this service could benefit others as well. We love that we can continue providing materials to our patrons through MeL and we hope you do too!