Future Pathways Grant Accepting Applications

Join us on Wednesday, May 26 at 11:00 AM to learn more about the Future Pathways Grant Program. Get your questions answered, learn about upcoming opportunities that the grant could fund, and brainstorm project ideas. We’ll discuss the grant application requirements, demo how to submit an application packet, and answer all of your questions! Register here

Call for Proposals: MLA 2024 Annual Conference ▶️ PRESS PLAY and Small and Strategic Preconference

PRESS PLAY and submit a proposal for MLA 2024 Annual Conference this October 16 -18 at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Acme, Michigan. The Call for Proposals is also open for the Small and Strategic preconference for Michigan’s small and rural libraries on October 15! View complete details about session proposal requirements for the conference or preconference at milibraries.org/call-for-proposals. Proposals are due Friday, June 7.

MLA Awards Call for Nominations

Do you know someone who deserves recognition and celebration for their work in Michigan libraries? The Call for Nominations for the 2024 Michigan Library Awards is open through Friday, July 12! We encourage and welcome your nomination for any of MLA's Awards for recognition at the 2024 Michigan Library Awards on Wednesday, October 16 in Acme, Michigan.

FY25 Budget Recommendations for Libraries

In the Governor’s Version – no additional support has been allocated to libraries – the budget remains flat based on FY24

In the House Version - $500,000 has been allocated to State Aid for Libraries.

In the Senate Version - $25M has been allocated to School Libraries in the School Aid Fund.

In the Senate version of the budget, there is $15.5 million allocated for “Community Revitalization and Municipal Support.” The list of permitted recipients of these grants includes “municipal library improvements.”

Note From Debbie

May 30, 2024

Since I began my work with MLA 5 years ago, MLA has been intentional about our future, to move the needle, to look outward at other industries, and to bring a fresh, new perspective to our collective impact. The world is changing quickly and we must stay current on trends and innovations, and explore unfamiliar/atypical partnerships that will keep libraries at the forefront of our communities.  

It is now time to begin a process to query our key stakeholders, ask hard questions that require deep thought, and develop a new three-year plan that will begin in 2025. This work will evaluate the impact of our past and present performance, services, and programming as well as examine our future work together. This is not a refresh of our past plan, which has served us well for the past five years, but a newly engaged process that will allow all of our members to become involved in creating the planning document. This new three-year strategic plan will serve as a road map for MLA; it will carefully lay out how we execute our chosen strategy to achieve our mission. This plan will focus our energy, resources, and time and include concrete, realistic, and measurable goals as well as benchmarks and timelines. 

State Revenue Estimates are Way Down, but Budgets Won’t Need Fixing

Below is an edited and condensed version of a Citizens Research Council of Michigan (CRCM) blog post – used with permission and as reported by the CRCM:

In a Nutshell

• Updated state revenue forecasts suggest GF/GP revenue will decline by more than $4.3 billion across FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025.
• Those revenue downgrades are almost entirely attributable to the major tax reductions enacted in March and April.
• The revenue adjustments will be “much ado about nothing” for state lawmakers as they finalize the state’s budget in the coming months. The budgets that have passed the House and Senate are already largely in line with these new estimates.

Both the House and the Senate have already passed their own spending plans for the Fiscal Year (FY)2024 state budget, paving the way for conference committees to iron out the differences between the two chambers’ proposals over the coming months.