News
Stay up to date on the latest news from Library of the Great Lakes.
Cover Image: Historical Newspapers courtesy of the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center
- 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
- 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!
- 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!
- The Fresh Coast Bookshelf 2026
Coming this January!
The Fresh Coast Bookshelf 2026
brought to you by Library of the Great Lakes
–The Fresh Coast Bookshelf program is a curated selection of books across age range and genre that celebrate the Great Lakes
Starting in January, applications will be accepted from public libraries for a chance to be awarded a Fresh Coast Bookshelf at no cost, which will also include a ready-made full-color display kit with poster, bookmarks, stickers and more to help highlight and feature these fantastic Great Lakes books!
Program open to all public libraries within the 8 U.S. States and 2 Canadian Provinces in the Great Lakes region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, Ontario and Quebec)
Awardees will get 12 curated titles to build their very own Fresh Coast Bookshelf!
Check back on Nov. 17th, when we’ll reveal the first four titles on the shelf…
Post Image: October Saugatuck by John Shultz
- Coming Soon!
The Fresh Coast Bookshelf 2026, brought to you by Library of the Great Lakes
October Saugatuck by John Schultz The Fresh Coast Bookshelf is a brand new application program bringing libraries in the region a curated selection of 12 books across age range and genre that celebrate the Great Lakes. It will include a ready-made “display in a box” to help highlight and feature these fantastic Great Lakes books.
Applications will be accepted starting in January for a chance to be awarded a program kit at no cost to the selected libraries.
Check back next month to find out more!
- September is National Library Card Signup Month!
Celebrate Library Card Signup Month!
This September, we invite you to celebrate Library Card Sign-Up Month and discover how a single card can open the door to endless opportunities.
While Library of the Great Lakes doesn’t offer cards or membership, we encourage you to stop in to your local library to check out their resources and events this month! Find your local library here: United States | Canada
With a library card, you can do more than check out books. From free classes and job resources to homework help, streaming media, and cultural events, today’s libraries connect communities to information, inspiration, and each other.
This year’s theme, “One Card, Endless Possibilities,” is a reminder that libraries are for everyone—no matter your age, background, or goals. Whether you’re diving into a new hobby, searching for your next great read, brushing up on tech skills, or helping your child succeed in school, it all starts with a library card.
- Dive into The Accidental Reef by Lynne Heasley!
The Library of the Great Lakes wants to highlight this engaging, educational, and beautifully-illustrated book The Accidental Reef by Lynne Heasley. Spend some time learning about the nature that surrounds us and what we stand to lose if it is not protected.
2022 NAUTILUS SILVER WINNER FOR LYRIC PROSE
Lynne Heasley illuminates an underwater world that, despite a ferocious industrial history, remains wondrous and worthy of care […] this powerful book takes readers on journeys through the Great Lakes, alongside fish and fishers, scuba divers and scientists, toxic pollutants and threatened communities, oil pipelines and invasive species, Indigenous peoples and federal agencies. […] Suffused with curiosity, empathy, and wit, The Accidental Reef will not fail to astonish and inspire.
- Welcome, Liz Hartig!
Library of the Great Lakes welcomes new board member, Liz Hartig
We are delighted to welcome Liz Hartig as our newest member of the Board of Directors. She brings with her experience as an academic librarian with practical and visionary ideas for the Library of the Great Lakes to better serve our community. Welcome to our team!
- New Edition of Living Here
New Edition of Living Here
Check out the newest edition of Living Here, where Keith Taylor gives us directions to a way of seeing among the jack pines.
johnshultzart.com - Great Lakes Echo talks about Great Lakes, Great Reads!
See what Great Lakes Echo has to say about the new book club– Great Lakes, Great Read!
Need a summer read? Join this basin-wide book club
Readers across the Great Lakes states and Canada this year will participate in a basin-wide book club hosted by the Library of the Great Lakes. From now until September 2025 participants will read…… greatlakesecho.org
- Announcing the new, basin-wide reading program!
Library of the Great Lakes– in conjunction with libraries and organizations around the Great Lakes– is delighted to announce a new basin-wide reading program!
Read our announcement and discover the books– one for children, and one for adults!
- Library of the Great Lakes receives grant!
New Partnership!
We’re delighted to announce a new partnership with Monroe County’s One Book One Community. We have been awarded a mini-grant from the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and Creative Washtenaw to work with Monroe County Community College (MCCC) in creating a special program to launch a month-long celebration of reading in the spring of 2024. Michigan author Sally Cole-Misch will talk about her novel, The Best Part of Us. The kick-off event will be on March 12, 2024.
This activity is supported by the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and administered by Creative Washtenaw.
- Library of the Great Lakes Featured in Flow
For Love of Water Advisor Dave Dempsey writes:
Long Overdue: A Library of the Great Lakes The Great Lakes have spawned a multitude of institutions from research to governance to the arts—but no library. Several leaders say it’s long overdue. - An Interview with Deb Polich
Our president Inger Schultz was featured on a segment of creative:impact with Deb Polich!
Amplifying Stories of the Great Lakes
A conversation with Library of the Great Lakes co-founder and president, Inger Schultz
Deb Polich
creative:impactInger Shultz
Library of the Great Lakes
