Blog
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.