Blog
The summer months have a strange way of slipping through our fingers. With the Fourth of July lull just around the corner, don’t forget these July deadlines:
Evy Nordley Award - Friday, July 10 //
Stand Up for Standout Friends - Friday, July 31
Minnesota Libraries Read Together is back for 2026, and the new name is not the only notable change. This time around, festivities will stretch for multiple days, between September 18-20. This expansion is intended to allow more libraries to coordinate tie-in events that fit their calendar and “at a level that fits their capacity, partnerships, and community needs.”
MALF wants to hear what you’ve been up to, and our annual Evy Nordley Award is the perfect mechanism for you to share! Any Friends-supported project is eligible for consideration, provided that (1) project implementation began after January 1, 2025; and (2) either the Friends or their Minnesota library was the primary beneficiary. Top prize is $1,000.
The Friends of the Library are unique among charities for our stalwart support of libraries. In most other respects, however, we’re a lot like all Minnesota nonprofits – regardless of their mission bent. With that in mind, MALF’s next two member webinars shine the spotlight on “nonprofit fundamentals” important to our organizations’ health. Please join us live for: "Twelve Golden Rules of Nonprofit Finance" and "Empowering Effective Board Decision-Making."
Libraries are uniquely responsive community hubs. Within their public service mission, they have flexibility to adopt or adapt priorities to match real-time needs. In practice, of course, any library’s ability to do good is constrained by resource limitations… That’s where Friends of the Library can swoop in and make a critical difference. And as of today, 16 groups from across the state have applied for a Minnesota Good Neighbor Grant through MALF in order to do exactly this!