2023 MLA Equity Fund Grant Recipient

MLA Equity Fund Grants aim to reduce financial barriers to professional development opportunities and support individuals currently underrepresented in the library profession It is our pleasure to announce the recipient of MLA's 2023 Equity Fund Grant!

It is our pleasure to announce Amelia Chea, Adult Services Librarian at the Hackley Public Library in Muskegon has been awarded grant funding.

Congratulations to Amelia for submitting an exceptional individual proposal and being granted funding to attend the Library Learning Experience Conference, LibLearnX hosted by the American Library Association. We are proud to support Amelia's professional development endeavors.

Congratulations to MLA Program and Event Director Amber Sheerin!

We are so proud of the accomplishments of MLA Program and Event Director Amber Sheerin! Earlier this month, she was awarded the "Innovative Planner of the Year" award from the Meeting Professionals International, Michigan Chapter. MLA President Scott Duimstra presented her with flowers at the June MLA Board meeting in recognition of her outstanding achievements in serving the members of MLA.

MLA 2023 Youth Literary Awards

On Friday, June 16 we announced the winners and honor books of the 2023 MLA Youth Literary Awards! MLA's Mitten, YouPer (Young Person) and Thumbs Up! Award workgroups have worked for thousands of hours throughout the year, reading reviewing, discussing and evaluating hundreds of books to find the very best books for Michigan youth that were published in 2022.

Partner with National Voter Registration Day 2023

MLA has signed on to partner with National Voter Registration Day 2023 and we encourage libraries to join us! First observed in 2012, National Voter Registration Day is a nonpartisan civic holiday celebrated every September. This year, National Voter Registration Day is September 19, 2023.

Intellectual Freedom Resources

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.

Humans of Michigan Libraries

We want to feature YOU on social media! Check out MLA's popular Humans of Michigan Libraries series on Facebook and help us put a human face on the library profession. It's easy to participate if you want to be featured! The project is inspired by Humans of New York. In our series, we are highlighting stories of librarianship all over Michigan on MLA social media accounts using the hashtag #HumansofMILibraries. With these short interviews and photos, we hope to showcase a more personal side of Michigan libraries.