In many parts of the country, public libraries are feeling their worst budget pinch of the post-COVID era. In this fiscal climate, every dollar raised can be a help. If your community is home to a Walmart or Sam’s Club, your local big box store may be in a position to help. Walmarts everywhere are participating in the Spark Good Local Grants program.

National Friends of Libraries Week 2026 is fast approaching: October 18-24. It’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate and fundraise before November ushers in the year’s busiest, most crowded time for fundraising. There’s no single right way to celebrate. National Friends of Libraries Week is what you make of it; every participating Friends group gets to decide how to observe the occasion.

When Illinois native Lynne Cosmano relocated to Alexandria in 1995, signing up for a Douglas County Library card was her first priority. That’s not surprising to those who know her. Libraries are practically in her blood. She boasts not just one, but two sisters plus a brother-in-law in the library profession. Lynne cannot recall when exactly she joined up with the Douglas County Friends of the Library, but it would have been soon afterward.

Thanks to the nearly 100 of you who took time out of a beautiful weekend morning to tune in to MALF’s fall Friends forum, Saturday Splash. All corners of the state were well represented via videoconference – and we had additional registrants from as far away as Virginia and Hawaii!

Friends volunteers responsible for used book sales often swap versions of the same gut-wrenching tale. Almost everyone has priced vintage titles or rare editions for only a fraction of their true worth, learning of this mistake only after it was too late. The Friends of the Bemidji Public Library have a safeguard against these missteps in the form of Mick Lee.

The Minnesota Library Association annual conference is right around the corner: Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9. In years past, many Friends of the Library have reported to us that attending is impractical for them due to travel logistics and cost. If this describes you, 2026 may be your year! For the first time since the pandemic, this annual conference will be fully virtual.

Labor Day is in the rearview mirror, and that means the traditional “busy season” for Friends book sales is now upon us! If your group is holding a book sale, author program, fundraising gala, or other special event, MALF wants to hear about it. We maintain a statewide, crowdsourced Friends calendar for just this purpose. 

Book banning is not a new threat. As evidence of this fact, the American Library Association spearheaded the inaugural Banned Books Week way back in 1982! It has been a staple on the calendars of libraries, bookstores, publishers and authors ever since. Unfortunately, threats to the Freedom to Read are more numerous and acute today than ever before....

When a community builds a new library, a grand opening event is almost par for the course. In contrast, far fewer take the time to celebrate the legacy library that is about to be decommissioned and replaced. In February 2026, the Friends of the Moorhead Public Library afforded Clay County residents an opportunity to do exactly this through a thoughtful event that looked back while also looking forward.

In June 2024, a torrential downpour in northern Minnesota swelled the Little Fork River and flooded downtown Cook. The small Northwoods town remained inundated for the better part of a week, causing infrastructure damage so severe that one meteorologist termed it “a once in a generation event, at most.” The beloved Cook Public Library was not exempt. Flood waters saturated the carpets, compromised drywall, and wrecked wooden shelves. For many months thereafter, the City could offer only limited library services while waiting to learn if they would secure FEMA funds to restore the facility.

Bees and Trees took root (pun intended) after the Friends learned that the Pine County Soil and Water Conservation District (PCSWCD) hosts occasional tree and shrub sales. After crunching some numbers, the board realized that they could procure a significant number of saplings for a reasonable cost and host some kind of community giveaway.

Literary legend C.S. Lewis once quipped: "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." If you share that sentiment with the Narnia creator, you may want to look into the latest news from the Minnesota Book Awards.