Michigan Library Association

Take Action to Support School Libraries!

In early March, State Senator Darrin Camilleri (District 4) and Senator Rosemary Bayer (District 13) introduced a package of tie-barred bills requiring a library staffed by a certified school librarian in every public school in the state. These bills replicate the house bills that were introduced in the last three legislative cycles but didn’t move any further.

Michigan Library Advocacy Day

On Tuesday, April 16, 2024, MLA hosted our 2nd annual in-person Michigan Library Advocacy Day at the Capitol. This sold-out event brought together more than 160 library advocates representing public, school, academic, tribal, and special libraries from across Michigan. Our unified message: Strong Libraries = A Stronger Michigan!

Chapter & Verse: Storytime from the Stacks New Episode Drops February 13

Subscribe to Chapter & Verse: Storytime from the Stacks and tune in on February 13! Our February episode will be hosted by Steven K. Bowers, Executive Director of The Library Network Cooperative serving libraries in Southeast Michigan and feature Azita Frattarelli, Director/Youth Librarian at the Riverview Veterans Memorial Library in Riverview.

FY25 Budget Recommendations for Libraries

In the Governor’s Version – no additional support has been allocated to libraries – the budget remains flat based on FY24

In the House Version - $500,000 has been allocated to State Aid for Libraries.

In the Senate Version - $25M has been allocated to School Libraries in the School Aid Fund.

In the Senate version of the budget, there is $15.5 million allocated for “Community Revitalization and Municipal Support.” The list of permitted recipients of these grants includes “municipal library improvements.”

ALA Releases 2023 Censorship Data, Reports Record Number of Unique Book Titles Challenged in 2023

The surge in book censorship and the number of titles targeted for censorship during 2023 reached unprecedented levels. According to the American Library Association (ALA), there was a 65 percent increase in the number of titles targeted for censorship compared to the previous year. In 2023, 4,240 unique book titles were subject to censorship efforts, surpassing the previous high of 2,571 titles in 2022.

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