Next month (April 3-5), thousands of library staff and leaders will congregate in Columbus, Ohio for the biennial Public Library Association (PLA) conference. PLA is often hailed as the pre-eminent professional development opportunity for the field of public librarianship. While the conference is open to supporters like Friends, in-person participation is cost prohibitive for most volunteers. Fortunately for us, virtual tickets are also on offer!

Did you know that United for Libraries hosts an annual celebration of library supporters? It’s called National Friends of Libraries Week – and conveniently for those of us in Minnesota, it falls every October. It’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate and fundraise before November ushers in the year’s busiest, most crowded time for fundraising.

Dollar General opened more than a dozen new Minnesota stores in 2022, on top of a similar number in 2021. Odds are - if it wasn’t before - your Library is now located within 20 miles of the nearest Dollar General. This makes you eligible for a youth literacy grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation!