Note From Keeley

July 25, 2024

At a recent MLA event, a Mentorship Program participant sought me out to thank me for introducing them to their mentor. Hearing their feedback made me so glad to be a part of this organization and inspired me to start thinking about why mentorship matters.

Being a mentee is an opportunity to grow and learn from someone more experienced in your field, but it’s so much more than that. A mentor helps you clarify and be accountable for your goals; more informally, a mentor is a trusted listener who is there to encourage you when your work gets difficult (and, as we all know, the work has been especially difficult the last few years). Mentors bring with them years of connections, expanding your professional network, as well as the kind of institutional knowledge that you often don’t pick up in school. A mentor offers insight into potential career paths, projects, and educational options. The mentor-mentee relationship is flexible, personal, and confidential in a way that a classroom generally isn’t.

MLA 2024 Annual Conference PRESS PLAY

Registration for MLA 2024 Annual Conference and Small and Strategic Pre-conference is OPEN! This October 15 -18, PRESS PLAY and join the Michigan library community at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Traverse City.

MLA 2024 Youth Literary Awards

MLA's Youth Literary Awards recognize outstanding contributions to youth literature and celebrate the best titles for children and teens. For the past year, MLA Youth Literary Award workgroups have spent thousands of hours reading, reviewing, and discussing hundreds of books to choose the very best titles published in 2023 for Michigan kids. It's our pleasure to share the winners of the 2024 Mitten, YouPer, and Thumbs Up! Awards.

Celebrate MI Right to Read Week

Get ready to celebrate Right to Read week here in Michigan! This September 22-28 we are sharing a positive and proactive message that emphasizes access, diversity in library collections, librarian qualifications, and protection of our First Amendment rights. Here’s an example of our creative campaign using the ALA theme of “FRead Between the Lines.” Using black out poetry each day, we will have a new and inspiring message that we hope you will share with your patrons. Watch our social media sites for 7 different versions of our campaign.  We’ll have them posted on our website in advance so you can grab them if you want as well.

MLA Wins PACE Award for MI Right to Read Campaign

In 2023, MLA worked with PR firm Martin Waymire on a six-month campaign promoting the MI Right to Read coalition. This May, Martin Waymire and MLA were honored by the Central Michigan chapter of the Public Relations Society of America for the MI Right to Read campaign.

2025 Budget Update

Never wanting to keep MLA members in the dark, we are finally able to share the state of Michigan budget with you (links below for the House Fiscal Agency Conference Reports for the General Omnibus Budget and the School Aid Fund). With little to no advance public review of the budget, in the early morning hours today, the FY25 State of Michigan budget (beginning October 1) has finally passed through the conference committee, the Senate and the House. The budget now awaits the Governor’s signature before the July 1^st deadline. (Just as a reminder, she also has line item veto power, so nothing is in stone until she signs.)

While we haven’t had time to digest the entire budget, we have highlighted some of the items that we have been watching including (DRUMROLL PLEASE) a $1,000,000 increase to State Aid bringing it to $16,567,700.  

And while we didn’t get everything we asked for in the budget…your voices were heard and communications with your state legislators made a difference!  Advocacy is a full year commitment – it never ends, so keep up the good work. We are #StrongerTogether. MLA will share more details soon on other MLA priorities.

Thank you MLA Members!