You can now reserve your lodging to attend the Annual Conference. A room block has been secured at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center at the discounted rate of $109.00/night + tax. For more information including a link to use to make a reservation using the discounted rate, go to the Annual Conference 2020 information page.

Krysta Vincent
Reference Librarian
Delta College
 ​
What are you currently reading?
I'm currently reading The Montessori Toddler by Simone Davis and Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. I also have a list of holds on some new fiction that I'm hoping come in before Christmas Break!


What are your research interests?
I'm interested in user experience and data collection, analysis, and visualization. I'm also lucky to be in an environment where I have the opportunity to explore a lot of different interests as they develop.


Do you have hobbies or interests outside of the library?
Most of my free time is spent with my 2 year old daughter, Mabel, and my husband. Though when we have a night away, we love to see live music and have traveled to catch some runs before. I love riding my bike in the summer time and hope to get back into cross country skiing in the winter. I'm a big fan of anything that involves being outside and active.


What drew you to the library profession?
I studied cultural anthropology as an undergraduate and loved it. Though I didn't continue with my anthropology studies, I realized that what I really loved was the research process. Some of my happiest times as a college student was spent in a library, following the citation trail on the hunt for more sources. When I realized that this was something that I could do professionally, I was sold on it. I really enjoy teaching our students how to research and to help them get excited about it.

What do you value about MiALA?
I love how directly relevant it is to my day-to-day. Everyone I have met through MiALA has been so open and eager to help me. I have been able to implement so many things that I have learned from workshops, through personal connections I have made, and from the annual conference. I love how accessible it is.

Is there anything else that you would like to share??
Being a community college librarian is a lot of fun!

Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University
Benjamin Boss

Kendall College of Art & Design Library - KCAD of FSU
Elise J Bohn

Eastern Michigan University
Katherine (Kathie) Mason

Kettering University
Marci Euper

Michigan State University Libraries
Erika Weir

Grand Valley State University
Rocio Lopez

Eastern Michigan University
Kelly Grossmann Getz

 

Hello MiALA members, it is now February and I hope everyone is doing well this mild, yet grey winter. For those of us who attended ALA’s Midwinter Meetings I hope it was a fruitful event and you’re back and ready to share what you’ve learned.

This month I want to remind you all of the opportunities you can create in your IG’s. The board is open to new programming ideas whether it is a face-to-face event or a virtual event. Remember members are allowed to use our Zoom license to host virtual meetings, virtual book talks, webinars, or any other professional development event. Here is a FAQ webpage on how to hold meetings. Please take advantage of this great professional development avenue.

I am happy to announce that our Conference Planning committee is working hard to design a great conference for May in Big Rapids. They are planning logistics, programming, and community building opportunities. Remember there is still time to propose a poster for the conference, for more information about poster programming go here.

I wanted to mention that ALA is once again sponsoring National Library Legislative Day on May 4^th and 5^th. In the past the board has sponsored a member of the Advocacy Committee to attend and report back to the members during our Annual Conference. It is a great learning and sharing event where you get to learn about what is happening at the federal level and also address the needs of libraries in this larger arena. The board will once again help sponsor a member of the Advocacy Committee to attend this event. If anyone from the committee is interested, please reach out to your chairs or a board member.
Lastly, I want to thank our committee chairs and committee members for the hard work they are doing. Much of what they do is behind-the-scenes and is not as obvious, but they dedicate their time and effort to make a better membership experience for all our members. Thank you!

Have a great month!
 
Beth Martin, MiALA President

Interested in attending the 5th annual MiALA conference, but funding is in short supply? Apply for the MiALA Annual Conference Registration Grant! The MiALA Annual Conference Registration Grant has been developed to support a current MiALA member’s attendance at the Annual Conference.  We will be awarding up to 7 MiALA Annual Conference grants.  The Annual Conference grant will cover full registration, up to two night’s expense (room rate and tax only) at a hotel at which the conference has a room block reserved, and a $50 travel allowance. Awardee and/or awardee's institution will be expected to cover any remaining conference or travel costs.
 
All current individual/student/retiree members of MiALA (with 19-20 membership dues paid) are eligible to apply for the annual conference registration grant. Applications will be due February 14, 2020 to allow amount to be awarded before the early bird registration deadline
 
To apply, please fill out the form at the following website: https://www.memberleap.com/members/form.php?orgcode=MALA&fid=2094187
 
Want more details? Check out the following page: 
https://miala.org/ac_scholarship_information.php 
 

Annie Downey is Associate Provost and Director of the Armacost Library and Learning Commons at the University of Redlands in California. She has worked as a social sciences librarian and library administrator over the last 15 years, including her most recent roles as Associate College Librarian and Director of Research Services for the Reed College Library and Head of Research and Instruction Services for the University of North Texas Libraries.
 
A 2018 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, Annie Downey has authored Critical Information Literacy: Foundations, Inspiration, and Ideas and co-authored (with Joe Marquez) Library Service Design: A LITA Guide to Holistic Assessment, Insight, and Improvement and Getting Started in Service Design. She studies, writes, and presents on service design, critical librarianship, information literacy, K­20 library instruction, assessment, women in libraries, and academic library administration.
 
Annie will connect her work to the conference theme, Grounded and Growing. We look forward to learning from her extensive experience and welcoming her to Michigan!
 
For more information on the MiALA Annual Conference, go to: https://www.miala.org/annual_conference_2020.php
 

MiALA Annual Conference Call for Posters!

Grounded and Growing

The need to grow and change is a constant for libraries as we respond and adapt to our evolving academic environments. As we celebrate 5 years of MiALA and look towards the future of the organization, we will explore the ways academic libraries are initiating and managing change, not just redefining and reevaluating, but growing from a place that is grounded in our strengths and aligned with community needs. How do we continue what is working and critically examine and pivot from what is not?

MiALA invites you and your colleagues to submit poster proposals for the 5th annual conference to be held May 14-15, 2020 at Ferris State University. Participation from librarians, library staff, LIS students, and administrators from all types of academic libraries is encouraged.  MiALA membership is not required to submit a proposal. We welcome proposals on any topic related to academic libraries, including, but not limited to:

Access Services	Accessibility	Administration
Assessment and Evaluation	Best Practices	Budgets
Cataloging and Metadata	Collections	Critical Librarianship
Distance or Online Learning	Education and Curriculum	Electronic Resources
Fine Arts	Health Sciences	Instruction and Information Literacy
Leadership	Michigan Alma	Mid-Level Management
Open Educational Resources	Outreach	Research Services or Reference
Residency	Resource Sharing	STEM
Technical Services	Technology	User Experience
Web Development and Design

****Prior to submitting your proposal, please review the information provided on the Poster Session Guidelines page.****

Please submit your poster proposal using the application form located here by February 21, 2020. The primary contact listed on each proposal will receive a message indicating receipt of the proposal when it is submitted and decisions on proposals will be communicated to the primary contact by Friday, March 13, 2020.

Questions about proposals can be sent to David Scott DavidScott@ferris.edu. Questions about the conference in general can be sent to conference@miala.org.