Detroit Public Library

Former Detroit Public Library official charged with bribery

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:49:54 +0000

Tim Cromer, the former chief administrative officer for the Detroit Public Library, was charged with taking $1.4 million dollars in bribes.

Cromer and two contractors were indicted on 21 counts after the FBI raided the library offices last November.

Christine MacDonald of The Detroit News has more:

"Discotech" uses technology to foster community

Jennifer Guerra — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Urban neighborhood libraries are on the decline.

Detroit, Flint, Dearborn and other cities have recently had to close some of their library branches in order to save money, which means access to free computers and computer training is becoming more limited.

But in Detroit, there’s a group working to close the digital divide.

Discothèque vs. Discotech

This story takes place at a "discotech."

Not the kind of discotheque where you flaunt your best dance moves in platform shoes, but the kind of discotech where Google, Twitter and Facebook are center stage.

Here, discotech stands for DISCOvering TECHnology.

It's a traveling technology workshop that looks a lot like a pop-up science fair, with laptops, poster boards, wires and circuits all around the room.

Diana Nucera, one of the Discotech organizers, says the event is about "showing the possibility of technology to make our personal connections stronger."

Protesters make last-ditch effort to save one Detroit library

Sarah Cwiek — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:31:38 +0000

Protesters in Detroit hope that staking out a recently-shuttered library branch will convince officials to re-open it.

Four Detroit library branches--Lincoln, Monteith, Mark Twain, and Richard--closed their doors for good just before Christmas.

But library defenders say they’ll stake out the Lincoln branch library, and try to stop any efforts to remove the library’s inventory.

Shanta Driver is with the activist group By Any Means Necessary, which organized the effort. She says neighbors are watching the library, and they’ve organized a phone tree to bring in enough people to surround the library if and when moving trucks show up.

“There’s so many people in the neighborhood who have been watching, and just keeping tabs on what’s going on here, that I think we can be here,” Driver says.

BAMN and other library advocates say the branches are a vital resource in their neighborhoods, and closing them would deal a devastating blow.

Detroit Public Library officials say it’s a necessary move to cut costs in the face of declining revenues, and cover staff shortages.

Library shuttering deals a devastating blow to one Detroit community

Sarah Cwiek — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:41:13 +0000

Four branches of the Detroit Public Library system will shut their doors for good this week.

Library officials say it’s just a reflection of fiscal reality. But that’s cold comfort to Detroiters who will lose their neighborhood branches.

Despite last-minute outcry, 4 Detroit libraries to close this week

Sarah Cwiek — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:26:21 +0000

Four branches of the Detroit Public Library system will close this week, despite a last-minute push to keep them open.

Supporters of the four branches packed the Detroit Library Commission meeting Tuesday.

The Commission actually voted to close the libraries last month. But library advocates were hoping Commissioners would issue them a temporary reprieve, so they could try and raise money to keep the branches open.

But Commissioners refused to move the issue, meaning the branches will close as scheduled on December 22.