We are excited to announce that Mary Ruthko has accepted the newly-created position of Marketing and Communication Coordinator at MCLS. Mary most recently worked as the Marketing Manager at the Bay County Library System headquartered in Bay City, Michigan. She brings to us a wealth of experience, and we look forward to working with her …Read more »

I’m thrilled to share that the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded MCLS a grant for $242,351 for our project Demonstrating and Documenting a Statewide LOCKSS 2.0 Preservation Network for Cultural Memory Institutions, marking MCLS’s first-ever IMLS grant award as an organization. We will use these grant funds to continue building the …Read more »

If your staff development plan includes in-service days, MCLS can bring half-day or full-day training to your library. Our customized staff in-service training is created to apply to staff at multiple levels of the organization. We are currently offering the following training and facilitation topics: Community Engagement Foundations of Digital Literacy Customer Service: Identifying Excellent …Read more »

Over the past two years, much has changed about how we all work.  Many staff were thrown into the deep end of remote working, and we have all learned a lot from our experiences.  In response, MCLS staff has undertaken an internal process to discover what the future of work will look like at MCLS.  …Read more »

MCLS launched its new subscription management system, ConsortiaManager (CM), on July 5. Libraries can now renew subscriptions via CM. An email sent on July 13 provided libraries with a link for establishing a CM login. Also on July 13, ConsortiaManager staff conducted a training demonstrating the renewal process for libraries. The basic process for renewing …Read more »

The call for nominations to serve on the MCLS Board of Directors (2023-2025) is open to MCLS member libraries, and the Board and I invite you to nominate yourself or someone you know by July 15 to play an active role in setting and refining the vision that guides MCLS to serve hundreds of libraries …Read more »

The Midwest Collaborative for Library Services and the University of Michigan are partnering again to extend the offer of a free pilot of the “Grant Writing and Crowdfunding for Public Libraries” course on Michigan Online. All staff of MCLS member public libraries in both Indiana and Michigan are eligible to participate. We are very excited …Read more »

Discounts on hotel bookings are now available to MCLS members through HotelPlanner. Members can save up to 65% or more off room rates at over 900,000 lodging options worldwide. The custom booking site has special deals by many supplier channels to bring the best rates from thousands of hotels and other accommodations worldwide. Whether you …Read more »

July 5 marks a new beginning for MCLS: it is the date when MCLS goes live with ConsortiaManager as its subscription management system. Over the past several months, MCLS staff members have been busy preparing for this transition, getting data ready to migrate, learning to navigate ConsortiaManager, and communicating with our members about the change. …Read more »

MCLS is getting new phone numbers! Our main numbers, (517) 394-2420 and toll-free (800) 530-9019, will remain the same, but all group phone numbers (e.g. Training, MeLCat Help, MeL eResources Help, etc.) and staff direct numbers will be changing. The changes will happen on July 1, 2022. Once the new phone numbers are in effect, …Read more »