From October 14-16, I had the good fortune to attend the Harwood Institute/ALA Public Innovators Lab in Detroit, Michigan. My attendance, as well as a colleague’s, was made possible thanks to a scholarship we received from Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS). There is no way we could have attended without their help, as our …Read more »

The Library of Michigan and MCLS are offering a robust, extensive, and essentially free community engagement training opportunity. The Library of Michigan and MCLS are pleased to announce a several month long community engagement training program for Michigan library staff. The training will be led by coaches from the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, and …Read more »

By an overwhelming majority vote, our member representatives elected the proposed slate of new and returning board members. The elected slate: Research Library Representative (Indiana)—Julie Bobay, Indiana University Libraries School Library Representative (Indiana)—Addie Matteson, Noblesville Schools At-Large Library Representative (Indiana)—Kate Linderman, Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library Public Library Representative (Michigan)—Eva Davis, Canton Public Library At-Large Library …Read more »

Wine tasting, beer making and literary pub crawls: Holding spirited events at your library. If your library wants to bring in new audiences, promote local tourism, or provide educational  and cultural opportunities that would include wine, beer or other spirits, this workshop is for you. Attendees will learn how to convince the board, comply with …Read more »

As a follow-up to our Media Coaching workshops, we invite you to participate in “Media boot camp: Interviewing skills.” We will review some of the basic tips for being interviewed by the media, and then attendees will participate in multiple interview scenarios. Interviews will be played back and constructively critiqued by your peers. Never say …Read more »

Register today for the MCLS Annual Membership Meeting scheduled for November 20, 2015 from 10-11 am Eastern (9-10 am Central). This year’s business meeting will be held online via streaming video and will feature reports from MCLS board chair, Ray Arnett, Executive Director, Randy Dykhuis, and Audit committee chair, Lise Mitchell. There is no cost …Read more »

Public, academic, and school libraries are all vital to quality services for student achievement in your community. Come join us at the Collaboration and Student Achievement: How School, Public and Academic Libraries Are Working Together workshop to learn more about the range of possible collaborations between libraries, both here in Michigan and across the country. …Read more »

Does your public library need to complete a strategic plan? MCLS is hosting a two-day series, scheduled for September 9 and October 21, where you will learn and practice do-it-yourself tools you can use to create your own plan. These will be highly interactive sessions in which you will be coached and advised throughout the …Read more »

Two of our member public libraries located in the northern most regions of each state have been paired up for the “Library Match” project. The Crown Point Community Library in Crown Point, Indiana and the Peter White Public Library in Marquette, Michigan have been paired up to participate in the pilot project “Library Match.” For …Read more »

Please invest the time and take advantage of this rare and very generous opportunity. The Library Network welcomes Warren the “Black Belt Librarian” Graham to the Dearborn Public Library Henry Ford Centennial Library on Tuesday October 6, 2015. Graham will be presenting “Real world library security”. This event is free of charge. When Tuesday, October …Read more »