Beyond the Bus

It's no secret that CATA is proud of our community’s library system. We have profiled the Capital Area District Libraries’ services during the COVID-19 pandemic and their special Library of Things, where adult cardholders can check out unique hands-on items from ghost-hunting kits to bus passes.

We are turning the page to another chapter in our partnership with CADL, as we proudly join their Summer Reading Challenge. You do not have to be a library member to get involved, and it is free to join.

But why would you want to read as much as you can between now and the challenge’s August 8 deadline? We’ll give you five good reasons to crack open a good book for the Summer Reading Challenge.

1. It can be tailored toward any age.

The Summer Reading Challenge offers four separate tracks, depending on your age group. Babies, toddlers, kids, teens and adults can all be part of the challenge.

2. You could win a computer, iPad, Chromebook, or other piece of tech gear.

Kids and teens who complete all levels of the Summer Reading Challenge can enter to win one of (at least) 20 tech devices. CADL is giving away these devices to close the digital divide between kids with easy computer access and reliable Internet, and kids without.

Click here for the official rules and entry form.

3. You can pay back library fines.

Kids and teens can earn a $5 coupon to help pay back any library fines. They can earn this coupon just by reaching the second level of CADL’s Summer Reading Challenge.

4. It’s a way to beat the summer slide.

When school is out for summer, children can lose many of their academic gains from the school year. Reading levels, spelling skills, and vocabulary can take a hit.

Click here to learn more about the summer slide and how the Summer Reading Challenge can help fend it off.

5. There are opportunities to win new experiences and prizes.

Read and be rewarded! Participants could win gift cards to the MSU Dairy Store, Traverse City Pie Company, Meijer, Target, Biggby and more. For kids up to age 13, the grand prize is a family getaway to the Bavarian Inn Waterpark in Frankenmuth. Teens have a chance to win a 10-pack of one-hour passes to Launch Trampoline Park.

For a full list of prizes by age group, click here.

In addition to the Summer Reading Challenge, CADL is also hosting community scavenger hunts, online escape room challenges, virtual storytimes, craft corners and more. View their catalog of summer activities and join us in extending a huge “Thank you!” to CADL for creating innovative ways to make summer learning fun.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on businesses everywhere. Here in Lansing, some of our local businesses have decided to join the fight against COVID-19 and are helping however they can. We want to highlight some of the local heroes who have been going above and beyond to help stop the spread of the virus.

Michigrain Distillery is using their supplies of high-proof alcohol to create hand sanitizer. Co-owner Mike Bird describes how the distillery came to be an essential business in a recent interview with WILX: “Since there’s no more isopropyl, which is what everybody uses to make hand sanitizer with, we’ve turned into an essential organization because we have to use ethanol. It has the same properties as isopropyl when it comes to sanitization, we just stepped it up and decided to make more of it that we can.” 

Dart Container

Dart Container, a Mason-based company which makes food and beverage packaging, said it will donate between 5,000 and 10,000 plastic face shields to Sparrow Hospital in coming weeks to help protect health care workers. “It’s a tremendous honor for our people to play a role in helping protect health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dart CEO Jim Lammers said in a recent interview with Lansing State Journal. 

Gier Community Center

Gier Community Center has teamed up with over 20 local agencies to open a gymnasium to the homeless people of Lansing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The gymnasium opened with the help of the Capital Region Housing Collaborative, and is offering 49 total beds. Buses from CATA brought small groups of homeless people to the center, who received bedding, toiletries, water bottles, thermometers, and masks to shield their faces. Read more about the efforts of Gier Community Center here. 

This is a tough time for everyone, but it’s the efforts of businesses like these that will help get us through. Looking to send thanks to local businesses and individuals who have been helping on the front lines? Check out our blog post about spreading positivity amidst COVID-19.

Here at CATA, we are proud of our partnership with Michigan State University, especially during these hard times. Although MSU had to move classes online for the semester, that hasn’t stopped Spartans from joining the fight against COVID-19. Here are some ways MSU is helping to flatten the curve.

New COVID-19 Test Development

MSU researchers have developed a new COVID-19 test that provides quicker and more accurate results than other common tests. This method is much more sensitive and can detect the virus at small levels that the common test would miss, according to an MSU report. Developed by a team of researchers in the MSU College of Human Medicine, the test could be available for public use by the end of April. Learn more about MSU’s new COVID-19 test here. 

Face Mask Decontamination

Researchers at MSU have created a process that decontaminates masks used by healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients. This game-changing process, created by an MSU Extension Team, involves baking the masks in commercial ovens, allowing them to be reused at least 20 times. The team has been working with Sparrow Hospital to see if this process can be used with the hospital’s equipment, and hopes to share their work with other communities around the nation in the near future. Click here to learn more about MSU’s new decontamination process. 

Helping the country through this difficult time is an important part of MSU’s existence, said MSU President Samuel Stanley Jr. in a recent interview. “While this pandemic has created a variety of challenges, our university continues to find the will to innovate, respond and make a positive impact around the state, nation and world.”

Proud Partners

These are just two of the many reasons CATA is a proud partner of MSU. In CATA's 2019 Community Report, MSU staff and students discussed what the partnership means to them. View their testimonials in the Community Report here or watch them below.