Meet Michelle…

For over 28 years, Michelle Miller Howard has been a librarian, author, columnist, speaker, and home-educational consultant, specializing in top-quality “living books” and history instruction.  It began in 1985 when, while home-educating her own children, she pioneered the first-known library of rare, “living” youth literature, which has been thriving ever since: Children's Preservation Library (in Michigan) now houses over 21,000 valuable volumes.  She has since likewise founded Living Learning Libraries in Florida, with over 41,000 volumes in two branches: Jupiter & Palm Beach Gardens (West Palm Beach area).

Michelle is considered a national leader/expert on “living” libraries and literature, and helps others around the nation and overseas found and operate such libraries, including assistance to Hillsdale Academy (the K-12 classical school of Hillsdale College).  She has developed a massive database on youth literature, and her first-hand knowledge of youth literature in all academic areas is unsurpassed.

Michelle has also been asked to speak about education, literature, and history at many levels--both in person and via national radio--and is a regular contributing columnist to national magazines and educational websites.

After seeing a particular need, Michelle wrote the multiple award-winning TruthQuest History curriculum (Gr. 1-12), which steers families through American and World history with deep, engaging, spiritually-probing commentary, and which embeds her vast, topic-specific, “living” book recommendations throughout.

Michelle has always enjoyed learning, and still does.  She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama, with a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Communications, and savored 25 years of home-education of her four children, one a Hillsdale College Honors alumnus and another recently graduated magna cum laude from Houghton College.  She has been an active member of local churches and educational support groups over the years, has traveled in Europe and Russia several times, including overseas mission trips and international adoption, and now has seven cute grandsons.

Michelle’s “living books” library in Florida…

Michelle’s “living books” library in Michigan…