It’s not too late to form a New Years Resolution for 2026. We’re quite biased, of course, but would argue that redoubling our commitment to Friends of the Library work is a particularly worthy goal! If you’re interested in taking up that challenge and “leveling up” your library knowledge and Friends skills, look no further than the suite of e-resources available to all Minnesotans via United for Libraries.

ICYMI: Last month, MALF presented our annual "Warm Reads For Cold Nights: Minnesota Authors Recommend" webinar. If you missed the live event but still need help with your holiday gift list (or want recommendations for your own holiday break reading list), the archived program is available for replay here.

Congratulations to Friends of the Moorhead Public Library, winners of the 2025 Evy Nordley Award for ‘Best Project by Friends of the Library.’ They won top prize earlier this month for Bookmarked! A Celebration of the Arts. Bookmarked! was a fundraiser – but also so much more. It evolved from separate, Friends-led conversations with Zoltar (a tattoo parlor) and Swing Barrel (a craft brew staple in downtown Moorhead).

Thanks to the many Friends who joined MALF last weekend for Saturday Splash 2025. We matched that tremendous turnout with an equally tremendous slate of speakers. Missed out? You can now replay the full morning of programming on our YouTube channel...

For our final webinar of 2025, MALF is excited to announce the return of a fan favorite event. MALF’s programming team first piloted Warm Reads For Cold Nights back in 2022. It’s returned each year since to coincide with the holiday shopping season.

Did you know? Library staff, trustees, and Friends of the Library across Minnesota enjoy free access to a host of online resources and (always timely) live virtual programming through United for Libraries. State Library Services, a division of the Minnesota Dept. of Education, recently purchased statewide access to this portfolio of assets maintained by the arm of the American Library Association most closely aligned to Friends of the Library work. Upcoming opportunities include:

While Friends, staff and trustees all advance their library's overarching mission, each does so from their own "lane." MALF’s next webinar will overview those lanes, as well as best practices to help ensure a healthy and sustainable working relationship. Please join us over the lunch hour (12-1 p.m. Central) on Wednesday, July 23 for Different Roles, Shared Goals.

ICYMI: MALF’s next lunchtime webinar is tomorrow, March 26. Join us – and fellow Friends from across the state – for “Read All About It: The Minnesota Book Awards.” Discussion will be led by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, the long-time organizational stewards of this important program.

Minnesota is home to one of the longest-running and best reputed state-level literary recognition initiatives anywhere in the country. Most readers familiar with the Minnesota Book Awards know this program best for its spring announcements…

What are you doing with this traditionally slow week between Christmas and New Year’s Day? We’d wager that you’re spending at least a part of that time cozying up with a good book. If your “TBR” pile is getting a little low, check out a replay of MALF’s last webinar of the year. Warm Reads For Cold Nights: Year 3 debuted earlier this month.

Who decides a library’s budget? How does interlibrary loan work? What is a library advisory board? These are among the many questions about public library governance and operations that MALF fields every month. Even stalwart, lifelong Friends of the Library may be confused about critical aspects of how their library functions...

MALF’s next webinar will offer a beginner’s primer on how Minnesota’s more than 350 public libraries function. Please join us over the lunch hour (12:00-1:00 p.m. Central) on Wednesday, August 14 for a webinar we are calling “The Full Story: A Friend’s Guide to Minnesota Library Basics.” Our guest speakers will be Richmond Kinney, MLIS and David Katz, MLIS from Library Strategies Consulting Group (LSCG).