Submitted by Laurie Phillips, University Librarian for Information Resources, Loyola University New Orleans Editor’s note: The following story was inspired by a collaboration to serve an under-resourced population, as shared to MLA-L earlier this year. When I arrived as a music and media cataloger at Loyola University New Orleans in the summer of 1990, one of my duties was to help catalog the library at the Work Training Facility South at Jackson Barracks, a nearby minimum security prison. Loyola had begun offering non-credit classes at Jackson on such topics as creative writing and street law through a program initiated by

The MLA Web Team is pleased to announce that the embargo period has ended for the session/presentation recordings from the March 2023 conference!  These videos are now accessible from MLA’s Vimeo account, in a separate showcase available here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/9945572 MLA has contracted with 3Play Media so that all conference session videos have professionally edited closed captions. Please note that Committee and Interest Group meetings are still only available for conference attendees and those who have received the link, and do not have professional captions.  For conference attendees, all videos are still accessible through Sched.

The Membership Committee has been hard at work this year. Their main project has been to create, administer, and analyze surveys of former and current members of MLA. We were able to gain insight into what members found valuable about their membership and what they would like MLA to provide. Based on information received from the survey results, we relayed pertinent suggestions to committee chairs and special officers, gave a presentation at the 2023 annual conference in St. Louis, and wrote up detailed board reports. Here are some of our recommendations: Also based on member input, the Membership Committee created

Jade Kastel was selected as the 2023 Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year by the Illinois Library Association (ILA). She is currently the Music Librarian, Assistant Professor, and Libraries Diversity Officer at Western Illinois University. Kastel is a member of the MLA Big Band, and is completing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance with a minor in Queer Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Kastel has worked at academic libraries in Indiana and Florida, and prior to librarianship, she was a director of music, organist, and jazz saxophonist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Kastel is an active commentator in the

Submitted by Michelle Hahn on behalf of the Music OCLC Users Group (MOUG) board MOUG has always been a part of the fabric of MLA. And Jay Weitz has been a part of MOUG for 90% of its existence. Joining OCLC in 1982, he has been responsible for an immeasurable improvement to the descriptions of music materials in WorldCat and, by the transitive property, all of our catalogs. Preceded as the official OCLC representative to MOUG in its first 10 years by Ron Gardner, Joan Schuitema, Glenn Patton, and Sharon Walbridge, Jay was named as our permanent liaison in 1989

As announced on March 4, 2023 during the business meeting of MLA’s annual conference, here are the recipients of travel, research, and publication awards given by the Music Library Association. MLA Diversity ScholarshipThe MLA Diversity Scholarship Award offers financial support to candidates from underrepresented groups who are pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science (MLIS). The recipients are Yee Wing Chan and Thi Lettner. https://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/page/DiversityScholarship Kevin Freeman Travel GrantThe Kevin Freeman Travel Grant supports travel and hotel expenses to attend the Music Library Association annual meeting. Recipients must be either a student, recent graduate, or a colleague new to

At its annual meeting in March 2023, the Music Library Association presented the A. Ralph Papakhian Special Achievement Award to Jerry McBride for his courage and acumen, placing MLA on stronger financial footing. This award is long overdue. Jerry was MLA president when the organization took a challenging financial hit in 2010. Individuals and institutions were still dealing with the effects of a recession, and it was because of the losses we incurred that Jerry initiated the bold but controversial move to restructure MLA’s finances, notably to build our reserves to be able to withstand cancellation of an annual meeting,

The Music Library Association congratulates Dr. Mark McKnight as the recipient of its 2023 MLA Citation, the association’s highest honor. His impact on the Music Library Association, the field, and the scholarly arena is exemplary.  Mark has set a very high standard, one which has been a great inspiration to those who have been  privileged to know, work, or interact with him. The majority of Mark’s career as a music librarian has been at the University of North Texas, where he has served in various capacities from 1990 to his retirement in 2019. From Assistant Music Librarian to Head Librarian,