Canton Library Nabs First Time National Award

The 2013 LibraryAware Community Award was given to the Canton Public Library.

The Canton Public Library is receiving recognition after topping nearly 100 libraries from all across the country to receive the first-ever LibraryAware Community Award.  The award is given to the library the best emphasizes engagement with the community and demonstrates its ability to make the community aware of library programs and resources. It is sponsored by Library Journal and funded by LibraryAware - a product by EBSCO Publishing,  "We were very, very excited about it," Community Relations Director Laurie Golden said. "There's a lot of libraries all over the country that are bigger than us, that probably have better name recognition and that are well known in the industry for doing really great things. For us to beat out some of …

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Canton Public Library Gets New Study Rooms

Canton middle school students conceptualized and raised funds for the project.

Canton Public Library added six new study rooms last week at its east end, making a grand total of nine in the library not including the area for quiet study. "We had three study rooms there before we added the additional ones," said Laurie Golden, department head of library community relations. "They are basically taking up space where there were just some study tables." Funding for the project came from the work of a team of Destination Imagination students. Golden said they are a group of middle school students from Canton Township that worked together to raise money for the library. The team of Destination Imagination students included Nithika Sivashankar, Abinand Thiruvenkat, Rishi Mahesh, Sanjana Sathrasala, Pooja Bharadwaj, Ananya …

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Plymouth and Canton 2012 Voter Guide

The candidates, incumbents and issues that will be affecting Plymouth and Canton.

This is a big election year nationally, statewide and locally. As we look ahead to the Nov. 6 election, Plymouth-Canton Patch is devoted to bringing you the information you need about every race in town. Bookmark this page for updates. Here are the six state proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot in Michigan. For more information on the state ballot proposals, go to Vote411.org and to Ballotpedia. Come back to Plymouth-Canton Patch for more election updates.

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'Big Ideas' for Canton Library's Nichole Welz

Canton Public Library's new program specialist for children, tweens and teens is sometimes called the 'new' Miss Kristen, but Nicole Welz is singing a different tune.

The most common refrain Nichole Welz has heard since joining Canton Public Library's staff two months ago is, "So you're the new Miss Kristen" — a reference to her predecessor, Kristen Kostielney. Welz relates the story with a faint grimace which melts into a playful smile. No, she responds to such questions, she's not. She hopes in time to establish a presence with library regulars — some already know who she is — though for now, she's busy creating 2012 projects and thinking up unique programs for children, tweens and teens. Her blue eyes flash as she talks about the immediate future and the pace of change and the role she's taken on. "I have big ideas," she said. "We'll see." So how does one assume the mantel of a new job — in this …

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'Snail Mail' Project Aims at Christmas and Beyond

Canton Library hosts Snail Mall for Seniors card-making session

Cathy Donaldson spread out card-making materials in Canton Public Library's Purple Room on Saturday and didn't have to wait long for help in making greeting cards. Donaldson, a long-time Canton resident who currently lives in Plymouth, founded Snail Mail for Seniors four years ago as a way to cheer up people who living in nursing homes or are mostly homebound. This time of year, she's in a hurry to get as many holiday cards out as possible. Many of the cards made on Saturday featured Christmas trees and other iconic images. Other cards, however, emphasized the winter season, with such embellishments as blue foam snowflakes that volunteers could glue to the cards. Some of Donaldson's friends helped on Saturday -- Sue Kalis, Joan Mountford …

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Debra Madonna

1:58 pm on Sunday, December 11, 2011

Cathy and her elves spead good cheer and happy thoughts all year long.   more ›

Canton Commentary

Eva Davis, on Community's Response to 'Stuff the Truck' Drive

Canton Public Library director Eva Davis offers gratitude for the community's response to the recent 'Stuff the Truck' drive for Detroit Area Diaper Bank.

Editor's note: If you'd like to express an opinion, email Canton Patch editor Peg McNichol at peg.mcnichol@patch.com and put "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line. We wish to thank our community for the tremendous response to our diaper drive to support the Detroit Area Diaper Bank.  Over a two-day period, we received 31,022 diapers, which will be distributed to social services organizations to help families in need.  The giving spirit of the Canton community has been overwhelming but not surprising. In May, our supply drive to benefit the Michigan Military Moms resulted in over 200 boxes of supplies being shipped to US troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Canton Public Library is indebted to Fat Chef in a Little Coat …

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Good Morning, Canton! ~ Linda Garrett

Linda Garrett is a founding member of the Friends of the Canton Public Library.

Since her retirement earlier this year from being a teacher-librarian for Crestwood School District (she worked for Plymouth-Canton Community Schools 20 years, ago), Linda Garrett has kept very busy. One way: She's a founding member of the Friends of the Canton Public Library. This year, the Friends are selling $5 gift certificates — perfect stocking stuffers, Garrett notes — good for purchases at the library's volunteer-run bookstore, Secondhand Prose. Garrett summed up her passion is two words ina recent email to Canton Patch. "Reading rocks," she wrote. The Friends have raised more than $64,000 for the library over the last year, which has helped fund such programs as Connect Your Summer as well as purchase materials for the Michigan …

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Good Morning, Canton! ~ Marybeth Levine and Eva Davis

Canton Public Library's 'Stuff the Truck' drive draws more than 30,000 donations for Detroit Area Diaper Bank.

You'd think Mother Nature would have been less daunting to the volunteers on duty at Canton Public Library during the annual two-day Stuff the Truck drive for Detroit Area Diaper Bank and the donors who streamed by. But instead of Tuesday's balmy weather, they were greeted with the sting of winter's leading edge. No matter. The warmth of the giving season prevailed, as Marybeth Levine, the diaper bank's founder, and library director Eva Davis attest in their greeting this morning. To the very last moments of the drive, at 9 p.m. Thursday, people were still delivering all kinds -- from newborn-size to adult --  of disposable diapers, totalling more than 30,000. Some also donated wipes and gas money, Levine said. Because state aid doesn't …

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Five Things You Need to Know, Nov. 17, 2011

Stuff a truck, donate food and make plans to visit Plymouth-Canton Marching Band's craft show.

Fans of he Michigan Philharmonic's Three French Horns perform at 7 tonight at Liberty Street Brewing Company, 149 W. Liberty St., Plymouth. The Canton Public Library, 1200 S. Canton Cnter= wraps up a 2-day drive to help the Detroit Area Diaper Bank reach this year's goal of 200,000 diapers by Thanksgiving. Diapers of all sizes are collected — and in this case, open packages are welcome. Look for theFat Chef in a Little Coat Catering Services truck outside the library. The diaper bank also collects donations of money; bring a check or money order to help pay for the gas used to haul the diapers to others. The library is at 1200 S. Canton Center Rd. Check out Escaping Into History, set for 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Yankee Air Museum, 47884…

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