Michigan Library Association

Michigan Library Association’s MI Right to Read Awarded $600,000 Grant by Mellon Foundation

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Library Association (MLA) is pleased to announce that the Mellon Foundation has awarded MLA a $600,000 grant to support the MI Right to Read initiative. For the past year, MLA has worked to secure this pivotal funding to strengthen and expand MI Right to Read and its work promoting intellectual freedom and championing the free flow of information. This recognition from the Mellon Foundation underscores the initiative’s significant impact on libraries, library professionals, and communities across the state.

2025 Budget Update

Never wanting to keep MLA members in the dark, we are finally able to share the state of Michigan budget with you (links below for the House Fiscal Agency Conference Reports for the General Omnibus Budget and the School Aid Fund). With little to no advance public review of the budget, in the early morning hours today, the FY25 State of Michigan budget (beginning October 1) has finally passed through the conference committee, the Senate and the House. The budget now awaits the Governor’s signature before the July 1^st deadline. (Just as a reminder, she also has line item veto power, so nothing is in stone until she signs.)

While we haven’t had time to digest the entire budget, we have highlighted some of the items that we have been watching including (DRUMROLL PLEASE) a $1,000,000 increase to State Aid bringing it to $16,567,700.

And while we didn’t get everything we asked for in the budget…your voices were heard and communications with your state legislators made a difference! Advocacy is a full year commitment – it never ends, so keep up the good work. We are #StrongerTogether. MLA will share more details soon on other MLA priorities.

Thank you MLA Members!

graphic of Map of Michigan with place markers at Board member locations

Meet the Candidates for the MLA 2025 Board Election

The MLA Board election will open on Monday, March 31 and close on Monday, April 21 at midnight. This year, MLA members will vote for an MLA President-elect and four Member-at-Large Board positions for terms beginning in July 2025 and ending in June 2028. Election results will be announced in MLA’s Primary Source newsletter on Thursday, April 24. Meet the candidates!

Eligible members will receive an email on March 31 with instructions and a link to vote.

Note From Debbie

April 24, 2025

For the past year, MLA has been figuratively putting together one of those 1500-piece jigsaw puzzles - you know the ones - they take precious space on the table (or in this case, mind) for far too long. The pieces are dumped out of the box and spread across the table (always a bit intimidating, but I do like a challenge). Then one by one, the pieces are turned over, the straight pieces identified, the corners put into place, and the border connected. The simpler design elements get assembled first and placed in the interior of the puzzle, where we think they belong. And then the hard part begins, through trial and error, trying different pieces in different places, exploring different solutions, and adjusting the approach (perhaps by color, perhaps by area, perhaps by shape). With patience and persistence (just like in real life when we need to tackle challenging situations), the last puzzle piece is ceremoniously placed.