This month I thank the 232 people who responded to the MCLS Board of Directors’ survey in September, and will share next steps the Board will take. The Board and I really appreciate the data MCLS members took the time to submit, including hundreds of comments.  

As I mentioned in September, MCLS’s member libraries own MCLS as an organization. According to MCLS’s governance system, the Board serves as the informed voice and agent of MCLS’s owners and is accountable to the member/owners. They will use the survey data to update their collective vision and overall direction for MCLS, which the staff and I will operationalize in alignment with the strategic plan that we created in 2024 (with a great deal of input from member libraries and other stakeholders).  

The Board will consider the survey data as they focus on updating their vision and direction for MCLS (also known as Ends, on p.3 of the Board Policy Manual) at their Nov. 14-15 retreat. We will share a data summary and any changes the Board made to their Ends in the December-January MCLS newsletter (watch this space). We will also offer an opportunity for MCLS members to engage with the Board on how they’re using the survey data at the MCLS Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 10 a.m. Eastern (9 a.m. Central) (registration information coming soon).  

In other news, the Board will also discuss updates to the MCLS Bylaws at their meeting on Friday, Nov. 14. Once the Board approves new Bylaws, MCLS members will vote to approve them according to the methods in the Bylaws document. We’ll communicate the voting process to members well in advance of the vote. 

I’ll close by noting that this newsletter finds many of us in the middle of the fall conference season. I appreciated seeing many MCLS members at the Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation (UPRLC) conference in September and the Michigan Library Association (MLA) conference in October. I hope to see some of you at the Charleston Conference in early November and the Indiana Library Federation (ILF) conference the following week. I also encourage you to join us for the Annual Meeting to engage with us and learn how your member input is influencing the Board’s vision and direction work.  

I appreciate how the Board is working at their level and the staff at theirs so MCLS can continue serving libraries as effectively and impactfully as possible. If you also appreciate what our Board and staff do, I encourage you to let them know. 

What’s on your mind right now? Let me know at garrisons@mcls.org.