Michigan Library Awards Call for Nominations

Do you know an awesome library professional or library supporter who deserves recognition for their work in Michigan libraries? The Call for Nominations for the 2023 Michigan Library Awards is open through Friday, July 14!

We encourage and welcome your nomination for any of MLA's Awards for recognition at the 2023 Michigan Library Awards on Wednesday, October 18 in Kalamazoo during the MLA 2023 Annual Conference.

Note From Debbie

Each June, Pride Month is a time for the LGBTQ+ community to honor their identity, uniqueness, and diversity. For countless years, libraries throughout the state and nation have brought focus to this national celebration. This year is no exception. 

But this year, public library displays celebrating Pride Month seem to be getting a lot of negative attention. Displays are part of a library’s marketing plan and they highlight a very small portion of the extensive collection that might go undiscovered. A display is a wonderful way to help readers young and old find and connect to topics, books, and materials they find personally relevant to themselves or loved ones. And displays during Pride Month are not set up to politicize one lifestyle over another - the library is simply displaying age-appropriate materials that are related to the LGBTQ+ experience. 

Of utmost importance to any public library is curating collections that allow every citizen to see themselves and the world around them in the diversity of books and resources their library provides for all ages, all abilities, all interests, all races, all nationalities, all religions, the rich, the poor, the traditional and nontraditional families, those who identify as LGBTQ+ and those that don’t. This is a core tenant of librarianship – to provide for the interests of all, and to do so without bias. For countless individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ and who face bullying, isolation, and depression, access to LGBTQ+ representation and information in books from the library offers them a safe haven and in some cases is lifesaving. It is critically important that everyone has access to books where they can see themselves, validate their existence and experiences and reinforce their self-worth. Many of us cannot begin to imagine how important that might be for a teen who identifies as LGBTQ+ but has yet to find the voice they need to tell their story.

MLA Recognized with Two Awards!

We are proud to share that MLA has won the Michigan Humanities Outstanding Humanities Organization Award!

The Michigan Humanities Outstanding Humanities Organization recognizes organizations, corporate funders, foundations, and organizational partners that have made a lasting contribution over time (five years or more) to the cultural life of their communities or our state through their active support of and involvement in promoting public humanities.

What Do Michiganders Really Think? MLA Public Opinion Survey on Public Libraries And Book Banning

In March 2023, the Michigan Library Association contracted with EPIC-MRA, a full-service survey research firm with expertise in Public Opinion Surveys and Market Research Studies to conduct a statewide survey on library issues. While we have been using national studies to prove that book banning and censorship issues are not tolerated by the majority of voters in the country, we now have solid Michigan data to back this up.

Welcome to MLA's New Social Media Strategist Intern

Earlier this month, the MLA staff welcomed Thejas Varma to the MLA team as our Summer Semester 2023 Social Media Strategist Intern.

Michigan Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference

Every six months economic forecasters come together to project revenues for the State of Michigan upon which the next fiscal year budget is created. On May 19, these forecasters predicted that revenues will be lower than what was predicted last January, due in part to purposeful policy plans implemented by the Whitmer administration including major tax relief policies and business incentives, and an income tax cut.