Library science is an enormous field, home to every interest you could imagine! This means that there are many organizations out there for you to join, in order to connect with other people who share your professional interests.

So even if you work alone in your library, there are other people out there doing work similar to yours! Each week we will highlight a different library association for you to learn more about, and depending on your work, potentially join! You can also check out our page dedicated to Library Associations.

This week we are learning about the Music Library Association (MLA)! MLA was founded in 1931 and is the “professional association for music libraries and librarianship in the United States.” MLA’s members consist of musicians, educators, librarians, and members of the book and music trades. The association has ten regional chapters that do local programming, like the Midwest chapter which you can learn more about here!

The Music Library Association has a ton of resources available to members. They publish the quarterly journal Notes which is the world’s leading journal in the field.  They also publish ” a series of Technical Reports, an Index & Bibliography Series, a Basic Manual Series, the monthly Music Cataloging Bulletin, and a quarterly newsletter.”

MLA has an annual conference that focuses on librarianship and music, and they offer several different awards, scholarships, and grants. Their website has information on MLA’s advocacy efforts, and several resources to help with job placement and career advisory services.

Learn more about how to join the Music Library Association and check out all the membership benefits and ways to get involved on their membership page.