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Michael R. Shamalla , appointed director in 1979, led Willard Library through the early days of the telecommunications revolution. The library would add a video collection, microcomputer services and database searching over the next decade. Shamalla also had a hand with Kellogg Community College’s Frank Crookes in launching “The Battle Creek Plan,” a precursor to the Great Lakes FreeNet. Upon his resignation in 1990, the Battle Creek Enquirer lauded Shamalla’s progressive vision. “During the controversy involving Salman Rushdie’s best-selling novel, “The Satanic Verses,” Shamalla spoke of his concern for keeping minds open to new ideals and challenging concepts,” the paper wrote.
