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Flint Public Library

Aired December 13 and 14, 1997

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This is Internet On The Air. I'm Todd Mundt. Flint, Michigan is well known for making cars. But this city is also gaining a reputation for producing another kind of vehicle...an Internet site that conveys a sense of community. Details in a moment.

Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of Michigan School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Flint Public Library is next door to a local high school. It is also near a planetarium and an art museum. This is a sign of the close times the library shares with the educational, social and artistic sectors of the community.

The Flint Public Library is redefining the role such institutions play in the community. With support from the W-K Kellogg Foundation, Apple Libraries for the Future and others, Flint librarians are creating and redesigning new models for services.

Kids Webstation is one example. This site includes an Internet project called "In the Camera's Eye." Children take pictures of familiar places in Flint, and then make a photo gallery on the Web. The project teaches the value of information sharing, communication and networking. Children from all over the city who otherwise would never meet learn to collaborate and build relationships within their virtual community networks.

The potential of the Internet to serve as a virtually unlimited information resource raises the question of what role traditional libraries will play in the 21st Century. But librarians and staff at the Flint Public Library have shown waht a public library committed to the community can achieve by using the Internet.

To visit the Flint Public Library and other public libraries involved in community networking, visit our Web site at www.iota.org. For Internet On The Air, I'm Todd Mundt.

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Related Links

For further information about the Flint Public Library, try these Web Sites:

• Flint Public Library site
  
  
  
• Kellogg/ALOT Community Networking Initiative in Flint
  
  
  
• Flint Community Networking Initiative: Developing a Map, a Model, and a License
  

To find out about community networking, check here.

• The Community Connector: Community Networks and Commuity Information Systems
  (A project of the University of Michigan School of Information)

To learn about public libraries and the Internet, try these sites:

• See a Summary of the 1997 American Library Association's Public Libraries and the Internet Survey Results
  
  
• How many public libraries are on the Interent? Check the ALA Public Libraries and the Internet Fact Sheet (based on 1996 survey results).
  
  
• You might also want to visit the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy site for information on related surveys and activities.

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The Interview

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Last Updated January 26, 2000