Plans for the ACRL 2019 Conference are underway! Join ACRL for a free hour-long webcast at 1:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 1, 2018. Learn about the overall process, see examples of successful proposals, and discover ways to strengthen your proposal submission. Find out more about the conference at https://conference.acrl.org/

Register for the webcast here

Sustainability in Academic Libraries
 
MiALA invites you and your colleagues to submit poster proposals for the 3rd annual conference to be held May 17-18, 2018 in East Lansing. Please consider sharing your innovations, creative endeavors, and practical solutions for sustainability in academic librarianship. How do we sustain ourselves within the profession? How do we sustain our libraries and institutions? How do we work (or what is our obligation) environmentally and socially? How do we sustain our communities?

We welcome posters in any topic related to work in academic libraries, and particularly if they have a connection to the conference theme. Broad participation is encouraged from librarians, staff, LIS students, and administrators from all types of academic libraries (including but not limited to public universities, private colleges, and community colleges). Poster proposals should include a description of no more than 300 words. They will be evaluated on relevance to the academic library profession, originality and creativity, and clarity/applicability of content and outcomes.
You must be an individual or student member of MiALA to submit a proposal. Regardless of the decision on a proposal, MiALA encourages you to attend the conference. Poster session proposals may also be submitted if your presentation proposal is not accepted.

Please submit your poster proposal using the application form located here by March 3, 2018.

The primary contact listed on each proposal will receive a message indicating receipt of the proposal when it is submitted; decisions on all proposals will be communicated to the primary contact by March 21, 2018.

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

A colleague at the ALA Washington Office is seeking some examples of individuals who are participating in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program or libraries that are employing PSLF graduates (https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service).
 
Would you have any examples of specific cases like these? If so, please be in touch with:
Kevin L. Maher
Deputy Director, Office of Government Relations
American Library Association
Washington Office
(202) 403-8236
kmaher@alawash.org

The MiALA Fine Arts Interest Group has had two virtual meetings to date, on August 4 and December 14, 2017. So far, we have introduced ourselves and discussed our work with fine arts collections and users at each of our institutions. Between us, we cover a wide variety of arts subjects including art, creative writing, dance, fashion, interior design, music, recreation, parks & leisure, and theatre.

We have also discussed opportunities to present our work in professional contexts, including the MiALA annual meeting and other professional meetings, such as the Music Library Association and the Midwest Chapter of the Music Library Association.

We would welcome more members and seek to broaden our discussions of and possibly collaborate on arts-related academic library projects within Michigan. If you have questions, please contact Michael Duffy, Fine Arts Interest Group chair at michael.duffy@wmich.edu.
 

Central Michigan University
Amie Pifer

Rochester College
Susan Wizinsky

Western Michigan University
Emily Gross

Ohio University
Katy Mathuews

Wayne State University Libraries
Heather Perrone
 

Hello MiALA Members, and happy February! We made it through January. I know it’s always a bit of a tough month for me-those long grey days, and the fact that January is such a long month. But, we’re into February, and with that comes a lot of great new stuff from MiALA.

On Friday, February 9^th, the Community College and Web/UX Interest Groups will be presenting “Making Your LibGuides Shine,” a webinar that Brian Holda will be presenting and facilitating. Brian is the chair of the Web/UX IG, and the webinar builds off the presentation he did at MiALA 2017. If you were unable to attend last year’s conference, or maybe want to discuss further how you can spruce up your LibGuides, this would be a wonderful opportunity. It is great to see IGs working together to develop and present content, and I hope we continue to see these types of collaborations. It’s also exciting to see the impact that the conference has, that even many months after it is over, we are still learning from and connecting with each other. I am really looking forward to our upcoming conference, May 16-18, and the many educational and networking opportunities it will have.

Speaking of webinars, MiALA recently purchased our very own Zoom license! It is available for use for webinars, meetings, presentations, whatever you might need. We do have some limitations, so please contact Heather Ladiski at heather@miala.org if you would like to use it. Heather has also developed a policy and procedure handbook for using the MiALA Zoom account, which will be shared on the MiALA member platform.

I am also looking forward to hearing the results from the MiALA Section Taskforce Town Halls. These are being held throughout February, and it is a great way for you to provide feedback about the structure of MiALA and how we can make it more efficient moving forward. I encourage you to attend one of the town halls (February 9, 10-11am; February 13, 12:30-1:30pm; February 21, 3-4pm). You can review the proposal here and information on how to join the Zoom meetings is here.  I know the Taskforce has put in quite a bit of work on this, and we need to thank Emilia Marcyk, Arlene Weismantle, and Breezy Silver for all their hard work.

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Have a great February!
 

Last fall, the MiALA Section Taskforce sent out a survey to membership soliciting feedback about how Sections and Interest Groups function within our organization. Based on the feedback we gathered there, we have crafted a draft proposal to make some changes to the structure of MiALA.

Here’s where you come in: before we submit our proposal to the MiALA Board, we would like to hear from you, the members. We will be hosting four virtual town hall meetings during January and February where you can provide us with feedback about our draft plan. We will take this feedback into consideration before submitting a final draft proposal to the MiALA Board.

Town hall meeting times (choose one):
January 29, 4 - 5 pm
February 9, 10 - 11 am
February 13, 12:30 - 1:30 pm
February 21, 3 - 4 pm

All meetings will be hosted through Zoom. Please see the following page for information about how to connect to each meeting via phone or computer: http://goo.gl/Dgeqay
In the interest of time, please review the Interest Group Coordination Committee Proposal before your chosen meeting: http://goo.gl/SURVgj. The draft is exploratory, and has not been endorsed by the MiALA Board.

We appreciate your time as we look for ways to make MiALA stronger!

Emilia Marcyk,
On Behalf of the MiALA Section Taskforce (with Arlene Weismantel and Breezy Silver)
 

Interested in attending the 3rd 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 7 Pre-Conference Workshop grants and 7 MiALA Annual Conference grants. The Pre-Conference grant is intended to cover the cost of the pre-conference workshop fee only. The Annual Conference grant will cover full registration (excluding pre-conference) and one night’s expense (room rate and tax only) at a hotel at which the conference has a room block reserved. Awardee and/or awardee's institution will be expected to cover any remaining conference or travel costs.

All current members of MiALA are eligible to apply for the annual conference registration grant. Applications will be due February 15, 2018 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/2018_ac_scholarship_informatio.php
 

 Digital Services Librarian, Davenport University

What are you currently reading?
Caveat: I have 4 children under 6 years old, so any sort of substantial reading time is more of a distant memory.

That said, I generally read some of the world's best-seller (the Bible) daily. And, on those rare times where I have a little "extra" time, I've lately been re-reading, "The Normal Christian Life," by Watchman Nee.

What are your research interests?
I love learning, so find pleasure in researching most anything. But, here's what floats to the top...

Personal research interests: By far my favorite things to learn are Jesus/Christianity and the Bible. Though I also enjoy studying religion (in general), philosophy, science, and web development.
Professional research interests: web development, user experience, technology, and academic librarianship.

Do you have hobbies or interests outside of the library?
Yes! Though, again, refer to my caveat in the, "What are you currently reading?" question...hobbies seem a bit like a distant memory at the moment :)

I like reading (of course!)--mostly non-fiction related to my personal research areas (mentioned above). I also love learning and teaching (in any format) Jesus and the Bible, as well as having in-depth conversations over tea! Additionally, I enjoy table tennis, tennis, Sudoku, crossword puzzles (though I'm terrible at them), frisbee golf, playing the piano, cooking, and drawing/painting.

What drew you to the library profession?
I obtained an elementary education degree in my undergrad and worked as a substitute teacher and tennis coach for 2 years after. During this time--I know this might sound strange--I truly believe God communicated 2 things to me: (1) move to Grand Rapids, and (2) work in a library. It was so clear that I called my mom up and told her about my "career change", even though I had no idea how any of this would happen. But, long story short, a job opened up around this same time at Cornerstone University's library (in Grand Rapids), they hired me, and I started as the Circulation Supervisor there. While there, I obtained my Master's in Library & Information Science from Wayne State, then advanced into an instructional librarian role, and later added "web development" to my job title. And here I am today (now at Davenport University), roughly 10 years later.

I can honestly say that I can't remember a single day I have dreaded my job or working at a library. It has truly been a huge gift to work in this field!

What do you value about MiALA?
First, I value the network potential. I have worked and learned alongside some really nice and helpful people who are so eager to help each other grow professionally. I've seen this happen in different places, but much of it is within the Web/UX Interest Group I serve on.

Second, I value the platform and professional opportunities MiALA provides. I've served in a few different roles there, and have been able to present a few times at the annual conference, and all of this has really helped grow my confidence and skills in librarianship.