In Michigan, we have many needs: higher-paying jobs, better educational outcomes, and more public transit. Above all, we need more people. 

A lot is at stake. Even if your neighborhood feels bustling, when Michigan’s population stops growing, the state actually shrinks in all the ways that matter. Since 1970, we’ve lost a seat in Congress after every census, and those same population counts decide how hundreds of billions in federal funding are divided. That means less money for roads, water systems, housing, and more. As baby boomers retire, our workforce is shrinking, and Michigan has lost 93,000 workers just since last spring. Fewer people here means less political power, fewer resources, and a smaller tax base to pay the bills.

Michigan’s leaders agree — we need to attract more people to our state. Yet one central question remains: how do we make it happen, and who is responsible for leading the way? Some are trying to answer that question. The state of Michigan has a growth office. The City of Detroit has an initiative to grow its population. 

Jeff Donofrio is a leader in the population growth space. He’s the president and chief executive officer of Business Leaders For Michigan. He’s written about this topic in several reports, and he’s worked for the City of Detroit and the State of Michigan to resolve the problem.

He believes we need to reform teaching.“It’s about making sure that [students are] engaged and can do stuff besides passing a standardized test,” says Donofrio.

He joined host Robyn Vincent on The Metro to explore how government culture needs to change to build more housing, create better regional transit, and to ultimately attract more people to the state.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

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Michigan will be enacting a statewide school phone ban for students from kindergarten through 12th grade this fall.

Many schools already have some form of phone restriction in place during the school day. Three researchers from the University of Michigan wanted to know what could be learned from different phone ban policies prior to the statewide mandate going into effect.

Justin Heinze, Brian Jacob and Elyse Thulin compared nearly 800 schools in Michigan with phone use limits in place and shared their findings in an article published by The Conversation Detroit. In their article, they examine what different bans districts use and key points to consider when picking a policy.

Eleanore Catolico, an editor at The Conversation – Detroit joined The Metro to discuss what Heinze, Jacob and Thulin found in their study.

Read the full article of findings here.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

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 Almost 70 years after National Library Week was founded, the amount of time we spend reading something pales in comparison to what we watch. Americans spend about 15 minutes a day reading, but two and a half hours a day watching something on a screen.

National Library Week (April 19-25, 2026) was established in 1958 to encourage library use at a time when TV and radio were taking over as dominant information and entertainment sources.

In the last 5 years, a different story has started to take shape. Since hitting pandemic-era lows, library participation is surging. Visits have doubled since 2021. People are coming back to libraries, and they’re getting more than books out of the experience. 

More than books

Did you know you can check out more than books most libraries? That includes physical media like DVD’s and CD’s, but also tools, or seeds for a vegetable or herb garden.

Community programming is also brining people back to libraries. Story time for children is a regular occurrence at libraries. So are book talks, like one coming up at the Ferndale Area District Library on May 28, 2026 with Lisa Peers, author of “Motor City Love Song.”

Tia Graham spoke with two people who are experiencing the love for libraries first-hand.

Jeff Milo is the head of marketing and communications at Ferndale Area District Library, and host of the podcast “A Little Too Quiet.” He’s also the host of MI Local on WDET, Tuesdays, from 9-10 p.m. EST.

Lisa Peers is the author of the book “Motor City Love Song,” a romance novel set in a fictional version of Detroit’s garage rock scene of the early 2000’s.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

More stories from The Metro