Margaret Wolfe Appointed to Michigan Commission for the Blind

Margaret Wolfe, Washtenaw County’s Librarian Coordinator for the Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled (LBPD) has been appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm to serve as one of the five Commissioners on the Michigan Commission for the Blind.  The appointment caps a remarkable career of work providing and expanding library services for people who are blind or have other physical disabilities.

Since becoming Librarian Coordinator of the LBPD in 1995, Wolfe has helped create a number of innovative programs and enhancements for LBPD consumers, some receiving national recognition. These include the very popular LBPD Book Lovers Club, now in its eleventh year; the Many Ways of Seeing partnership with the University of Michigan School of Art & Design that pairs undergraduate students with library patrons to create art with clay, and the biennial VISIONS Vendor Fair, sponsored by LBPD and Michigan Commission for the Blind, drawing upwards of a thousand participants.

Wolfe is a recipient of the New York Times Librarian Award (2003), the 2006 Library of Michigan's State Librarians Excellence Award, the Michigan Commission for the Blind 2006 Community Partner Achievement Honor Roll Award, and the 2006 Network Subregional Library of the Year Award (National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress).

Wolfe is ready for this next challenge. “In this new role on the Board for the Michigan Commission for the Blind, I’m looking forward to supporting innovation that will sustain the social, emotional and intellectual health of Michigan citizens who are blind or visually impaired.”

The Commission for the Blind is the state government agency that provides training, services, and other opportunities, each year, to more than 4,500 individuals who are blind or visually impaired so that each person can achieve his or her own goals for independence and/or employment.