The Ann Arbor District Library (AADL) has long offered a staggering range of materials and resources, but the library recently added yet another community role to its ever-growing list: publishing books.

 “It’s like we’re book doulas,” says AADL deputy director Eli Neiburger, referring to the library’s newly launched Fifth Avenue Press. “We help with the birth, and then we hand the baby to you and say, ‘Good luck!'”

Inspired in part by AADL’s well-attended monthly creative writing classes and workshops, Fifth Avenue Press (5AP) – named for the street the downtown library is located on – just held an official launch party for its first nine titles by local writers. The nonuplets, to continue Neiburger’s analogy, are a diverse bunch, ranging from poetry to memoirs to a comic book. READ THE REST HERE