library

I Love That My Library Has a Newspaper

~ mpklamerus ~ Leave a comment

I’m so glad that my local library in Plymouth, Michigan has a free print newspaper that I can support and have mailed to my house. It has lots of local news, along with other fun bits like teenagers reviewing media they enjoy. Living in a suburb means that there really isn’t a local news source, other than the Detroit Free Press I guess, because all the other sources of local news like websites run by one or two folks and Facebook groups generally seem to be right wing and have a strong nimby influence as well. I’m not happy about the digital part being on Substack for many reasons but maybe I can nudge them away from that and towards something like Ghost. At least they offer a print subscription (here you go if you want very local news) where none of the revenue goes to Substack.

Even though it’s a Democrat run city, Plymouth has a big nimby problem and even a recent article in the library’s paper about a transit millage was seen by some folks in the local Democrat Facebook group as being too friendly to public transit because they don’t want to pay taxes on it and got mad. These same folks got mad about the possibility of more housing being built too. If you live in the metro Detroit area, please vote for better transit. I have been in Chicago recently and a better world is possible.

It’s probably for the best that my actual local library isn’t on social media I use because can you imagine how annoying I would be to them? I already ping other local libraries on bluesky too much to talk about how much I like them.

Anyway, newspapers can be neat and so are libraries. It’s such a relief having even one local newspaper that isn’t weird about the idea of people supporting LGBTQ folks. I wish libraries didn’t have to be such a load bearing pillar in having a bearable society but here we are.

The other print newsletter I subscribe to is The Floral Observer. While it is printed in Detroit, it’s not as hyper local and I think would appeal more to folks outside of the metro Detroit area. It’s just a nice newsletter about nature and plants and features writing and comics I enjoy. They’re also always taking free submissions for classified ads and have event had one printed for the game collective I run. Consider giving them a look and seeing who in your area is doing a newspaper or writing you can support.

Proposals A and B Passed in Ann Arbor!

~ mpklamerus ~ 4 Comments

Local library posting again but it’s wonderful to wake up and see that proposals A and B passed in Ann Arbor. This means that a parking lot that has been sitting next to the library for over a decade will be transferred to the library where they can build a new, larger library that will also include affordable housing. My limited understanding is that it had a vote in 2017 to make it a park, which it was never suitable for nor did the city or the citizens group that pushed for that vote ever do anything with it. As relatable as I can find “no really, I’ll get right to doing this task any minute,” I’m glad that it will belong to the library. The amount of misinformation being spent and put out by this group saying that the vote was to destroy parks was intense and I was worried it wouldn’t pass. It turns out it wasn’t even close though.

“We’ve replaced a parking lot with a library and affordable housing” is my dream scenario for any city and a great thing to wake up to.

I was hoping the proposal for Livonia to build a lot of new buildings for the city would pass but didn’t expect it to and it didn’t. It’s Livonia, which is a lot more conservative, and I knew that a monthly increase of $10-15 per month in taxes would be a tough sell.

But I’ll take the new downtown library in Ann Arbor. Congrats to the city!

The Ann Arbor District Library Summer Game

~ mpklamerus ~ 3 Comments

This is my first summer participating in the Summer Game at the Ann Arbor District Library and I’m hooked! It’s a yearly event organized by the library, and the 15th one in its current run, where you can get points through a variety of activities and use them to get prizes like shirts, little toys, stickers, etc.

Activities to get points can include:

  • Entering codes you find around the city on signs at buildings, front yards of people participating,
  • Codes can also be found at events held by the library
  • Getting badges, which are challenges like finding specific items in the library’s catalog and plugging in info from newspaper archives, which I believe will be used to help the library later.
  • And of course, reading

It’s turned my oldest and I into point goblins and we see a code on the side of a bus or at the top of a building and lose our shit. We just started a week ago and she already has the points for the flamingo stuffie at the shop that opens in the middle of July, so anything else is just a nice bonus for her. I’m hoping to get a nice t-shirt and poster. It’s just a really nice way to get you to explore the library’s branches, the city of Ann Arbor itself, encourages reading, and educates people on everything the library has available for checking out.

If you live in or around the city of Ann Arbor, I cannot recommend it enough. You do not need to be an Ann Arbor resident. I’m not, and I was encouraged to join by the director of the library. Many of the activities are virtual too so you don’t not need to drive into the city every time you want to participate.