MCLS staff members will be at several conferences around Indiana and Michigan (and beyond) this fall. Below is just a glimpse of where we’ll be soon. If you’re attending any of these events, please visit our booth or find us and say hi! We would love to connect. Association for Library Service to Children National Institute (Buffalo, NY) MCLS Members Annual Event (South Bend, IN) Michigan Museums Association Annual Conference (Oakland County, MI) Michigan Library Association Annual Conference (Novi, MI)MCLS members—stop by booth #8 on Thursday, Oct. 29 to grab a special member appreciation treat*! Michigan Association of School Librarians Annual Conference (Ann Arbor, MI)MCLS members—stop by West 1 on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026 from 7-8 a.m. for the MCLS Meet & Greet. Grab a special treat* and some swag* to start your day. Charleston Conference (Charleston, SC) Indiana Library Federation Annual Conference (Indianapolis, IN)MCLS members—stop by our booth throughout the conference to grab a special member appreciation treat*! Michigan OER Network Conference (Ann Arbor, MI) (*While supplies last.)

Through Nov. 15, 2026, MCLS members can take an additional 10% off any new subscription or new one-time purchase of any of the collections included on the below platforms (so, 25% off 1-4 collections, and 30% off 5+ collections). Eligible resources include:  ABC-CLIO Digital Solutions Databases  Bloomsbury Philosophy Library  Human Kinetics Library  Jessica Kingsley Publishers Library  Theology & Religion Online  Check out the latest issue of the BDR Consortia Quarterly for more information.

Only available to Michigan academic libraries  We’ve heard from several libraries who are interested in a group eBook collection, so we’ve initiated conversations with a few publishers and vendors to explore the possibility. Oxford University Press has developed an EBA proposal for us, specifically with smaller to mid-size academic libraries in mind. This opportunity with Oxford is only available to Michigan academic libraries, as the Academic Libraries of Indiana (ALI) already have a similar program in place.  Please join us at our upcoming virtual meeting on Sept. 9, 2026 at 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central) to learn more about this opportunity and how your library might benefit from a shared EBA program. Find more information about the EBA proposal here, and additional information about Oxford Scholarship Online here.   REGISTER NOW For a quote or more information, contact services@mcls.org or call 517-939-1382. 

Revive and refresh genealogy and local history interest at your library! NewspaperArchive gives libraries, archives, and institutions searchable access to 290+ million digitized newspaper pages with 24/7 access onsite and from home.  NewspaperArchive supports two distinct services. Choose one that fits your goals — or use both. Preserve or digitize your collection. NewspaperArchive provides digitization, microfilm creation, and microfilm/microfiche conversion for libraries, archives, and historical societies. Your files, your collection.  With NewspaperArchive, patrons find newspaper articles, births, deaths, and more. Powerful search tools to help you find exactly who or what you are looking for. Explore records like: newspaper archives 1607-2026, over 108 million obituaries, marriage records, birth records, death records, arrest records, divorce records, murder cases, old photographs, genealogy, family history, and so much more!  Via MCLS, member libraries receive: 10% off State & Multi-State collections, 15% off U.S. collections, or 20% off Global collections. We can also layer in additional flexibility for multi-year commitments paid annually.  For a quote or more information, contact services@mcls.org or call 517-939-1382.

The MCLS Engagement, Consulting, and Training Team continues our popular series of Virtual Dialogues on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 10:30 a.m. to noon Eastern (9:30-11 a.m. Central). During the dialogue, we will engage around the subject of accountability and taking ownership. MCLS Virtual Dialogues are designed to provide those in the library industry opportunities to connect and engage around topics that impact the way we work. These dialogues are not workshops or webinars, but a way to engage with others in the profession through facilitated dialogue. We look forward to connecting with you! Please plan to have your microphone enabled and camera on in order to participate. If you have any questions, please reach out to engagement@mcls.org. REGISTER NOW

On Friday, August 28, MCLS’s IT staff launched our fully-redesigned and modernized website, a first in over a decade! With feedback from our members, partners, and staff, we focused on what matters most to you: an upgraded user experience and an easier way for you to connect with the resources, services, and community MCLS offers. You’ll notice a new member portal next to the search icon in the upper right menu. This area provides access to managing your subscriptions, paying invoices, managing your password, and a quick link to workshop registrations. Also, a new accessibility icon appears at the bottom left of every page. When selected, you can change the site’s font size, letter spacing, contrast, cursor size, and more! We hope you love the new design. While we have taken special care to keep links the same where possible, please check your saved bookmarks for potential changes. If you experience any difficulty with the site, please let us know at marketing@mcls.org. A heartfelt thank you to the members, partners, and staff whose feedback guided this redesign. Together, we're building a stronger digital home for the library community — and we're excited to keep improving it with your input in mind.

The following library staff members have earned Certificates of Library Staff Development by attending workshops through MCLS:  Basic Essential Workplace Skills Certificate   Richard D. Deverell, Jeffersonville Township Public Library, IN   Naomi C. Gómez, Purdue University Northwest, IN  Sarah Mominee, Novi Public Library, MI   Emma Rose, Lake County Public Library, IN  Basic Cataloging Certificate  Preeti Arya, Salem South Lyon District Library, MI  Kae Goss, Lake Michigan College – William Hessel Library, MI    Allie Lovette, South Carolina State Library, SC  Kathie Mason, Eastern Michigan University, MI  Advanced Cataloging Certificate  Amy Bermingham, Novi Public Library, MI  Heidi Keppen Palmer, University of Michigan-Dearborn, MI Kathie Mason, Eastern Michigan University, MI  Are you interested in obtaining your Certificate of Library Staff Development? For details, visit this page. Essential Workplace Skills tutorials are free to MCLS members as a member benefit! For questions, please email Gwen at training@mcls.org or call 517-220-9950. 

Child-led play (when the child is in complete control of every aspect of the play) encourages independence, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Stacy Benge, an early childhood educator, suggests, “It is also the key to developing the foundations that support future reading and writing. Children are at the heart of play. It is not about the adults, the learning standards, or the curriculum theme—it is all about the children.” Visual processing, phonological awareness, and physical development are components of building literacy skills, and these are all elements found in child-led play.   Play gives children the agency to not only change and enhance a story, but to also make it real for them. Within the world of play, they can exert power over beginnings, middles, and endings. Play is the natural way children interact with the world.   Every Child Ready to Read® (ECRR) identifies five practices (talk, sing, read, write, and play) that adults should use to engage with children to build early literacy skills. TALK: Text & Learn for Kindergarten, based on the ECRR model, incorporates play in several of the two, age-appropriate texts sent to parents and caregivers each week. Texts are sent with the goal of raising the frequency and quality of parent/child interactions. Supporting children with their creativity, curiosity, imagination, and interests when they play is one way to help prepare them for kindergarten.   If your library would like to find out how TALK can help support early literacy development in your community, send queries to talkhelp@mcls.org. Request a quote here.   References  Allyn, P. (2025). It’s Not Too Soon: Early Literacy Works: Young children can joyfully learn foundational literacy skills through play--and it makes a difference. Educational Leadership, 82(7), 26–31.  Benge, S. (2025). The Key to Early Literacy is Child-Led PLAY! Exchange (19460406), 280, 33–37. 

by MCLS Engagement Strategist Laura Warren-Gross  North Adams Memorial Community Library opened its new facility in 2020 during COVID-19. Now, six years later they are fully open, and the community is making use of their engaging spaces and programs. The North Adams community passed a millage in August of 2026 which will allow the staff and board to continue focusing on their strategic goals of access, being a community hub, providing opportunities for lifelong learning, and preserving local history and culture.  The library is located near the K-12 school and when I visited with director Mariel Busch we discussed some of the events they had planned for summer reading. By the end of summer, 92 students registered for summer reading—an all-time high. Through a partnership with local businesses and the village, a sidewalk was being constructed to connect the school grounds to the library parking lot so that kids can easily walk between the two facilities. Mariel has recently earned her MLIS from Wayne State University with a concentration in Archival Administration, and she is putting that knowledge to use by creating a local history room. Back issues of the region’s newspaper have been donated to the library, and the staff is working to digitize them. They also have an extensive history of the town written by Marie Davis. With the permission of the family, the library staff is working to digitize this precious information for the enjoyment of future generations. Though they have borrowed a digitization kit previously, Mariel hopes to own equipment via grant funding to do this work.  As a place to discover local history, engage in programming, and borrow resources, North Adams Community Memorial Library is a vibrant hub for everyone who walks through the doors.  What makes your library unique? Engagement, Consulting, and Training team members would love to hear about your library and share your story! Interested? Contact us at engagement@mcls.org.