Idea Lab Manufactures Face Shields for COVID-19 Relief Efforts

Jeff Jimison models 3D Printed Face Mask for COVID-19

To assist with COVID-19 relief efforts, the Baldwin Public Library Idea Lab is 3D printing protective face shields for donation to local hospitals. These shields are an important part of the protective equipment worn by medical professionals, and act as the first line of defense by preventing viral particles from reaching the face.

The head bracket is 3D printed, and the shield itself is a common acetate sheet. Eleven 3D printers are able to produce the shields at a rate of one shield every 3 minutes. After printing, the masks are sterilized in The Idea Lab’s vacuum desiccator, and bagged for delivery. The shield design the Idea Lab is printing is the “Modified Verkstan V1,” a model available for download on Thingiverse.com by user TDMakes. The print file is a modification of an original design from 3DVerkstan, a Swedish additive manufacturing firm.

A regular user of the Idea Lab, Tommy Daguano, donated the first batch of acetate sheets, and delivered Baldwin’s first set of 100 masks to Beaumont Hospital on Friday, March 27. The Idea Lab has also printed shields for each member of the Birmingham Fire Department.

After hearing about the initial success of the project, the Friends of the Baldwin Public Library have donated $2,320 to purchase supplies to make 2,000 face shields and purchase an additional 3D printer for the Idea Lab.

Friends President Ryndee Carney said, “Everyone is proud and excited to support this initiative, especially in our 70th anniversary year. The Friends have a long tradition of donating equipment to the BPL.” Community members interested in supporting this project financially may make donations to the Friends of the Baldwin Public Library online at www.baldwinlib.org/friends.

With the influx of donations and community support, Idea Lab Supervisor and project coordinator Jeff Jimison said, “Thanks to the Friends donation, and funding from other sources as well, our group now has eleven 3D printers devoted to producing vital PPE. This puts us on track to deliver 500 face shields to local hospitals this week. This is what we can accomplish when we work together!”

If you’d like more information or would like to donate money to this cause, please email Jeff Jimison in the Idea Lab.

Temporary Amendments to Freedom of Information Act

Yesterday, Governor Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-38, which temporarily amends portions of the Freedom of Information Act, , 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 et.seq . The summary below provides basic information about this EO along with a link to a more substantive explanation provided by Anne Seurynck of Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith. (see link at the end of this e-mail)

Please review this information carefully and consult with your library’s attorney if you have questions about its application to FOIA requests received by your library.

EO 2020-38 provides certain temporary amendments to the Freedom of Information Act , 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 et.seq in order to account for public bodies which have closed and/or staff that are working remotely and may not have access to either physical requests (such as physical mail or fax), and/or may not have access to the requested information or documents.

The EO emphasizes the importance of citizens’ access to information and necessity of public bodies to respond to FOIA requests as soon as it is practicable under the current circumstances, and, if the request is submitted electronically (e-mail or text) , and if the requested information is available electronically and remotely, FOIA requests should be fulfilled electronically, and in accordance with current law.

The summary below is only for purposes of information and notification and should not be considered legal advice. Questions about how this EO may apply to particular libraries and particular circumstances should be directed to the library’s attorney

EO 2020-38

Provides libraries with additional time to respond to requests received physically via mail and fax, from 5 days to 10 days.
Permits requests to not be considered “received” until the physical envelope is opened, or the fax removed from the machine. However, any employee opening the envelope or picking up the fax triggers the response timing.
Requests received via e-mail or text are not addressed by EO 2020-38 and presumably must be responded to according to the current law- MCL 15.235 (1) http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-15-235
If a library receives FOIA requests, but because of COVID-19 related circumstances, is not able to fulfill the request within the 10 days, the library may respond to the requestor within 10 days and extend the date to fulfill the request until no later than the expiration date of this order (EO 2020-38), June 4, 2020. EO 2020-38 doesn’t specify the wording of the request, so existing wording under the current statute, MCL 15.235, (particularly subsection 7) http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-15-235 plus an explanation for the adoption of the longer extension would likely suffice.
Requests requiring in-person access by the requestor to fulfill may be deferred for a time up to the expiration date of EO 2020-38 (June 4, 2020). The response to the requestor must be made as with any other response to a request ( see above and MCL 15.235), and the reason for the deferral must be included. The deferral must also include a notice informing requestor that they may submit an amended request for any portion of their original request that does not require in-person access.
A requestor who receives a deferral for a request requiring in -person access may submit an amended request in order to receive materials in the original request that do not require in-person access.

Thorough information and explanation about this Executive Order and its application to requests can be found in this explanation provided by Anne Seurynck: https://www.fosterswift.com/communications-whitmer-temporarily-suspends-foia-deadlines.html

ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition

Important Information about the 2020 ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition related to Coronavirus COVID 19.

The American Library Association has made the difficult decision to cancel its Annual Conference & Exhibition scheduled for June 25-30, 2020, in Chicago.

The association will be working with conference registrants directly over the coming weeks. As well, ALA staff, in partnership with ALA member leaders, are developing plans to carry out the important business of the Association, such as Council and division board meetings.

Please visit the ALA pandemic preparedness resource page for more information about how libraries can be community partners in response to this outbreak.

Linda Sickles Memorial Service

Former FOML Board Member and Advisor Linda Sickles passed away on Sunday, December 15th. Linda was the director of the Orion Township Public Library for 31 years, starting in late 1980. She retired in early 2012 after a very successful career. She was involved in many activities and organizations in the Lake Orion community over her tenure, and she brought much joy to all who lived there.

Memorial service for Linda will be on Friday, December 20th at 2:00 pm at St. Paul's Methodist Church in Rochester, MI.

ALA Responds to Macmillan Letter

On October 29, Macmillan Publishers CEO John Sargent wrote a public letter to the library community explaining Macmillan’s pending embargo on new ebook titles for libraries. The American Library Association’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office issued the following response on October 30:

“Hours before the American Library Association (ALA), the Public Library Association and allies were to deliver more than 160,000 petition signatures opposing the planned November 1 embargo on library ebook purchases (and two months after the campaign began), Macmillan Publishers CEO John Sargent directly addressed librarians for the first time. Unfortunately, the letter misrepresents ALA’s longstanding and good-faith efforts to equitably balance the rights and privileges of readers, libraries, authors, and publishers.

“To begin to correct and clarify the record, ALA asserts:

• ALA (and all the library systems we are aware of) has consistently opposed any effort to delay or deny library access to digital content. Macmillan Publishers is the only large publisher (of the “Big Five”) that perceives a business need to limit library purchases. ALA has frequently requested but never received data or analysis that demonstrates that library lending undermines book sales. It is simply false to state otherwise.

• Providing perpetual access and reducing the price for a single copy is important to ensuring all people have access to the world’s knowledge through our nation’s libraries, regardless of format. Libraries in communities of all sizes deserve the right to fair prices and terms consistent with consumer access, period.

• As San Francisco Public Library Director Michael Lambert wrote on October 30, ‘Right now, there are 450 holds at San Francisco Public Library on an eBook that currently tops the bestseller list. That’s despite the fact that the library carries 100 copies of this particular popular title in a digital format.’ With contracts limiting library lending to one eBook per reader at a time, we can assure Macmillan there is plenty of ‘friction’ in our current system. In fact, don’t take our word for it. Look at your local library’s wait list for any best-selling title right now.

• Since 2012, ALA leaders have met with major publishers, distributors, authors, and representative associations to seek sustainable solutions for library eBook lending. Restricting access to authors’ works through libraries hurts discovery, reading choice, literacy, and the simple love of reading. Libraries are committed to a vibrant ecosystem that enables authors to find their audiences and allows readers to explore the broadest range of materials. We reject simple binary solutions in a complex and dynamic environment and urge Macmillan to work harder with us to find fair and equitable paths forward.

• Whether intended or not, delaying or denying access to content hurts libraries and readers. An embargo is the wrong answer to an unsubstantiated problem that no other major publisher seems to face. If Sargent cannot or will not hear us, we will continue to take action with our community leaders and patrons, with Congress, with state legislators and attorneys general, and with publishers and authors who view libraries as allies rather than adversaries.

“Find more information at ebooksforall.org. Follow the conversation at #eBooksForAll.”

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month

Signing up for a library card is the first step towards academic achievement and lifelong learning. The American Library Association has teamed up with Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” characters Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Bo Peep and friends on an adventure to promote the value of a library card.

Here's more information from ALA to help libraries celebrate and promote Library Card Sign-Up Month.

There are suggested activities for your library and your patrons, special graphics to print for adding signs in your library and other graphics for posting on your website and social media.

Michigan Digital Preservation Initiative

Linked below are several items of interest to those who have been following along with the Statewide & Regional Stepping Stones to the National Digital Platform Project, https://www.gvsu.edu/library/stepping-stones-68.htm. We’ll continue to have updates going out on listservs for the remainder of the project (through November), but if you have not already we are now encouraging project followers to please subscribe to the new project listserv at http://mail2.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/mi-digital-preservation.

A recording from our August Virtual Community Planning Meeting is now available. If you couldn’t make the call feel free to catch-up/ keep-up with all the great work.
https://zoom.us/recording/play/6b0E7wJc9bQFMECamWzXGHXEmce9kLtw5tm21KHFmOdzmaaQDv1UO-pmHN_Kt0J9?startTime=1566830953000

Please take a moment also to read our Project White Paper on Community Governance, and then fill out our brief Community Governance Survey. https://gvsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ewBzWvj5gcs9t7T

We need your feedback on the type of governance structure you would like to see available for your institution as we lay the foundation for the launch of a state digital preservation network/community in 2020.

White paper - https://www.gvsu.edu/cms4/asset/0862059E-9024-5893-1B5AAAC2F83BDDD8/stepping_stones_gov_workshop_wp_draft.pdf

Stay tuned for more details this coming week on the upcoming project workshop scheduled for the Michigan Museums Association Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, MI (October 2^nd-5^th).

As always, if you have any questions in between now and out next Virtual Community Planning Call on September 30^th, from 11am-12pm ET, don’t hesitate to follow-up with me (Matt Schultz, schultzm@gvsu.edu).

All best,

Matt Schultz
Curation and Digital Preservation Librarian
Grand Valley State University Libraries

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