On June 28, Michigan’s Fiscal Year 2024 state budget was approved. Even with hard work and many communications with state legislators from our members, MLA staff, Board, and lobbyist, State Aid to Libraries has remained flat. At the request of the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), the library pilot program was cut even though we requested that the boilerplate language be changed to include all counties. We were happy to see that there was a special appropriation of $100,000 for new learning pods in the Hazel Park District Library. We must all keep working and communicating the needs of our public libraries, now even more than ever.
On September 1, MLA will celebrate 132 years of serving the Michigan library community!
MLA is Michigan’s oldest and largest library association spanning more than a century. It has influenced the course of Michigan’s libraries since its inception in 1891, when Mary A. Eddy, the librarian at Coldwater Free Public Library, wrote to Henry M. Utley of the Detroit Public Library about organizing a state library association.
MLA Connect Coffee Hour: Getting Involved with the Michigan Library Association!
Thursday, April 15, 2021 10:00 – 11:00 am
The Michigan Library Association is calling all members who want to learn more about getting involved with your state association.
Current MLA volunteers representing some of the various committees and work groups will be present to talk about their experience as a volunteer and answer questions from the audience.
Whether you’re new to MLA, or a seasoned professional, there are lots of ways for everyone to be involved. It is through the hard work of our volunteers that we are able to further our advocacy efforts, plan our events, honor our award-winning library workers, and select our top picks of the best books for youth.
Congressman Sander Levin Named 2018 MLA Heart of a Champion
MLA is pleased to announce Congressman Sander Levin is the winner of the MLA 2018 Heart of a Champion Award. The award, established in 2012, recognizes a library supporter who has shown an exceptional commitment to libraries and the library profession through continued advocacy, supporting or providing funding for the local library, or continued support of Michigan Library Association activities.
Recently, we have seen escalations in the tactics of book ban proponents in Michigan. Keep an eye out for the following in your community:
In Lapeer County, a prosecutor was reported to be considering bringing charges against the director of the public library for keeping the frequently-targeted book Gender Queer available to the public. U.S. publishers are not producing obscene books, and providing access to a book in the library is not a crime. As discussed in the linked news article, attempting to force a library to censor books with legal threats may even backfire as removing books from a public library based on viewpoint may leave the library open to a First Amendment violation lawsuit.
MLA Connect Coffee Hour: Getting Involved with the Michigan Library Association!
