Please take a moment to read about the federal IMLS/LSTA funding cuts
For twenty years, Michigan residents have enjoyed use of the Michigan Electronic Library (MeL). This critical library service and adjacent programs are about to be eliminated due to a federal Executive Order (EO).
The EO signed by President Trump on March 14, 2025 seeks to eliminate the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries. IMLS dollars routed to Michigan fund MeL, as well as a state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat. If IMLS funding is eliminated, local library users will have less access to books and other library materials.
In 2024, the MeLCat program saw Michigan libraries lend over one million books and other materials that are not locally available. Through MeL, students and other residents last year accessed over 19 million electronic articles, journals and other online resources to do homework, research, prepare for tests and more. Residents also benefited from MeL’s authoritative sources on education, medicine, business, and history, among other topics that help people make informed decisions.
While the majority of revenue for public libraries in Michigan comes from local property taxes, the most significant impact of the potential loss of IMLS funding could be the elimination of MeL and MeLCat.
In Michigan, these federally funded programs provide a hard return on investment of $27 per tax dollar. This means for every $1 invested in libraries across the state, Michiganders see $27 in received value.
You can read more about the impact of the elimination of IMLS in a press release from the Michigan Department of Education, published on March 20, 2025 and available here: https://www.michigan.gov/mde/news-and-information/press-releases/2025/03/20/michigan-library-users-will-be-harmed-by-order-to-abolish-federal-agency
Additional information can be found at:
You may contact your legislators regarding your concerns at the following website:
https://www.congressweb.com/aam/94/
You can also tell your MelCat story here:
2024-2025 Library Board Meetings
The Nottawa Township Library Board has bimonthly meetings July-June. Meetings are scheduled for the 4th Monday at 4:00 pm unless a quorum cannot be reached, at which point meetings are rescheduled. The 2024-2025 meeting dates are as follows:
July 22, 2024
September 23, 2024
November 25, 2024
January 27, 2025
March 24, 2025
May 19, 2025
June 23, 2025
*Meeting will be held the 3rd Monday of the month, due to the Memorial Day holiday
New Craft & Hobby video-on-demand link
Through our Woodland’s Cooperative, we are excited to offer access to the Craft & Hobby site for video-on-demand learning. This site provides video tutorials on 20 different interest areas. Click on the link under Digital Library and enter your patron ID (format must be capital “P” then patron number, i.e. P12345). Contact our staff if you need assistance finding your patron ID number.
Ancestry Home Use Extended
Exciting news for those researching family history! ProQuest has extended remote access to Ancestry Library Edition, yet again, and access will be available through December 31, 2021. If you still haven't set up remote access and want to do so, please connect to the link through our online library catalog. If you do not have an account with Nottawa Township Library and live in Nottawa, Lockport, or Florence Townships* contact the library staff via ntlibrarycirculation@gmail.com, or by calling 269-467-6289 during open hours: M, W & F 9:00 am - noon and 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm, T & TH 10:00 am - noon and 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.
*Services like ancestry.com are available to those outside the service area with a paid Full Membership to NTL.