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.

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.

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.

Proposed Updates to MLA Bylaws

The MLA Board has reviewed and voted on extensive amendments to the MLA bylaws and is sending them to the membership to approve them in totality. Eligible members will vote online to adopt or reject the proposed changes in full. The summary document below has included all of the amendments – text to be deleted is shown with a cross out, and new text to be inserted or substituted is bolded. If approved by the membership, the bylaws will go into effect on July 1, 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.

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.