Good Afternoon,

A MAP new partner update, along with a list of 12 FAQ's. Letterman used to do a "Top 10" list, but we will do him two better by continuing to "soar and explore" and not allowing the reported helium shortage to turn the MAP balloon into lead, or stone.

Since our last ultra serious MAP discussion, four additional destinations have signed on to go live with the Michigan Activity Pass program on or about May 24, 2019. This brings to 23 the number of new MAP partner destination venues, and the total number of MAP participants to 461. This is a high water mark for the program. And, talks continue with a number of other potential MAP partner destinations. Maybe we will reach 500. Stay tuned!

Our four newest MAP partner destinations are:

Belleville Area Museum in Belleville https://vanburen-mi.org/Museum/Belleville_Area_Museum.html
Negaunee Historical Society Museum in Negaunee https://www.negauneehistory.org/
Historic White Pine Village in Ludington https://historicwhitepinevillage.org/
Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in Ludington https://ludingtonmaritimemuseum.org/

Throughout the course of the 12 month MAP year (yes, MAP is a year round program, see the FAQ's) we get a variety of questions from libraries (and from library patrons) concerning the program. Here is our list of "Top 12 MAP FAQ's" that summarize the most commonly asked questions, and their answers:

1. My library would like to "sign up" for MAP. What do I need to do?
***Nothing! When we expanded MAP from metro Detroit only to statewide a number of years ago, we "auto-enrolled" every public library in the state of Michigan in the MAP program. Your library doesn't need to sign up, because you already are signed up :)
2. My library has changed its name, ie we are a district library now. How can I get the name of my library updated in the MAP database?
***We do our best to keep up with library name changes. However, there are nearly 400 public libraries in the state of Michigan, and considerably fewer than 400 of us here, which means we don't catch every library name change. If the name of your library is misrepresented in the MAP database, please tell us in order that we might make the necessary correction.
3. Is MAP a year round program?
***YES!!! This might be our most commonly asked question. The current MAP year runs May 24, 2018 through May 23, 2019. On May 24, 2019 MAP will renew for an additional year, through May 23, 2020. Although program usage peaks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the vast majority of our MAP destination partners are open year round. This includes nearly all of Michigan's state parks and state recreation areas. This means you can promote MAP all year long! :) The reason we renew MAP in one year increments is so as to provide flexibility to our destination partners. Although a number of them have been on board with the program since the beginning, some institutions prefer not to have to make a commitment that exceeds one year in length, to this type of program.
4. Can I feature MAP on my library's homepage?
**Absolutely, yes, please do so! Here is the link http://www.plymouthrockets.com/michiganactivitypass/ If you need a copy of the MAP logo in which to embed this link, said MAP logo is available in .jpg format at  https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/
5. Does MAP participate in social media?
***Yes. MAP has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/MIActivityPass/ that has in excess of 7,000 likes. Please help us promote the MAP Facebook presence, as that page really causes potential partners (and sponsors!) to raise an eyebrow when they see how popular it is.
6. Is there promotional material available for MAP?
***Yes. A link to the MAP promotional material is available at https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/
7. I know of a potential MAP partner destination in my library's service area. Can I recruit them and/or pass their contact information to you?
***Yes and yes! The public library is the most highly respected and trusted institution in any community. A touch base from public library staff to a potential new MAP partner is invaluable in this regard. All a new MAP partner destination need do is complete and return to us a copy of this questionnaire: https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/Files/MAP%20destination%20participation%20questionnaire%202017.pdf
8. Is there a list of currently participating MAP partner destinations?
***Three brochures, one for the southern Lower Peninsula, one for the the northern Lower Peninsula, and one for the Upper Peninsula, are your friends here. They are in a constant state of change, especially at this time of year when new destinations are joining. They will be updated at some future point, but please be patient:
https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/Files/MAP-LowerMitten-Brochure.pdf and https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/Files/MAP-UpperMitten-Brochure.pdf and https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/Files/MAP-UpperPeninsula-Brochure.pdf Keep in mind, there are 638 participating library buildings in MAP. There are, or on May 24, 2019 will be, 461 participating partner destinations in MAP. There are far fewer of us at TLN who work to maintain and promote MAP, and we have a lot of other things to do here, too :) Again, please be patient as regards the frequency of updates when it comes to the brochures.
9. Is it okay for me to contact my local news outlets, to tell them about MAP?
***Yes, please do so. News outlets WANT to hear what is going on at the library. And MAP makes for a great story!
10. Are MARC records available for MAP?
***As difficult as this may be for you to believe, this question comes from libraries, not from patrons. We will provide a complete file of MARC records for all MAP partner destinations in the near future.
11. Is a quick and easy "How Do I Make MAP Go?" tutorial available to share with library patrons?
***Yes. It is available at this pdf  https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/files/MAP-HOWTO.pdf and also at several strategic locations on the MAP homepage  http://www.plymouthrockets.com/michiganactivitypass/
12. What can I do to make MAP the best it can be in my library, in my community, for my patrons?
***Promote, promote, promote. Print the bookmarks that are available on the MAP promotional page  https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/ and share them with patrons. Print the posters that are available at the same link and place them in strategic places in your library, including the restrooms, in which you are guaranteed a captive audience :) Talk about MAP at your rotary club, and other civic minded organizations in which you as a library professional are active and engaged. You never know when a potential MAP sponsor is in your audience. Promote the MAP Facebook page and its 7,000+ likes  https://www.facebook.com/MIActivityPass/ on your library's own Facebook page. Reach out to your local news media outlets to make sure they are aware of all the benefits the MAP program has to offer. Promote MAP as a great summer reading activity, and when you do outreach to schools again beginning this Fall, don't forget to talk up MAP. It is a year round program, after all :)

Thank you for your support and promotion of the Michigan Activity Pass program.

Sincerely,

Jim F.

Jim Flury
Technical Services Manager
The Library Network
41365 Vincenti Court
Novi, MI 48375
248-536-3100, ext 133
Fax 248-536-3098
jflury@tln.lib.mi.us

From: "Jim Flury" <jflury@tln.lib.mi.us>
To: "all-tln" <all-tln@lists.tln.org>, "michlib-l" <michlib-l@mcls.org>, "partnerscda" <partnerscda@lists.tln.org>
Cc: "turekm" <turekm@michigan.gov>, "Benjamin J. Puchala" <BPuchala@bcbsm.com>, "Clay Summers" <CSummers@mparks.org>
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2019 2:59:45 PM
Subject: If You Promote It, They (Creative License Taken As The Quote Is Really He) Will Come: Michigan Activity Pass: 19 New Destinations!

Good Afternoon,

Last Saturday night I was at a baseball game with one of my brothers in law. There is nothing remarkable in that, as he and I have attended an average of one Saturday night baseball game per month for as long as we have been brothers in law, which is a long time now. As we sat freezing and eating our tasty albeit overpriced hot dogs in the largely empty stadium, a foul ball was hit very hard, very close to our vicinity. Too close. Fortunately, the baseball crashed into the empty row of seats directly in front of us. So all I had to do was walk to that empty row of seats, and pick up the ball. I wanted to give the ball to a little kid. But there were no little kids nearby, and my brother in law is older than I am. So I kept the ball, the first souvenir in all the many games we have attended together.

While contemplating the ball, and our good fortune that neither of us were struck in the head by it, and that neither of us had choked on our expensive hot dogs, I started thinking about Kevin Costner. Yes, that movie. The fact that some of the defense played on the diamond that night looked as if the infielders were Shoeless probably was a contributing factor in my thought processes, too.

As many of you are aware, one year ago TLN migrated to a new integrated library system. For TLN staff this meant a great deal of training, many phone call consultations, data conversion, meetings and the like. All of this started well in advance of the May 29, 2018 go live with the new ils. So we had no time to devote to the recruitment of new partner destinations for the Michigan Activity Pass program last year. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, as we have a lot of really great partner destinations already. But to my way of thinking, it is nice to give patrons something new, and libraries something new to promote to patrons.

Fast forward one year, and we are still learning new things about our ils. But with the steepest part of the learning curve mostly behind us, we did have some time to turn to MAP recruitment again. Thus to the subject of this message: If you promote it, they will come, to the tune of, as I am typing these lines, a total of 19 brand new partner destinations for the Michigan Activity Pass program for this year! In addition, we have a verbal commitment from a well-known Detroit metro area destination to join MAP at the end of summer. And I expect additional MAP partner destinations to get on board prior to the renewal of the program on May 24, 2019.

Without further adieu, here in no particular order are our 19 confirmed new MAP partner destinations!

Raven Hill Discovery Center in East Jordan  https://miravenhill.org/
Conklin Reed Organ Museum in Hanover  http://conklinreedorganmuseum.org/museum.htm
Marquette Regional History Center in Marquette  https://www.marquettehistory.org/
Courthouse Square Museum in Charlotte  https://www.csamuseum.net/
Kruizenga Art Museum in Holland  https://hope.edu/arts/kam/index.html
Alberta House Arts Center in Sault Ste. Marie  http://saultareaartscouncil.org/history.htm
Alden B. Dow Museum of Science & Art in Midland  https://www.mcfta.org/alden-b-dow-museum-of-science-and-art/
Port Huron Museum in Port Huron  https://www.phmuseum.org/
Huron Lightship in Port Huron  https://www.phmuseum.org/huron-lightship/
Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Port Huron  https://www.phmuseum.org/fort-gratiot-lighthouse/
Thomas Edison Depot Museum in Port Huron  https://www.phmuseum.org/thomas-edison-depot-museum/
A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum (Mineral Museum of Michigan) in Houghton  https://www.museum.mtu.edu/
Gardner House Museum in Albion  http://www.albionhistoricalsociety.org/gardner.php
Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery & Visitor Center in Mattawan  https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79136_79236_80247_80504_82189---,00.html

Finally, the "If you promote it, they will come" theme is of course in play for MAP at the local library level. The public neither knows, nor cares, what a library cooperative is, or does. But time and again public libraries are given high marks as being one of the most, if not the most, trusted and respected institutions in local communities. As that is the case we hope libraries will work to promote MAP by including a link to the site on their homepage  http://www.plymouthrockets.com/michiganactivitypass/ by including references to the MAP Facebook page, which now has in excess of 7,000 likes https://www.facebook.com/MIActivityPass/  by printing the bookmarks, brochures and posters that are available at the MAP promotional page  https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/ by telling your local media outlets about MAP, and by spreading the word about the benefits of the Michigan Activity Pass to potential partner destinations in your community.

Let's work together to make this, the 12th season of MAP, 2019-2020, a HOME RUN!

Thank you for your support and promotion of the Michigan Activity Pass program.

Sincerely,

Jim F.

Jim Flury
Technical Services Manager
The Library Network
41365 Vincenti Court
Novi, MI 48375
248-536-3100, ext 133
Fax 248-536-3098
jflury@tln.lib.mi.us