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Written by Steven K. Bowers, 2017-2018 MLA President   

President's Update - September 14, 2017

MLA 2017-18 President Steven Bowers

The end of summer is nigh and we've made it past the eclipse fever. My kids were ready to start school this month, even if they didn't want to let go of the laid-back schedule they enjoyed the past several weeks. At least we were able to fit in one last hurrah on the holiday weekend.

During orientation at our kids' school we had the opportunity as parents to volunteer for work in our children's classrooms. Since my wife, Sarah, teaches at the school, she didn't fill the form out. I guess she already has lots of opportunities to serve at the school. I signed up to be a class librarian for my daughter's classroom. Hope I didn't steal the opportunity from someone else that was eager to take on the role.

For those of you who care about these things, the Harry Potter future timeline has now caught up to reality. At the end of the series there is a flash-forward to the year 2017 and Harry and friends are sending their kids off to school. In the future, Harry's friend Ron looks a bit podgy at the end of the film adaptation and I told my friends the other day that my middle-aged "dad body" was not unlike Ron's. To gear up for school this fall I started my new 5 a.m. regimen of working out with Gloria Estefan each morning, taking purposeful action for positive future outcomes I hope!

I think back-to-school time is a great reminder that all Michigan libraries must purposefully work together for positive learning outcomes. The Michigan Library Association provides an umbrella organization to advocate for all Michigan libraries as we work together to support information access and library services to all Michigan residents. We are serving all Michiganders at specific points in their lives, anywhere from birth through adulthood, and in this continuum all library types play a part: special libraries, school libraries, academic libraries, public libraries, and any other library classifications you may name.

So, I'm looking forward to meeting next month for the MLA Annual Conference as it is one of the great opportunities we get each year for all libraries to come together and learn about the varied efforts that each of us is making to provide services to our shared constituents. It is a time for us to meet and discuss how all of our work is connected. It is a chance to make purposeful commitments to working together for the advancement of library services in our great state. I hope you will join us.

Get on Your Feet!

Sincerely,

Steve

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