Dear Members of the Michigan Library Community, The Michigan Library Association wants to commend the libraries and local officials who have made the very hard decision to close their doors to the public and at the same time, encourage others to take action. MLA is using our role as a leader and advocate of Michigan libraries to call on all public libraries in Michigan to close their doors until Sunday, April 5th. This is staying in line with Governor Whitmer's Executive Order 2020-5 to close all Michigan K-12 public schools from Monday, March 16 until Sunday, April 5. We are living in an unprecedented time of uncertainty as we face this worldwide pandemic, and public libraries must do their part to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and protect our citizens from exposure. We believe that school closures put an increased burden on public libraries as children and families turn to us for social, educational and even childcare needs. Increased dependence on our spaces and resources for children and families displaced by school closures will in all likelihood contribute to the continued spread of the coronavirus. This is a challenging time for us, the nation and the world as we respond to novel coronavirus and the uncertainty surrounding it. MLA will do our best to stay on top of this quickly evolving and fluid situation and to communicate with you regularly and fully as conditions change. Be safe, stay well. MLA Board of Directors and Staff [Web Icon resized] Rachel Ash Membership and Communications Director Michigan Library Association 3410 Belle Chase Way, Suite 100 Lansing, MI 48911 Phone: (517) 394-2774 ext. 225 milibraries.org rfash@milibraries.org<mailto:rfash@milibraries.org> Follow MLA on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MichiganLibraryAssociation> and Twitter<https://twitter.com/mlaoffice>!