5 Ways to Make MLA Work for You (as a Student)

We had a great time learning about the Minnesota Library Association from Maggie Snow. Since I know not everyone can attend, I wanted to share some of the ways you might get involved with MLA as a student.

1) Join.
Membership is heavily discounted while you are a student. Join MLA for $25/year or even better, join ALA and MLA for $38/year.

2) Sign up for the annual conference.

There's still time to register for the annual conference, one of the best opportunities you'll have to meet library professionals from around the state. Bonus: it's in St. Paul this year. You can register online through October 2nd. Don't forget you can get reimbursed from the Student Governance Organization.

3) Volunteer at conference.

Registration too high? Want a chance to help out at the conference and meet library professionals? There are spots for library students to volunteer in exchange for half off the registration costs.

4) Join a committee or subunit.

If you really want to strengthen your MLA game, library students are welcome to join a subunit or committee. Take a look at the current subunits and committees and email them directly if you are interested.

5) Attend a subgroup event or webinar

Some subunits and committees offer events for you to attend throughout the year. Like Readers' Advisory? Attend a Tomes on Tap. Want to learn more about academic libraries? Academic and Research Library Division offers an ARLD Day every spring. Watch the MLA calendar for upcoming events that fit your interests.

This isn't everything you can do. Other ideas we talked about included present at a conference, applying for a leadership development program like MILE or Emerging Leaders, or get involved with advocacy/library legislative day.

Thanks, again, to Maggie Snow for joining us. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October 13th from 5-5:45pm.