Four+ years ago, as I approached retirement I knew I wanted to stay peripherally involved in my profession. After all, it is hard to undo 45 years of immersion into every aspect of librarianship – from a page shelving books to a director testifying at the legislature – but I vowed I would not become the dreaded old retiree who attends every meeting spouting “…but we have always done it that way” or, even worse “… we tried that in #### [fill in the blank with a long ago date] and it didn’t work…” MALF, the Minnesota Association of Library Friends, let me support libraries, their trustees, and Friends but also graciously decline requests for more visible involvement.
Continuing Education is a key service in the MALF stable of support. Pre-pandemic, MALF hosted live events, even going so far as to “round-robin” the state to minimize windshield time for participants. With the aid of very talented staff and dedicated board members, MALF reacted nimbly as Minnesota went into the 2020 quarantine. Quicker than many other organizations, MALF shifted plans for its first annual Saturday Splash from an in-person event keynoted by author, William Kent Krueger, complete with book sales and Friends’ awards to a virtual experience. The attendance exceeded all projections and Saturday Splash 2021 stayed in the ZOOM cyberspace and featured the always witty Lorna Landvick. ZOOM also enabled MALF to begin offering quarterly webinars – one of which is broadcasting today and will be the last of my official MALF board duties.
Adieu MALF continue the good work!
Photo credit: Prexels – Element5 Digital
Knit+ Librarian 