Call for Proposals

MLA Spring Institute 2019: Growing, Networking, and Inspiring!

March 27 – 29, 2019

Double Tree by Hilton in Bay City, MI

Call For Proposals - Spring Institute 2019

Submissions welcome through Friday, November 9, 2018.

The 2019 MLA Spring Institute Conference theme is Growing, Networking, and Inspiring, and those are exactly the experiences that the event will focus on.  All topics are welcome to be proposed. Examples could be, but not limited to: early literacy, diversity, coding/STEM, grants/fundraising, music, personal development, avoiding burnout, self-care, programming, collections, and management.

The conference will work to achieve the following goals and outcomes through its programs:

Provide quality professional development for those serving youth (ages 0 – 18) in libraries.

Attendees will gain at least three ideas that they can apply or adapt at their libraries.

Enable an opportunity for those serving youth (ages 0 – 18) in libraries to exchange relevant, actionable knowledge through networking.

Attendees will connect with new professional contacts with whom they can exchange ideas.
Attendees will build professional relationships that will provide future support.

Revitalize and inspire those serving youth (ages 0 – 18) in libraries.

Attendees will return to their library with renewed enthusiasm for their work.

Agreements and Selection Notification

MLA will contact each program’s submitter and subsequent presenters regarding final decisions on or before Friday, November 30, 2018.
MLA will send all presenters a Presenter Agreement indicating date, time, and details of their presentation. This will be confirmed by the presenter and returned to MLA.

Program Submission General Guidelines

Program submitter may or may not also be the presenter. Either is acceptable.
Communications by MLA will be to all members who are a part of your submission. Contact information is required for each presenter.
Presenters are not reimbursed or compensated for session time, mileage, or any other such item.
Presenters must register for the day(s) they attend Spring Institute if they intend to stay beyond their allotted presentation time.
A/V & Room Setup
All presentation rooms will be supplied with a projector and screen; a microphone will be available as applicable.
Internet access may be available but is not guaranteed.
Presenters will provide their own laptops and have presentations on laptops, flash drives, cloud, etc. Remote mouse devices/pointers are the responsibility of the presenter. Apple users will be responsible for also providing their own adaptor for connection to the projector.

Handouts & Evaluations

Handouts must be submitted to MLA by Friday, March 15, 2019.
Printed handouts will not be reproduced by MLA for the conference. Instead they will be made available on the MLA website before, during and after the conference. Presenters may provide handouts themselves if desired.

Selection Criteria

The Spring Institute work group will use the following criteria in assessing the viability of including a program on the schedule. The work group retains the right to reject, modify, or combine proposals.

Purpose: Does the proposal clearly identify a goal and outcome(s), and are those in line with goals and outcomes of the conference as a whole?

Audience: Is the target audience clearly identified?

Clarity: Is the proposal easy to understand with technological or industry jargon explained, if necessary, correct grammar and professionalism?  Does the proposal clearly state concrete and specific topics/themes that you’ll be highlighting?

Practicality: Is the topic appropriate for a conference breakout session in content, time, audience?

Timeliness/Relevance: Is the topic of current interest, bringing new ideas and a fresh perspective to its intended audience and conference theme?

Qualifications: Does the speaker(s) have sufficient background experience to present on said topic?

Timeline (on or before)

November 9, 2018 - Final day to submit program proposals

November 30, 2018 - Selection notifications emailed from MLA to program presenters

December 21, 2018 - Presenter agreements sent from MLA office to program presenters

March 15, 2019 - Handouts received for posting on MLA website

March 27 - 29, 2019 - Spring Institute Conference at Double Tree by Hilton in Bay City, MI

Questions

Please feel free to contact the work group chair, Cassie Veselovsky at [email protected] or Leanne Sandoval with the Michigan Library Association at [email protected] with any questions you may have prior to your submission.