The follow press release was issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 11, 2012
Contact: Mark Harvey (Archives of Michigan), 517-373-1415 or Don Todaro (Library of Michigan), 517-373-2583
Archives of Michigan welcomes family heritage collection from Library of Michigan
The Michigan Department of Education and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources have agreed to move selected Family Heritage Collections currently housed in the Library of Michigan to the reading room of the Archives of Michigan.
The move will continue the state’s stewardship of the collection and better align the resources of both organizations. The collection will remain in the Michigan Library and Historical Center, where it can be easily used with related research materials held by both organizations. The move will take place this summer with a rededication planned during the Abrams Genealogy Seminar on July 13, 2012.
“The collection will increase the public services provided by the Archives of Michigan,” said State Archivist Mark Harvey. “We are pleased to join it with archival documents that are used by family heritage researchers and committed to continuing to build it with the help of the genealogical community. Over time, the Archives plans to expand its hours and online services.”
The move completes the realignment of Library of Michigan services necessitated by budget and staffing reductions to focus on reference research services to employees of all branches of state government; services to libraries of all types statewide; and the collection, preservation and maintenance of access to the published record of the state of Michigan and its peoples.
State Librarian Nancy Robertson noted, “The library’s Michigan materials will remain available to all interested in using them. Both library and archives materials will continue to be available to researchers through a common catalogue.”
Cynthia Grostick, president of the Michigan Genealogical Council, the umbrella organization for state genealogical societies, praised the project: “The family heritage collection assembled by the Library of Michigan with the support of the genealogical community, particularly the Abrams Foundation, is a Michigan treasure. We are happy that it will stay in the Michigan Library and Historical Center, where genealogists can continue to help build it and use it, along with the other valued materials held by the Archives of Michigan and the Library of Michigan.”
The move will be accomplished using shelving and equipment no longer used by the library as well as funds raised for the project by the Michigan Genealogical Council and the Michigan History Foundation. The archives and library will seek to accomplish the work with as little disruption to researchers as possible. Details will be posted at www.michigan.gov/statearchives and www.michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan.
Among the organizations housed at the Michigan Library and Historical Center, 702 W. Kalamazoo, Lansing, Mich., are the Library of Michigan and the Michigan Historical Center, which includes the Archives of Michigan and the Michigan Historical Museum. Please check the above websites for hours. For online research assistance, please visit the archives site www.seekingmichigan.org and the Michigan e-Library www.mel.org.