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.

Contact Your Legislator re Legacy Funds!

From Elaine Keefe, lobbyist for MLA/MEMO:

As you may have seen in media reports, legislators are considering raiding the Legacy Amendment's Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to pay for a new stadium for the Vikings. 

This is certainly not what the voters were told this money would be used for when they passed the Legacy Amendment in 2008.  

Raiding the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund for a stadium will reduce the funding available for arts and cultural programs throughout Minnesota, including those offered by libraries. 

Please call or e-mail your legislators and tell them that you oppose using Arts Fund money for a stadium. 

Minnesota Citizens for the Arts has an excellent tool on their website for constructing a letter to your legislator using your choice of talking points.  The link is below:

 

http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/mn/issues/alert/?alertid=12568891&type=ST&show_alert=1

Minnesota Library Association Conference Cresting the Horizon!

More info for the Minnesota Library Association conference is up:

• Pricing--They haven't started taking registrations yet, but you can see they don't have a student registration rate, so exchanging volunteer hours for free registration is a great bargain (not to mention networking opportunity, etc.). Volunteer info is below.
• Agenda with "At a Glance" or complete session info options. Note that I've been told the Wednesday night "Killer Cocktails" Readers Advisory Round Table happy hour would be a great place for us to gather as a student group.
• Conference hotels--Note that these are not required, just options, and there are a million choices in Canal Park or downtown that would be appropriate. Our student group can help match you with a roommate if you want to save some money that way. Similarly, I'm happy to help arrange carpooling.

Why should you attend this conference? If you want to work at a library in Minnesota, this is your chance to meet librarians from throughout the state who work in all different kinds of institutions and positions. If you're open to working at different types of libraries (or just want to know more about what's out there), this is the place that brings together librarians from across the spectrum. Volunteering takes you even deeper into the conference experience. Here's the scoop:

1. For a single day of free registration, the following volunteer requirement must be met:  Wednesday (2 hours), Thursday (3 hours), and Friday (2 hours). Volunteer opportunities include: introducing session speakers, staffing registration table, and more.
2. In order to receive the entire conference registration free (all three days), students must volunteer for seven hours, broken down as above.
3. Students wanting free conference registration must be members of MLA. This is still a bargain because a student membership is only $25.

For questions or to sign up, please contact Stephanie Hall (halls -at- pas.k12.mn.us). Stephanie and I have been in touch, and while she's trying to set her volunteer schedule now, if you're not ready to commit yet, you can contact her later to see what might be available for you. She seems very flexible and happy to have student volunteers.

As always, let me know if you have questions about anything, and I'll do what I can!

MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Forum

Free for MLA/MEMO members including food! $25 for anyone else (but I think the student MLA annual fee is $25, so you might as well join).

I'm already registered and would be happy to give anyone else a ride.

Library Legislative Forum
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
9:30am-3:00pm
St. Cloud, MN
"A forum to discuss what happened in 2011 and what should happen in 2012"

Agenda for June 2 meeting

Please add comments as you see fit!

• Summer meeting dates (see list to the right): how/which do we want to use? Let's plan when/how we're making our swag.
• Updates on things we were looking into during the break: caves, MLA, speakers, etc.
• Have Mondays been set for the fall?

See you soon!

Legislative Update

From Elaine Keefe, lobbyist for MLA and MEMO:

Tomorrow legislators return from their Passover/Easter break.  The May 23 adjournment deadline is just 4 weeks from today, and much work is left to be done.  Hearing schedules are jam packed this week because the first deadline for policy bills to pass out of committee is this Friday, April 29. 

Legacy:  The House Legacy Funding Division will meet on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week to consider amendments to the Arts and Cultural Heritage article of the omnibus Legacy bill.  A final vote on the bill will be held on Wednesday.

The Senate Environment Committee will hear SF 1040, our bill requesting $5 million per year over the next two years from the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund for regional public libraries, on Tuesday afternoon.  There are 34 bills on the agenda, so our testimony will necessarily be brief.

Maintenance of Effort (MOE):  On Wednesday the House Governmental Operations Committee will hear two mandate relief bills authored by Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R - Mazeppa).  Both HF 7 and HF 519 repeal library MOE and the minmum level of local support as well as many other requirements on local governments, including pay equity.   HF 519 also repeals the requirement that law library fees paid by plaintiffs and defendents be used to support the county law library.  I plan to testify against both bills. 

Governor's Workforce Development Council (GWDC):  HF 844, our bill requiring the Governor to appoint a public library advisor to the GWDC, will be heard in the House Jobs and Economic Development Finance Committee on Thursday, April 28.  Kit Hadley of the St. Paul Public Library will testify. 

ARLD Day reminder: Digital libraries are "everywhere libraries"

If you have $30 to spare for the student registration, the MN Library Association's ARLD Day, "The Everywhere Library," looks like a great networking opportunity on Friday, April 29. Registration includes lunch! It's all about digital libraries and includes a "technology petting zoo."

I would go, but unfortunately I have my own work event that day...

ARLD Day 2011

ARLD Day 2011: The Everywhere Library

"Last year, Academic and Research Libraries (ARLD) Day was all about getting users into the library building. This year, we’ll look at serving our patrons where they are. We know they work from their computers at home and in their offices, but they’re also increasingly accessing our services and information via mobile devices. What do libraries need to be thinking about? What services are successful? What technologies and metadata are required to make access easy and understandable? Join us on April 29 at ARLD Day 2011: The Everywhere Library to find out."