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Written by Romy Fitschen, MLA Associate Executive Director   

From the Associate Director's Desk - June 13, 2019

Romy Fitschen, MLA Associate Executive DirectorMLA has completed another successful programming year. We have placed more than one hundred eager volunteers and will begin our 2019-2020 committees and work groups this summer. We heartily thank those that served MLA this past year for their time and effort.

We had some wonderful networking, and idea development come out of the groups this year. If you or someone you know want to participate in helping develop programming, gain opportunities to exchange ideas with other libraries and library types, develop professionally, add to your resume - you name the reason - it isn't too late. Feel free to email Amber Sheerin at [email protected].

Our board will be wrapping up their final meeting this week which includes beginning the process of onboarding for our new members. We will say goodbye to Michelle Boisvenue-Fox, Marc Boucher and Juliane Morian, although we will officially honor them at the Annual Meeting held during MLA 2019 on October 17th. All members are encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting.

The board and staff will be doing a training on visioning, as we prepare to tackle the strategic plan this upcoming year, as well as training around our newly passed MLA Code of Conduct. We are all committed to this policy and continue to work to create an environment that is safe and comfortable for all.

Another undertaking this year was reviewing the MLA Award policies and procedures, particularly taking a careful look at who qualifies for nomination. The award nominations are open until July 1, 2019. Please consider looking at the qualifications and nominating a well-deserved colleague, community member or fellow library staff member. Visit the Librarian of the YearHeart of a Champion and Rising Star webpages to learn more and download the guidelines and nomination forms.

I have to thank my new and fellow staff members for their wonderful work. Even through several staff transitions this year, we still managed to complete what we set out to do, including the cost-saving website and database transition (although there is a little more to come!), policy updates, increasing contact time and communications with our members, maintaining our advocacy goals, meeting budget and working on getting staff on some key collaborative efforts.

Our successes are not possible without the support of our members. The best part of my job is when I get to hear what you are doing in your programs and engage with members who are so passionate about what they do. Thank you. We appreciate all the energies dedicated towards MLA, your libraries and the betterment of Michigan as a whole.

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