For some of you, this MeL Minute will look familiar. It's the same one we sent out last week. But the response was so low that we're concerned it got lost amidst the holidays so we are re-issuing it. We need your help! The Library of Michigan has engaged a professional film crew to produce three videos about the Michigan eLibrary. They will be 2-4 minutes in length and feature schools, library staff, library buildings, and patrons. We plan to take what we learned from the successful business videos<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsiX4lmeyL4AkSn_DRZX1TgO3faZQ3Vhp> that we produced last year and parlay that into this new series. And we're looking to you for great stories to include! One video will talk about how valuable MeLCat is to the residents of the state. We want to tell the story of how MeLCat increases the capacity of even the tiniest Michigan library to provide millions of books and other library resources to their residents. We're doing something that benefits 10 million people and it involves 90% of the public libraries and almost all of the academic libraries in the state. Let's sing about it! Do you have patrons who use MeLCat in interesting ways? What about your super-users? Would they be good on camera? Contact Deb Renee Biggs at 517-373-4466 or biggsd@michigan.gov<http://biggsd@michigan.gov> and let her know. We need the very best stories to float to the top! Another video will talk about the impact of the MeL databases. We need to get in touch with patrons who have used the MeL databases to further their education at the high school or college level, to push into a new career field, to pursue their hobbies, to research family history, fix their cars, satisfy their curiosity, save money or bring money or business to their communities, or assist their employer. The last video talk about the success of using MeL resources at Cody High School, the Detroit Institute of Technology College Prep High School. Gale's Cody Academy Program sends volunteers to the Detroit school. In collaboration with the Cody principal and one of the English teachers, Gale staff works with three senior English classes. A big side benefit to our efforts early on was the introduction of Cody staff to resources that were available to them free through MeL. Because of budget cuts, Cody, like other Detroit schools had recently lost their media specialists, and teachers and the administration were unaware of these resources. We're planning to shoot the videos in August and September and we need your help in identifying patrons who have benefitted from MeL. Do you have patrons with a great story to tell about the impact MeL has had on their lives? Do you have patrons that are articulate and would be proud to represent their new-found knowledge on camera? We're looking to you to share those stories with us as we seek out the best MeL tales in the state and get them recorded for all to see. Due to the practicalities of the shooting schedule, locations need to be within a one and a half hour drive of Lansing. Ideally, we would speak with more than one person at each stop so put on your thinking caps and aggregate the good news you have to share about MeL. Contact Deb Renee Biggs at the Library of Michigan at 517-373-4466 or biggsd@michigan.gov<http://biggsd@michigan.gov> with your story. Sonya Schryer Norris and Deb Renee Biggs, Library Consultants, Library of Michigan @Library of Michigan MeL Team Sonya Schryer Norris Library of Michigan 702 W. Kalamazoo St. PO Box 30009 Lansing, MI 48909 517-373-4457 http://www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan http://www.mel.org<http://www.mel.org/> http://www.michlibrary.org<http://www.michlibrary.org/> Nourishing Michigan's Future...during school and during the summer! Find a Summer Food Service Program site nearest you and encourage Michigan's children to Meet Up and Eat Up! www.michigan.gov/meetupeatup<http://www.michigan.gov/meetupeatup> [cid:image002.png@01D2CD53.CCC38130]
