The Michigan Department of Transportation and the State Library of Michigan, in conjunction with Public Libraries around the state, are giving you the opportunity to help MDOT set its priorities for transportation infrastructure development through 2030. You can take the MI Transportation Plan's short, one-page survey here, and let MDOT know what you think about road improvements, expansion, mass transit, safety, and more.

Additional information is also available at http://michigan.gov/slrp. Please note that your personal information is not required to participate in the survey, and be sure to tell them how you usually get to the library. Thanks for your participation!

Due to power outage, the Pittsfield Branch will be closed for the remainder of Friday, May 26th, and will reopen Saturday morning at 9 AM. Thanks for your patience!

Our new Pittsfield Branch will be getting the final paving on its parking lot this coming Monday and Tuesday, 5/22 and 5/23. Pittsfield Branch will be closed during this process and will reopen Wednesday 5/23. Please note that the dropbox will not be accessible during this period, and items can be returned to any other AADL location.

Thanks for your patience as we apply the finishing touches.

The Books Change Lives Program is part of the Ann Arbor Book Festival. BCL encourages readers to tell us about their favorite all-time book and how it changed their lives. Rachel's favorite book is Strider by Beverly Cleary. Here's what she had to say about it: "I don't know how many times I have read Strider, but I know it better than any other book. The situations that Leigh Botts faces make me love it so much. He found his comfort in writing about his anxieties and in running with his dog. The way he wrote about running made me want to run. In high school I started. Running boosted my self-esteem, kept me focused and lively, and helped me push myself. Like Leigh Botts, running helped me deal with my social awkwardness." Do you have a favorite book that influenced your life?

We've just discovered that, due to a bug related to the time change this Sunday, Date Due Reminder Notices did not go out yesterday (3/30) or today (3/31), and will not go out tomorrow (4/1). This means that if you have items checked out that are due Sunday, 4/2, Monday, 4/3, or Tuesday, 4/4, you will not receive an email notice reminding you of the due date.

We will take steps to avoid fining items due on those dates, but if you do receive fines next week because you missed your reminders, please be sure to contact us and we'll take care of those fines for you. In the meantime, please take a moment to check your account and see if you've got any items due 4/2-4/4. Reminder Notices will resume via email on Sunday, 4/2, for items due Wednesday, 4/5. Thanks for your patience, and please feel free to comment on this post if you have any questions.

Ann Arbor District Library’s new Pittsfield Branch (2359 Oak Valley Drive in Ann Arbor) opened its doors on Monday, March 20 at 10:00 am, offering a week-long celebration, featuring storyteller LaRon Williams, the music of Mr. B (Mark Braun), The Boychoir of Ann Arbor and other well-known area entertainers. Located in Pittsfield Township near the Ann Arbor Ice Cube, the building was designed by Luckenbach|Ziegelman Architects PLLC, constructed by Skanska USA Building, Inc. and landscaped by InSite Design Studio, Inc.

The site plan for the new library branch at Traverwood and Huron was submitted to the City of Ann Arbor Planning Department on Monday, Februray 13 and revisions were submitted on May 1. The project was unanimously approved by the the City of AA Planning Commission Tuesday, May 16. The project will now move to City Council for final approval.

This new building scheduled to open in 2008 will replace the existing Northeast Branch in the Plymouth Road Mall. The location at the corner of Traverwood and Huron Parkway is .5 miles from the current location.

The proposed building includes a total of 16,987 square feet with 90 proposed parking spaces. 34 of the spaces are in an off street underbuilding parking lot, 32 are in an open off-street parking lot, and 24 spaces are on-street. The building is designed to hug the corner with as little impact on natural features as possible. Sustainable design elements include an innovative stormwater management system that may include a vegetative roof.

The project budget of 10 million dollars includes the property purchase, building design and construction, site development, furnishings/fixtures and collection.
The Ann Arbor District Library branch expansion plan is funded from the existing millage approved by voters in 1995. The building is designed by VanTine|Guthrie Studio and will be constructed by O'Neal Construction.

Images of the site plan and elevations are on display at the current Northeast Branch, and elevations can be found at New Northeast Branch Information

We are pleased to announce that the Pittsfield Branch on Oak Valley Drive will open on Monday, March 20, 2006. This library branch, the first in the district to be built outside of the city limits of Ann Arbor, is located in Pittsfield Township at the headwaters of Malletts Creek.

A reading room, to be named the Homer Chance Reading Room, honors the former Ann Arbor Public Library director who initiated branch expansion in the district while serving as director from 1951-1977. Group study and tutoring rooms, computers, a casual study area with vending, a meeting room, and outdoor seating area will be available.

The collection is new and will feature new formats as they are introduced into the marketplace, as well as traditional materials such as books, CDs, DVDs, newspapers and magazines. Access to the collection will be enhanced by self checkout and a 24/7 material pickup system.

The Library continued its committment to build responsibly and sustainably on this site. The building takes full advantage of a southern exposure on the front and will be cooled and heated convectively when conditions are favorable. We have used recycled content, low energy content, and content from renewable resources in our building material choices. We will restore and manage areas including the existing watercourse, Malletts Creek, and a wetland on the property.

The building designed by Luckenbach|Ziegelman Architects PLLC, constructed by Skanska USA Building, Inc. and landscaped by InSite Design Studio, Inc. cost 8.3 million dollars. The cost for the 16,500 square foot project on 5.74 acres include: the property purchase, site development, construction, furnishings, and the new collection.

The library levies 1.94 mills and uses 1.6 for operations. The remaining .34 mills is used for buildings and other capital expenses. Voters approved a levy of 2.0 mills in perpetuity for the library district in 1995.

Thanks to all your comments and suggestions, we've rolled out some new features for aadl.org that will give you better information about how you use the Library.

The biggest news is the addition of an optional Checkout history that will allow you to easily keep track of the items you've previously checked out from the library, and even search through them for those times when you can't remember if you've read something. You can activate the recording of checkouts on your My Account page (just check 'Record Checkouts' in your preferences), and you can view any checkouts you make from then on from the 'Checkout History' button.

Once you've turned this service on, you can turn it off at any time, delete specific items, or delete your whole checkout history if you choose. Please note that we've made an addition to our Privacy Policy, under 'Checking Out Materials', to cover this new service. Also, know that only you can access your checkout history when you log in to aadl.org. Library staff can't access this information for you.

Read more to find out about other new enhancements...

As you've noticed, aadl.org is back online after a brief network outage at Merit, our internet provider. Sorry for the downtime!

On a related technical note, we have solved another problem that was preventing some patrons, notably AOL users, from receiving library notices via email. If you're still not receiving email notices, and you want to, please contact us and we'll look into it. Due to the outage, today's due date reminder notices went out a little late, and won't reflect if you returned your items this morning.

Thanks for your patience during the outage.