[A picture containing text, clipart, sign Description automatically generated]In the spirit of Throwback Thursday, we’re excited to welcome Heather Wood-Gramza as the new MeL Coordinator. Back in October of 2020, Heather and Vanessa Walstra wrote a MeL Minute about practicing self-care<https://www.mel.org/blog/MeL-is-Magical-Self-Care-Edition-64010>. Little did she know then that less than two years later she would be working as part of the MeL team. We sat down with Heather via Zoom last week to get to know her better and wanted to share some of what we learned. Heather first came to the library world via a school library. When the recession hit, she moved into public libraries, working with teens while earning her MLIS at Wayne State. After attaining her degree, Heather held a variety of positions including Branch Manager in the Kent District Library system before transitioning to the Director at Howard Miller Public Library in Zeeland. Heather has been an advocate for MeL. From encouraging educators to allow students to use eBooks<https://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customerspecific/mel/auth.php?database=ebsco-e700xna> as sources for research to using AtoZdatabases<http://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customerspecific/mel/auth.php?database=atoz> to connect the city to new businesses, she has used MeL for a wide variety of purposes and sees its value among various audiences. We should not be surprised that Heather is a MeL Maven. After all, she is the person who named the MeL Maven Badge<https://www.mel.org/blog/MeL-Badge-Contest-Winner>. After completing her Badge, Heather encouraged her staff to add the Badge to their goals to get them excited about helping patrons find information using the MeL eResources. Heather loves to brainstorm and generate ideas for new services. In fact, she instituted curbside library services pre-pandemic and was able to share her knowledge and experience to help other libraries pivot when the pandemic began. We wanted to know which eResources Heather likes best and how she has used them. She shared that she has used AtoZdatabases<http://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customerspecific/mel/auth.php?database=atoz> extensively, including to create lists of people who are new to town to make sure they are welcomed. Heather also showed us a quilling project she created using instructions<https://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customlink/proxify/proxify.php?count=1&encode=1&proxy=https://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customerspecific/mel/auth.php?url=&target=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cfh&AN=64368322&site=hcrc-live> from Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center<https://widgets.ebscohost.com/prod/customerspecific/mel/auth.php?database=ebscoprofile-hcrc>. In her life outside of libraries, Heather loves the outdoors and activities such as camping and biking. She and her husband have three children including a daughter who is a student at Ferris State University and two sons, one who is getting married this spring and one who will graduate from college in May. Heather is excited to be working with libraries in different way and we know she is going to bring lots of fresh, new ideas. Welcome, Heather! If you are having any issues linking to items on this page, please explore the MeL eResource Access Page.<https://www.mcls.org/mel/mel-databases/help/remote-access/> Contact melerhelp@mcls.org<mailto:melerhelp@mcls.org> for help. Brought to you by Laura Warren-Gross and Ann Kaskinen from the MeL Team. Supporting Michigan Libraries by Putting You First. Hey front line staff: The MeL Maven Badge is a 6-part Information Literacy and eResource adventure designed for you. Start earning your Badge today at MeL.org<https://mel.org/welcome>! Want more information on MeL? Stay tuned for the next MeL Minute available on many Michigan library listservs, visit http://mel.org<http://mel.org/>, or sign up for the MeL Minute and other Library of Michigan e-mail lists via GovDelivery<https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MILOM/subscriber/new>. We encourage you to share MeL Minutes with your colleagues and networks. MeL eResources are available to Michigan residents or for Michigan library or school access only. #IMLSGrant Laura Warren-Gross Engagement Specialist for Public Libraries Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) 1 800 530 9019 ext 152 [facebook]<https://www.facebook.com/mcls.org> [twitter] <https://twitter.com/mclsorg> [square-logo-1 (002)] <http://www.mcls.org/>
