$1 Million Increase in State Aid for Libraries for FY 21

September 23, 2020

Our voices have been heard!

Our advocacy efforts (yours, mine, and ours) have paid off!

We did it! 

The library community has been rewarded with a $1 million increase to the FY21 State Aid for Libraries.

This kind of increase takes determination, time, and lots of hard work…For the past few years, we asked for an increase. A year ago, we were hopeful that our legislative leaders would add this as a supplemental as the budget “season” dragged on. This year, in the midst of dramatic budget cuts throughout our state – caused by a global pandemic and worsening economic challenges – we were hopeful to remain flat. But that certainly isn’t the case!

As of September 23, Michigan legislators voted to approve the FY21 State Budget with an increase in State Aid to Libraries of $1 million GF/GP for a total of $13,067,700. Other line items for the Library of Michigan – 33 FTE - $4.9M, Michigan eLibrary - $1.7M (the MeL GF was cut by about $32,000), and Library Services and Technology Programs - $5.6M have remained somewhat similar to past year’s budgets with general increases to staff salaries, Governor Whitmer is expected to sign this budget into law in the coming days and it will become effective on October 1, 2020. The Governor's office issued a press release yesterday evening stating: "The Michigan Legislature and the administration of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have worked together to put the Fiscal Year 2021 budget in place that will soon become law. It is a budget that funds shared priorities such as education, economic development, public health, public safety, and the environment."

View the FY2020-2021 General Omnibus Budget. The Library of Michigan budget appropriations can be found on page 104-105.

ALA 2020 Councilor Report Available Online

Jennifer L. Dean
ALA Councilor
Dean of University Libraries,
University of Detroit Mercy Libraries

We are very lucky to have such wonderful representation at the national level by our ALA Councilor, Jennifer Dean. For the past two years, she has represented MLA’s interests. Part of her responsibility is to connect Michigan to the national agenda and to represent us at the ALA Midwinter and Annual Conventions. Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding us with the global pandemic, Jennifer has been attending these events virtually and has done an outstanding job writing up her findings and reporting back out to the field. Here is her most recent report:

ALA 2020 - Midwinter Meeting and Virtual Conference MI Chapter Councilors Report (pdf)

SB611 Library Privacy Act Passes in the Senate, Heads to House

September 22, 2020

For the past year, the Michigan Library Association (MLA) and our members have worked diligently with Senator Peter MacGregor (R-Rockford) to make sure that any changes to the Michigan Library Privacy Act (1982 PA 455) continue to protect the rights of Michigan citizens.

After an extensive pause in moving bills through the legislative process due to the coronavirus, a few weeks ago, SB611 (S-2) was moved from the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee to the full Senate. With a slight amendment recommended by the MLA Board and approved by Senator MacGregor, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, SB611 (S-2) was heard on the Senate floor and was passed with a unanimous vote of approval. We are proud to say that it will now move onto the Michigan House of Representatives for their consideration (we think after the election) and then onto Governor Whitmer for her final signature (hopefully before the end of the year.)

Executive Orders: The Latest Updates

September 18, 2020

MLA continues to follow the Governor's Executive Orders to monitor their impact on libraries. Here is the status and a short recap of Executive Orders of note to libraries as of September 17, 2020:

EO 2020-181: Amendment to the Safe Start order (EO 2020-176)

In order to limit the spread of COVID-19 in indoor spaces, this order clarifies that indoor social gatherings and organized events among persons not part of the same household remain limited to 10 people or fewer statewide.

EO 2020-177 - Declaration of the State of Emergency and state of disaster-related to the COVID-19 pandemic effective immediately and continuing through October 1, 2020, at 11:59 pm.

MLA Connect Coffee Hour: Library Social Services 

Tuesday, September 15
10:00 – 11:00 am

Libraries are often the community’s safety net and provide critical assistance and services to those who need it most. How can your library still fulfill these needs and provide support when community access in your building is limited or unavailable? 

MLA welcomes Tiffany Russell, LMSW, Social Worker at the Niles District Library, to this month’s MLA Connect Coffee Hour to talk about how she supported her community before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as share some ideas about how you can be that resource for your own community whether you have an on-staff social worker or not. 

Please come with questions and ideas to share with the group. How has your library responded during and after the statewide closure? What services are you able to provide and what are you still figuring out? What have you done to strengthen that safety net in your library and community?

REALM Test 3 Complete - Updated Recommendations

August 27, 2020

We continue to learn more every day about the novel coronavirus and what best practices we should adopt to best safeguard against the possible spread of COVID-19.

On August 18, the REopening Archives, Libraries and Museums (REALM) project published the results of the third round of Battelle’s laboratory testing for COVID-19 on five plastic-based materials: talking book USB cassettes, DVD, storage bags, storage containers, and plexiglass.