Community

The public library in an internet age

0000017b-35e5-df5e-a97b-35edaf800000 We spent the past two months traveling to libraries across the state to see how their roles have evolved with the rise of the internet. In Ann Arbor, patrons can rent telescopes from the Ann Arbor District Library's tool library, and in Macomb County there's a special library for the deaf and blind. What's going on at your local library? Tweet at @michiganradio using the hashtag #MILibrary.

The future of your local Michigan library

Michigan Public | By Michigan Radio Newsroom

Published August 31, 2015 at 12:57 PM EDT

At the Kent District Library, books by local authors have their own labels.

Pre-Wikipedia there was the encyclopedia.

Pre-Google there was the reference desk.

In the age of the Internet, what’s the future of the local library?

We drove across the state and visited several local libraries to see for ourselves. We found libraries that serve their communities in different ways.

Some still use card catalogs (they stay open when the power goes out.)

And others that offer their patrons access to all kinds of technology.

Follow our trip to these seven libraries here!

-Paula Friedrich and Carolyn Gearig, Michigan Radio Newsroom