I got the opportunity to go to the 2025 MLA conference because of Prairielands! At this event I listened to multiple different speakers about different topics. I learned about book bans and how it makes an impact to library users, understanding the importance a library has in a community, and how to bring more patrons [...]
MLA 2025 Cultivating Connections: Stronger Together MLA 2025 sent me back to my library energized and full of new ideas. This year I think the topic of Cultivating Connections was perfect. The Stronger Together component reminds me that we are only better when we work together. I truly believe this, and it is a common [...]
I found this year's MLA conference to be incredibly useful and well worth my time. I attended sessions relating to VR technology, AI, book clubs, leveraging community organizations and resources, using data to tell the story of how libraries are valuable, and the reality of book banning and censorship. Additionally in light of Baker and [...]
Minnesota Library Association Conference 2024 As a first-time attendee at the Minnesota Library Association Conference in Rochester, MN, I can confidently say it was a truly enriching experience. The variety of sessions offered was impressive, covering a wide range of topics that kept me engaged and inspired. I had the pleasure of attending several sessions, [...]
I chose to focus on technical services and creating more inclusionary terminology in the library. One session that I found particularly informational was on fatphobia and being more inclusive with the catalog language. What a great session! I hope to bring that focus back to our catalog and the way that we support our patrons [...]
Absolutely loved the opening Keynote, Mychal Threets. He was fun to listen to and made me think about how I can start training students to work in the Media Center. Fun fact we ended up walking with him to the conference from the hotel, what a nice person! I want to find out more about [...]
I am so appreciative of receiving this grant to attend the MLA Convention/Conference. Some of the highlights I can share is that I was very pleased with all of the sessions I attended - I learned many new things to share with staff regarding storytimes, games, Canva for designs unique to our library, and connected [...]
I attended the MLA Conference in Rochester, MN on Oct. 24, 2024. I had the opportunity to drive to the conference with the other media specialist in our district which enabled us a significant amount of time to collaborate with each other before, during and after the conference. The keynote speaker, Mychael Treets, was an [...]
I am very glad that I was able to attend this conference with Prairielands support. Now I am able to bring back lots of great information to my libraries that I was not previously aware of. I knew that the ELibrary of Minnesota existed, but it is never a resource that I had used professionally [...]
It was very nice to be able to attend MLA this year. I came away with a lot of exciting ideas for programming that I would like to try and integrate in the next year, as well as seeing all of my colleagues from other systems. Thank you Prairielands for the professional development opportunity!