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We are excited to announce that Lissa Krull is the new MCLS Library Strategist. Lissa most recently worked as the Director of the Nappanee Public Library in Nappanee, Indiana. In addition to her experience as a successful library director, Lissa brings experience in consulting, strategic planning, and trustee training through her past work at the Indiana State Library and her own consulting business working with local non-profit organizations. Her first day with MCLS will be March 2. Welcome, Lissa!
We are pleased to announce that both Jackson District Library in Jackson, MI and Anderson Public Library in Anderson, IN have selected Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) to provide consulting services for strategic planning. We will be working with Jackson District Library throughout the spring and summer of 2020, and with Anderson throughout the fall of 2020.
Is your library interested in learning more about our consulting services? Visit our webpage to read more or contact us to request a quote.
Do you wish that your library had a learning plan in place for staff around technology and digital skills, but you are not sure where to start or how to organize it? Then this workshop is for you! Developing a Digital Learning Plan is essential in empowering staff to develop digital literacy skills. In this four hour interactive workshop, participants will learn the basics of creating a Digital Learning Plan for their library by learning how to incorporate technology competencies to help staff successfully achieve their digital literacy goals and by creating activities to support the development of digital literacy skills for staff.
These workshops are designed for staff of public libraries and are open and free to Indiana library staff. Each workshop is limited to 15 participants and to two participants per library, and priority will be given to participants from small- and medium-sized public libraries. Registration is now open.
This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Indiana State Library.
MCLS is pleased to announce a new series of in-person workshops designed for supervisors. These workshops are a continuation of MCLS’s efforts to meet the needs of library staff. The workshops range from four to six hours, and lunch will be included.
If you have questions, please contact Pam Seabolt at seaboltp@mcls.org or (800) 530-9019 ext 123.
February 15, 2020 marks the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services’ (MCLS) tenth anniversary as an organization. To mark this month’s anniversary, I’ll cover some of the many changes that have happened since the Indiana Cooperative Library Service Authority (INCOLSA) and the Michigan Library Consortium (MLC) came together to form the organization we know today as MCLS.
2010 was a very different time for libraries in Indiana and Michigan. The country was emerging from the Great Recession. OCLC networks (including MLC) still existed. That year, the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) decided to end its longtime support contract with INCOLSA and move to the cloud. At MCLS’s inception, opinions on whether the two-state organization could work were very mixed. There was no clear path forward to bring libraries in Indiana and Michigan together. But leaders at the time knew that libraries in both states shared many common values and were striving toward the same ends. The new organization elected a Board of Directors and was off and running.
For more information or to see all upcoming workshops, visit our workshop and event registration page. If you have any questions, please contact us at training@mcls.org.
MCLS has negotiated discounts with several library supply and equipment vendors on behalf of our members. These vendors include Brodart, Demco, Ingram, The Library Store, Kapco, Office Depot, Barcodes, Inc., and Vernon Library Supplies. You can find more information on discounts and how to order on each vendor’s page.
MCLS is clearing out leftover bibliotheca inventory. Single DVD cases are available free to member libraries. Cases are available on a first-come, first-served basis and there is no minimum order required; libraries can request from 1 to 100. Cases can be picked up at the MCLS office in Lansing, Michigan or delivered by mail. Libraries using the mail option will be responsible for paying shipping costs. If you are interested, please contact services@mcls.org.
As a reminder, MCLS is recommending that our members work with Minitex, a Minnesota-based consortia, for any future security product and supply needs. Tim Peters is ready to assist MCLS members with their purchases and can be reached by phone at (800) 462-5348 or by email at tim@minitex.umn.edu.
On January 10, 2020, MeLCat celebrated 15 years of providing Michigan library patrons with Interlibrary Loan materials. Patrons placed a record setting 1,296,559 requests in 2019.
MeLCat statistics as of January 1, 2020:
The revised MeLCat Resource Sharing Policies go into effect on Monday, February 3, 2020. Staff at all participating libraries should review the policies.
Support for the Michigan eLibrary program is provided in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library of Michigan, part of the Michigan Department of Education.
Any time you have an issue, problem, or fabulous story, please notify us using the RIDES Assistance Form.
