The Michigan Library Association (MLA) and the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) are committed to doing everything we can, in our libraries, schools, and communities to promote justice and equality for all. It has come to our attention that a white media assistant that works in the library at Ganiard Elementary School in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, cut the hair of a biracial child without parental permission.
MLA and MAME are using our voices as representatives of all Michigan libraries and library workers, including school libraries, to stand in support of 7-year-old Jurnee Hoffmeyer.
House Bill 4275 – Michigan CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair) – as sponsored by Representative Sarah Anthony (D - Lansing), would prevent discrimination by expanding state law to recognize a person’s hair as a characteristic of race.
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.
We are excited to partner with LinkedIn to offer LinkedIn Learning to Michigan libraries at a discounted rate. Libraries that join our consortium will receive a minimum discount of 7% but the more libraries that join, the greater the discount will be!
Call to Action: MLA stands in Opposition to HB 4530-4533 and ANY Legislation Limiting Election Dates.
March 25, 2021
On Tuesday, March 23, a package of bills, HB4530-4533 was presented at the House Elections and Ethics Committee. HB4530-4533 eliminates the May and August elections and replaces them with a June election.
House Bills 4530-4533 would amend different acts to remove the May regular election date and move the date of the primary election in Michigan from August to June, limiting a jurisdiction to holding only two elections in a year.
Open Meetings Act - Virtual Meetings Allowed Through March 30
March 25, 2021
While a number of bills have been introduced in the legislature in the past couple of months to extend the dates to hold virtual board meetings, none have moved to the next steps for passage.
As such, the amendments to the Open Meetings Act (OMA) that allowed no-reason virtual meetings will end on March 30, 2021.
MLA Partnership With the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission
March 25, 2021 UPDATED April 29, 2021
The Michigan Library Association has agreed to work in partnership with the communications team from the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The purpose of these partnerships is to work with other statewide organizations, operating in an impartial and transparent manner, and that reinforces public confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process. Libraries have been identified as a key partner and as such, MLA wants to make sure that our library community is integral in getting Michigan citizens involved in the redistricting process.
MLA Connect Coffee Hour: Getting Involved with the Michigan Library Association!
