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AccessMichigan: The Challenges and Rewards of Statewide Library Cooperation
Slide 11 of 17
Institutionalizing the Vision
Notes:
Once we kicked off the project, we started thinking about how we were going to make sure it survived. Our strategy was simple: we wouldn’t compel participation through any sort of compulsion or imposition, but simply by making it available. No one was forced to sign on; no one was forced to swap their current subscriptions to Ebsco Host or UMI or the Electric Library to take part in AccessMichigan. No one had to fill out a grant application, and, for the most part, no one got turned down. Using this strategy, we were able to add to the federal funds we had for the project. For example, in the year we proposed the project—before any databases were licensed or any product was actually in the libraries—the Michigan legislature appropriated $500,000 for the project. The legislature continued this budget line in the current fiscal year, and this year, the amount is a million dollars. We were able to secure a Technology Literacy Challenge Grant from the Michigan Department of Education to add specific content for students in kindergarten through grade six. We also worked with the Michigan Virtual University to get designated as its online library and to get funding for additional resources.
Steering committee: Representatives of 13 different library organization from around the state who offered guidance and direction on what sorts of materials should be added to the system. Now incorporated into the State Library’s bureaucracy.
Also pulled together support groups for MEL and SPAN to bring everything under the AccessMichigan rubric.
