Welcome to Library of the Great Lakes
Contained within the immensity, complexity, and beauty of the Great Lakes are stories of shifting tectonic plates, volcanoes, and glaciers; of mammoths, and hunters; of First Nations, explorers, fur-traders, miners, and loggers; of great ships and bustling cities and industries that changed the world; of countless lives altered, enriched, and lost. The Great Lakes region is the home to innovation, research, technology, science, industry, architecture, poetry, theater, freshwater studies, lake effect snow, sustainable agriculture, fisheries, wilderness and wildness.
One fifth of Earth’s fresh surface water is contained in the Great Lakes. Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior are so big they create their own weather.
It is time they had their own Library.
What's the Latest?
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Learn About The City On Three Lakes!
The City on Three Lakes: A Maritime History of Charlevoix & the Surrounding Region is a new book by the Charlevoix Historical Society and authors David L. Miles and Ole Lyngklip. This book aims to be a definitive pictorial history of Charlevoix, a northern Michigan community nestled between Lake Michigan, Lake Charlevoix, and Round Lake.
Proceeds from the book will benefit the Charlevoix Historical Society, who also offers many free resources that we want to highlight. You can visit their website to read excerpts from the book, see historical photographs, find events, and explore Charlevoix’s history!The Authors of The City on Three Lakes were recently interviewed on Mission Point Press’s podcast This One’s About. You can find this episode wherever you get your podcasts, or on their website.
Through original scholarship, historical narrative, and meticulous research, The City on Three Lakes traces the evolving relationship between Charlevoix and its waters—from Indigenous homelands and early settlement through the navigation, industry, infrastructure, and culture that have shaped the region across centuries.
Bringing together more than 875 images, the book offers an unparalleled visual account of the area’s maritime legacy. Expansive in scope and richly documented, it illuminates the people, traditions, and defining moments that shaped not just a city, but an interconnected region bound by shared waters and a shared past. (via cityon3lakes.com)Ole Lyngklip is a director of the Charlevoix Historical Society, where he has curated several exhibits on the history of Charlevoix, including 2018’s 150 Years of Photography and 2023’s A Maritime History of Charlevoix, both cocurated with
David L. Miles is a local historian specializing in Charlevoix, MI. He has won several awards, written 10 books, and produced two documentaries. Miles has also contributed to an Earl Young documentary, which won an Emmy and aired on Michigan PBS.
Charles R. Eisendrath, who wrote the foreward to The City on Three Lakes, is a former Time magazine correspondent and prominent journalist. He later transitioned to academia, teaching at University of Michigan and founding the Wallace House, which grants the annual Livingston Awards, “the Pulitzer Prize for the young.” He has lived in Northern Michigan for a number of years, where he has cultivated a cherry farm, founded a maple syrup company, and invented a new kind of wood-burning grill. You can read more about his experiences in Michigan in his book Downstream From Here.
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Catching up with Fresh Coast Bookshelf!
Our Fresh Coast Bookshelf program is in full swing! Libraries around the Great Lakes have received their books, and here are some of their photos and updates!
Have you read any of our Fresh Coast picks? Even if you don’t live near one of these libraries, check out some of these books! let us know what you think and keep up with our Fresh Coast libraries on social media!
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Read our Interview with Dave Dempsey!
Great Lakes expert and author, Dave Dempsey, interviewed LGL cofounder Inger Schultz about the organization’s origins, programs, and the future of the library! You can read their conversation on Dave’s substack.
A New Kind of Library Gaining Momentum: an Interview with Library of the Great Lakes
There is an urgency to bring light on the treasures of the Great Lakes region; to let people know about its wealth of history and cultures, literature, science, discoveries, and its flora and fauna. And to share the region’s significance in the global economy, its resources, and its beauty and fragility… dempseyd.substack.com
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Awards Announced: Fresh Coast Bookshelf 2026
Awards Announced: Fresh Coast Bookshelf 2026
brought to you by Library of the Great Lakes
This winter, libraries across the Great Lakes applied for our first-ever Fresh Coast Bookshelf program. This May, we announced which 10 libraries will receive:
- 12 curated books across age-range and genre that celebrate the Great Lakes
- A full-color promotional kit
And the awardees are:
- Bridgman Public Library
- Cleveland Public Library
- Frankenmuth Wickson District Library
- Grand Ledge Area District Library
- Huntington Woods Public Library
- Lincoln Township Public Library
- Ojibwa Community Library
- Oswego Public Library
- Presque Isle District Library
- Salem-South Lyon District Library
THANK YOU to everyone who applied.
We received over 100 applications, from towns of 300 residents to cities of 1.5 million! We were heartened to read how the Great Lakes play a role in so many diverse communities, and how literature can connect us all to the land we share. We wish we could send books to every library, and we hope that to reach even more communities each year!To learn more about the program, download free materials, or help us expand in future years, visit our Fresh Coast webpage!
Visit our Fresh Coast Webpage!
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Announcing: Great Lakes, Great Read 2026
We are excited to announce the titles chosen for this year’s Great Lakes, Great Read!
Great Lakes, Great Read is based on the One Book, One Community model where reading programs choose one book for libraries, community groups, and the public to read and enjoy together over the course of a year.This year’s GLGR Titles are:
Picture Book
Sport: Ship Dog of the Great Lakes by Pamela Cameron Middle Grade
Saving Our Sturgeon: Protecting Wisconsin’s Ancient Fish by Rebecca Hogue Wojahn Adult
The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon Click any of the covers above to see them in our Digital Bookshelf!
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Get Caught Up In The Gales of November!
The Library of the Great Lakes is excited to recommend The Gales of November, John U. Bacon’s new book about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes overtook Europe as the epicenter of global economic strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century better than the 729-foot-long Edmund Fitzgerald―the biggest, best, and most profitable ship on the Lakes […] When she sank, she took all 29 men onboard down with her, leaving the tragedy shrouded in mystery for a half century.
Read Lori Tucker Sullivan’s review of The Gales of November
50 Years On, Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald
'The Gales of November' was a labor of love for Bacon, who, like many in the Midwest, grew up hearing stories of the tragedy. It's a weighty tome, coming in at over 400 pages, and full of interesting facts and heart-rending remembrances… nextavenue.org
Author John U. Bacon is going on tour!
Right now, John U. Bacon is touring the country, including several stops in the Great Lakes. For information on tour dates and ordering The Gales of November, visit his website.
Collage Photos:
Top Row, left to right: “Sandhill Crane Flying on and Autumn Morning,” photograph by Silke-Maria Weineck; Photo courtesy of Amanda Rockafellow; The City of Buffalo Steam Side Wheeler, Library of Congress collection; Portion of Detroit Public Library in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, 1921, Library of Congress collection; Two Indian guides(?) standing, and two women seated, in canoe, in the Sault Sainte Marie region of Michigan, Library of Congress collection; Montreal Winter Carnival 1887, Library of Congress collection.
Bottom row, left to right: Neighboring Lighthouse, Lake Michigan, St Joseph, MI, Library of Congress collection; Inspection Lincoln Motor Co. Detroit 1914 1915, Library of Congress collection; Sleeping Bear Dune_credit: johnshultzart.com; Great Lakes from space_credit: EPA; Photo courtesy of Amanda Rockafellow; McGregor Memorial Conference Cent., Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, Library of Congress collection.