This National Library Week event, featuring attorney Jennifer Dukarski, is an in-depth look at online publishing and First Amendment issues and is co-sponsored by AADL and the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC) Institute a non-profit created to sponsor and support First Amendment education and research.

The program will cover a wide variety of subjects such as the intricacies of online publishing, interactivity, user generated content, crowd sourcing, defamation, privacy, copyright, and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and will also feature specific examples and significant case law relating to these issues.

Approximately 14,000 children are in foster care at any given time in Michigan. How can we keep these children safe and cared for until they can be returned to their family? It is a community effort.

Join service providers from across Washtenaw County as they discuss the current state of Michigan's foster care, the innovative partnerships that have been created to address the challenges and ways that the community can help protect one of its most valuable resources. This event, held during Foster Care Month, features representatives from the following organizations:

CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate Association): Providing citizen-volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities;
Department of Human Services – State of Michigan: Raising hope and fostering dreams for Michigan's children and foster care families;
Faith Communities Coalition on Foster Care: Educating and motivating faith congregations in the support of Washtenaw County foster children and families;
Foster Care Navigators: Supporting the continuing growth of Michigan's foster parent population;
Our House: Providing support and resources for Washtenaw County youth aging out of foster care

Do not miss this opportunity to find out more about the state of foster care in Michigan.

Come join the conversation about sustainability in Ann Arbor!

The City and the AADL are hosting the third annual Sustainable Ann Arbor Series, which will include four events (held monthly and ending in April), each focusing on a different element of sustainability from Ann Arbor’s Sustainability Framework.

This second event in the series centers on Healthy Ecosystems, including an overview of Ann Arbor’s urban and community forest, tips for sustainable landscaping, yard design, and stormwater management at home.

A think tank of local stakeholders including representatives from community organizations, City of Ann Arbor staff, and Washtenaw County staff will join the public to discuss local sustainability efforts and challenges in our community. Panelists for this session include: Bonnie Bona​, Project Manager, Clean Energy Coalition; Commissioner, City of Ann Arbor Planning Commission; Kerry Gray, Urban Forestry & Natural Resources Coordinator, City of Ann Arbor; Roger Moon, Master Rain Gardener,Washtenaw County Master Rain Gardener Program; Evan Pratt, Water Resources Commissioner, Office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner; and Harry Sheehan, Environmental Manager, Office of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner​.

Each program will include a series of short presentations followed by a question and answer session, offering an opportunity to learn more about sustainability in the community and tips for residents.

The military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have greatly increased the number of veterans returning home with combat exposure, reintegration issues, and psychiatric symptoms. National Guard and Reserve service members and their families face additional challenges, as they prepare for deployment on a part-time basis while still meeting their obligations in their home communities. Unlike active duty service members and families, they do not return to military installations with access to military health services or peers. And in many cases, their home communities may lack the services and resources to address the reintegration issues that might arise.

To address these issues, The Military Support Programs And Networks (M-SPAN) Program Team from the University of Michigan Depression Center and Department of Psychiatry has drawn on their experience and expertise in the areas of outreach and access; peer-to-peer programs; family, marital and parenting interventions; and support group facilitation, to develop and tailor programs designed to meet the unique mental health needs of returning veterans and their families, including National Guard and Reserve service members.

Marcia Valenstein, MD, MS, a professor in the U-M Department of Psychiatry and member of the U-M Depression Center, will give a brief overview presentation outlining the unique mental health needs of veterans, as well as successful intervention programs designed specifically for veterans and their families. This will be followed by questions and a panel discussion, including Edward J. Thomas, LMSW, BCD, Staff Social Worker, PTSD Clinical Team, and Military Sexual Trauma Coordinator, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and Nick Anderson, Systems of Care Coordinator, Michigan Army National Guard. This event is cosponsored by the AADL and the U-M Depression Center.

For more information on the U-M Depression Center, please visit the Depression Center website at depressioncenter.org or contact Trish Meyer at 734.763.7495 or meyerpa@umich.edu.

Do you have a family member or loved one who is experiencing loss of their memory? How do you comfort them? What should you do as a friend, family member or caretaker?

Join us for an informational session that will outline many strategies for care, including a focus on the individual’s abilities and what they are still able to do independently. The session will also cover how to incorporate past interests into care for your love one.

The event, co-sponsored by AADL and Glacier Hills Senior Living Community, will feature presenter Tammy Maggert, Director of Memory Care Service for Glacier Hills, and Sonja Wallace, Therapy Glacier Hills Memory Care Leader.

Glacier Hills Senior Living Community is proudly celebrating its 40th anniversary as a non-profit, non-sectarian senior living and care provider serving southeast Michigan, whose mission is to serve older adults with a continuum of lifestyle, care and support alternatives embracing enrichment of the whole person. For 40 years Glacier Hills’ has both pioneered and continually renewed its commitment to a premier senior lifestyle through transformative change.

"20 Feet From Stardom" just won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature! Here to tell us more about the making of this important new film – fresh from the Oscar red carpet experience – is the film’s editor Jason Zeldes, with an insider’s look at what it is like to edit a major motion picture – from rough cut to the critically lauded final product.

Jason will show rare raw footage from this acclaimed film and describe how he approached the editing process and its challenges.

Jason Zeldes has been working exclusively in documentary filmmaking for the past four years, racking up credits on several features and getting the opportunity to work with several Sundance Film Fest alums. Steadily rising through LA’s documentary community as a film editor since graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts in 2009, his most recent work include one of the most acclaimed films of the year, 20 Feet From Stardom, which debuted on opening night of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and has gone on to receive multiple awards. He is currently making his directorial debut with a new documentary Romeo is Bleeding, which is a finalist for the San Francisco Film Society 2014 Documentary Film Fund Award.

20 Feet From Stardom shines the spotlight on the untold stories of such legendary background singers as Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill and more. These are the triumphs and heartbreaks of music's most unsung talents, featuring rare behind-the-scenes footage, vintage live performances, and interviews with superstars Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger, Bette Midler, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Chris Botti and Sheryl Crow.

Do not miss this extraordinary opportunity to learn more about this most important aspect of filmmaking with one of the leaders in the motion picture editing field

Want to know more about the Affordable Care Act?

Representatives trained by the Washtenaw Health Initiative discuss how the Affordable Care Act will change insurance coverage options at the local level. The presentation is meant to inform individuals about existing and new insurance coverage options through an educational and interactive session .

Specific topics include coverage and general eligibility requirements for the new Marketplace insurance exchanges as well as Medicaid expansion in the state of Michigan. Questions are highly encouraged and resources will be provided to those who may additional questions after the session ends.

Want to know more about the Affordable Care Act?

Representatives trained by the Washtenaw Health Initiative discuss how the Affordable Care Act will change insurance coverage options at the local level. The presentation is meant to inform individuals about existing and new insurance coverage options through an educational and interactive session .

Specific topics include coverage and general eligibility requirements for the new Marketplace insurance exchanges as well as Medicaid expansion in the state of Michigan. Questions are highly encouraged and resources will be provided to those who may additional questions after the session ends.

This event will be repeated on Monday, March 17 at 7 pm at the Downtown Library.

Tom Clynes returns to the AADL on Earth Day with stunning photos and stories from Canada’s Yukon Territory, the subject of his 22-page feature story in February’s National Geographic magazine. Tom will bring us along on assignment to one of the most spectacular and wildlife-rich territories on Earth, an Arctic Serengeti whose extreme seasonal shifts beckon vast herds of caribou and other animals into motion. He’ll share rags-to-riches stories of modern-day prospectors, and spotlight the growing tension between indigenous peoples who would keep the Yukon’s wilderness unbroken, and miners whose success depends on digging it up.

Tom Clynes is an author and photographer who covers the adventurous side of science and environmental issues. He contributes regularly to National Geographic and Popular Science, where he is a contributing editor. He’s also the author of the upcoming book “The Boy Who Played With Fusion.” After his presentation, Tom will host a Q & A session.

As the lead singer of the Animals, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Eric Burdon was one of the British Invasion’s most distinctive vocalists, with a searingly powerful blues-rock voice.

Hailed by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Voices of All Time, Burdon is the voice behind a long string of iconic hits like “House of the Rising Sun”, “Spill the Wine”, “San Franciscan Nights”, “Sky Pilot”, ”It’s My Life”, ”Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, the Vietnam-era anthem ”We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, and many more. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 1994, Burdon’s music forged new territory while also topping the charts for more than 5 decades. Highly prolific, Burdon has released nearly 50 records in 50 years, as front man of The Animals and WAR and simply as Eric Burdon.

Jim Leonard, freelance musicologist, will take a look at the life, career and music of this legend, who, as front man and driving force of The Animals, helped shape rock and roll’s DNA.

This event is co-sponsored by the Michigan Theater and held in conjunction with their March 13 concert featuring Eric Burdon & The Animals.