Together, the MCLS community is strong.

Together, we will thrive in 2026 and beyond!

There are a multitude of benefits to being a member of a large collective like MCLS, which has more than 600 members of every size and type of library across Indiana and Michigan. MCLS offers affordable and customizable access to the key services and resources libraries depend on. Below is a snapshot of how we are investing in our members:

>eLicensing and Collection Resources

• • Our staff negotiates discounted pricing with 70+ vendors (and growing).
  • In our previous member year, 445 libraries saved up to 90% off list prices on select titles.
  • In the coming year, we anticipate libraries will save more than $7 million on eLicensing & Collection Resources contracts through MCLS. 

>Training

• • We offer workshops and certification courses for all levels of library staff that are either deeply discounted or free as a benefit of MCLS membership.
  • Since July 1, we’ve offered 152 workshops to 1,712 registrants. In the coming member year, we will add at least four NEW workshops to our comprehensive catalog. 

>Consulting

• • 27 libraries used our consulting services last member year (July 1-June 30)!
  • We have many more projects currently underway for customized consulting services in strategic planning, community engagement, leadership and management, and a variety of essential workplace skills topics. We look forward to empowering more libraries to achieve the extraordinary not only as both a staff and an essential community resource.

>Investing in YOU through collaboration and innovation

• • MCLS partnered with EveryLibrary Institute and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor School of Information on a research project about libraries’ impact across the literacy ecosystem, which we hope to replicate in Indiana.
  • MCLS has supported the Indiana Library Federation’s (ILF) 2026 comprehensive Indiana polling project designed to gather timely, reliable public opinion data that will support libraries’ and associations’ efforts to advocate for libraries and inform strategic decision-making across Indiana’s library community.
  • Together, we will continue to find new ways to collaborate on initiatives that you can use to demonstrate the positive impact your library has on your community. We are currently exploring working with other consortia to fund building advocacy tools libraries can use (e.g., comms templates).
    
  • MCLS engages at state, national, and international levels to implement the innovative programs that enrich our member community. We provide the infrastructure and/or staffing for MeLCat and RIDES, MI-SPI, OEN, two OverDrive groups, and OA efforts. Last year, the MDPN (Michigan Digital Preservation Network) launched the world’s first LOCKSS 2.0 network in collaboration with the six member libraries who host our network nodes: Capital Area District Libraries, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University, Northern Michigan University, Traverse Area District Library, and Western Michigan University.

The MCLS membership year is July 1-June 30.