If you have been following the news here and elsewhere, you know that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has ordered the closure of the Michigan State Library as a cost saving measure. Today the governor has issued a new executive order that amends her previous order. She now says that the state’s library and historical collections will be preserved when the Department of History, Arts and Libraries ceases to exist on October 1. However, the details are still fuzzy.
The changes will take effect October 1 unless they are overridden by the State Legislature. The State Senate already rejected Granholm’s original order, although the House has taken no action.
Granholm’s amended executive order would mandate that the state continue its vital role in maintaining and delivering online services to libraries in Michigan and the preservation of important collections, including the Michigan collection, the Rare Books Collection, and the Genealogy Collection.
The full text of Governor Jennifer Granholm's latest Executive Order EO 2009-43 may be found at her website, http://michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21975-221451--,00.html. The portions of greatest interest to us as genealogists, is the second half of this document, Parts III and Part IV. Some of the wording seems to be vague.
