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Following the US Census every ten years, new lines are drawn for congressional and legislative districts, county commission districts, and city council wards. Although the population numbers changed little in Washtenaw County, there were shifts in where we live in the county.

Join us for a panel discussion on Thursday June 16, 2011: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room , co-sponsored by The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area and The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor, and find out how your city, county and state are making these decisions and how it might affect you. Panelists include Jacqueline Beaudry, Ann Arbor City Clerk; Lawrence Kestenbaum, Washtenaw County Clerk; Rep. Jeff Irwin, State Representative, 53rd District and Rep. Mark Ouimet, State Representative, 52nd District.

Get a sneak preview into the discussion with our latest podcast episode, AADL Talks To: Lawrence Kestenbaum.

This Saturday, June 4th, will be the annual African American Downtown Festival in Ann Arbor! The festival will be a multicultural and multi-generational celebration of African American history in Ann Arbor. The location of the festival (4th and Ann) is significant due to it being the historical epicenter in Ann Arbor of African American owned businesses, culture and family life. Fun times to be had by all!

If you're interested in doing some research into the history of African Americans in Washtenaw County, the AADL has several resources for you:

• A pictorial history titled, "Another Ann Arbor" by Carol Gibson & Lola M. Jones.
• "Unconquered Souls: The History of the African American in Ypsilanti by Albert P. Marshall.
• The documentary "A Woman's Town" (1991) chronicling the history of African American women in Ann Arbor from the mid-nineteenth century to the late nineteenth century.
• Abolitionist history in Ann Arbor with the Signal of Liberty newspaper database
• An AADL Productions Podcast with Lola Jones and Carol Gibson, the founders of the website "Another Ann Arbor" & authors of the book of the same name.

Additional local resources include:

• The African American Cultural and Historical Museum, dedicated to preserving the history and culture of African Americans in Washtenaw County.
• The website and organization, "Another Ann Arbor", created by Lola Jones and Carol Gibson to chronicle African American life in Ann Arbor.
• The Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan has a number of collections dedicated to African American history in Ann Arbor.

Gift of Money Let's continue the story of the Benjamin Franklin bequest to Philadelphia and Boston. One of the outcomes of the Boston bequest was the establishment of the Franklin Institute of Boston, which is known today as the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. It's interesting to learn about American history. Read more about Benjamin Franklin and other famous Americans using the Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Like Russel Crowe, are you curious about local history? Check out the "The Making of Ann Arbor" or "Ypsilanti Gleanings".

Gift of Money When Benjamin Franklin passed away on April 17, 1790, he left Boston and Philadelphia $2,000. He'd saved this money while he was Governor of Pennsylvania (1785 to 1788). The money was not to be distributed until 200 years after his death. In 1990, the bequest was worth $6.5 million and Philadelphia's portion of the trust was $2 million. There were several ideas about what should be done with the money: apply the money to government deficits, build low-income housing, gift the money to a university, or create scholarships for students who want to study a trade. After some debate, the money was shared between The Franklin Institute and several community foundations like the Williamsport-Lycoming Foundation that helps fund technical education scholarships. Although Benjamin Franklin left the decision of how to spend the money for the city, he suggested the money should "provide funds for young artificers". Are you interested in researching grants and foundations? The Ann Arbor District Library can help, just click here.

ballot

The Washtenaw Intermediate School District Special Election to renew the Special Education Millage is coming up and all City Polling Places will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on May 3, 2011 for this citywide election. There are a couple of polling locations construction issues to be aware of:

Voters at the Ann Arbor District Library Downtown Branch (Precinct 5-1) should be aware of construction activities currently restricting traffic on Fifth Avenue. The library/polling place remains open however, so please plan your route accordingly.

In addition, the Second Baptist Church (Precinct 5-3) is under construction. The parking lot at the main entrance of the Church located at 850 Red Oak Road and Wendy is not accessible. Voters need to enter the site using the rear driveway near Red Oak and Hermania.

Not sure if you're registered to vote and your exact polling location? Visit the Michigan Votes website. Don't forget to bring your voter ID to the polls.

NYT

The library subscribes to two slightly different New York Times databases. The first provides full text articles of the newspaper from 1980 to the present. The second is the New York Times Historical database covering the period 1851-2007. The historical database provides scanned copies of the original newspapers including obituaries and images when available as PDFs. A great resource for genealogists and history buffs alike! The daily New York Times in print is available at all our branches and we retain 6 weeks worth.

Due to the fact that the University of Michigan is on a break this week there will be no Circle K Drop-In tutoring tonight from 4-8 PM and no Alpha Epsilon Delta Tutoring this Sunday March 6 from 3:00-5:00 PM. Tutoring will resume on Monday March 7 at 4:00 PM at the Downtown Library Youth Corner. For more information about this FREE service and to access and use our online Homework product Brainfuse click here. girlreading

Did you know AADL has a collection of maps? Maps are removed from travel books so they do not get lost. These maps are put in file folders arranged by geographic location. Other maps are added to the files to create a comprehensive collection. We have maps for most every state and country!

Thinking about a trip to Europe? The Europe map file includes a Eurorail map, so you can expertly navigate the trains!! Do you enjoy lighthouses? The Maine file includes a map of all the lighthouses in the state. For major cities such as Paris and Chicago, AADL carries the streetwise laminated maps, both slim and durable!

Not taking a vacation soon? There are still plenty of reasons to check out a map! Perhaps you are a teacher needing a map of outer space or the Pacific ocean or a researcher looking for a map of the former Soviet Union, we have all of these maps and more! Maybe you are moving across the state, we have plenty of Michigan maps, so you can scope out your new location!

The maps are not requestable, so come downtown and enjoy looking through the files! You can check maps out for 4 weeks and return them to any location.

mitaxforms

The Tax Express Stations are up and running at all AADL branches. The stations link you directly to the IRS and Michigan Treasury web sites where you'll find forms, instructions, publications and resources to assist you in filing your 2010 taxes. Tax forms can be printed free of charge from these station. We’ll be happy to assist you in locating and printing tax forms at all our public services desks too.

cornfield

A new book arrived in our Local History Collection recently, Brookwater Farm of Webster Township, and in one of those serendipitous moments we're having at the Archives lately, we came across some articles related to the history of the Brookwater Farm.

In 1948, the Ann Arbor News ran a long article, Restoration of Brookwater, complete with a description of the annual livestock auction and historic photos of the farm. The new owner, Lawrence F. Carlton, undertook an extensive restoration of the farm house. However, later articles from 1950 describe the "Corn War", a year-long legal battle with suits and countersuits over 29 acres of corn crop. There's even an article about Mr. Carlton temporarily blinding himself when a tear gas bomb went off as he was showing it to folks.