Letter to Legislators and Candidate Outreach

Check out the August edition of our monthly outreach to Michigan Legislators where we continue to educate them on the value of our libraries and the critical role of library staff. Our outreach and advocacy efforts begin even before candidates take office.

Nominations for MLA Board Open September 23

This September, MLA will open the call for nominations seeking candidates for the 2023 Board of Directors. The Nominating and Leadership Development Committee (NLDC) will be seeking nominations/self-nominations for four member-at-large directors as well as the President-elect position, with terms beginning in July 2023 and ending in June 2026. The call for nominations will be open from Friday, September 23, through Monday, November 7.

Michigan Library Millages August Election Results

Check out our roundup of the August 2, 2022 election results for millage issues on ballots around the state. There were 48 millage questions on the ballots and 43 of these passed. We are proud of the library boards, staff, and supporters for their work on these campaigns and their dedication to supporting their libraries. The Library of Michigan provides a listing of Public Library Millage Election Results from 2010 to the present. View the results (pdf)

Patmos Library Millage

August 5, 2022

The Michigan Library Association stands in solidarity with the Patmos Library Board of Trustees on the decision to retain a small collection of LGBTQIA+ materials on their library shelves. We are equally disheartened to learn that continued funding for the library was defeated on the August primary ballot because the library would not remove these materials. 

We recognize that individuals have the right and responsibility to make decisions about what materials are suitable for themselves and their own families. We also stand united with the majority of the Patmos Library Board, and with librarians across the nation in upholding our Constitutional protections. The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. No one has the right to make rules restricting what other people read or to make decisions for other families. Freedom only exists when individuals can make their own choices. When a book is banned by those who want to censor voices they don’t agree with, our democracy itself is threatened.

Letter From Debbie

July 29, 2022

It is fun to reminisce about the first conferences I ever planned back in the mid-1980s for those operating historic theatres. Lasting a full week, over 150 attendees would hop on four tour buses and we would go from place to place to place, a different hotel every evening, visiting historic theatres in a particular region of the country (Texas, North Carolina, California, Detroit to Toronto), conducting educational sessions with renowned experts in theatre renovations and operations, and sharing wonderful meals and networking time with those that had something very unique in common. The planning and coordination of these events was fun and exhausting all at the same time. 

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