The Mountain Plains Library Association (MPLA) is a non-profit organization based in the western United States that promotes the development of

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

s and

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

by providing educational and networking opportunities to members. Modeled on the

Pacific Northwest Library Association The Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) is a professional organization for the Pacific Northwest's librarians and library workers headquartered in Bothell, Washington. It has over 200 members from Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, ...

, MPLA brings together librarians and those involved in libraries from across the Mountain Plains region. The MPLA region can be characterized as sparsely peopled, with densely populated urban areas widely separated from one another, often divided by vast areas of prairie grassland or mountain ranges. Librarians serving the area share challenges related to the geographical realities of the region

History

Founded at a meeting in

Estes Park, Colorado Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban C ...

, by librarians from Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Wyoming, the Mountain Plains Library Association was designed to facilitate regional American Library Association meetings. Within three days a temporary constitution had been drafted, Ralph T. Esterquist was elected president and Ruth V. Tyler was elected vice-president/president-elect. Thus, on 31 August 1948, the Mountain Plains Library Association was born

Membership

MPLA membership is open to librarians, library paraprofessionals and friends of libraries. Individuals and institutional memberships are available. Activities and the majority of members fall within the twelve-state member region, but individual members can hail from anywhere.

Governing structure

The MPLA is governed by an elected board of representatives from each member state and a number of sections and roundtables representing interests and types of libraries. Officers making up the executive board are the current president, vice-president/president-elect, past president, and a recording secretary. In addition to its board and its officers, MPLA activities are carried out by committees and an executive secretary.

Activities

MPLA provides education opportunities in the form of meetings and workshops, provides professional development grants to members, and, since 2001, has held a Leadership Institute for up to 30 participants. Annual conferences have included a scholarly research forum since the early 1950s. The association has sponsored publications focusing on inter-library cooperation, literacy and the humanities, librarianship and technology in the Mountain Plains region (Hodgson, J. G. 1954).

Awards

Awards are presented at each annual conference: * The ''Carl Gaumer Library Champion Award'' recognizes an individual, organization or company showing close support of the Mountain Plains Library Association. * The ''MPLA Distinguished Service Award'' recognizes an MPLA member who has made notable contributions to the library profession or has furthered significant development of libraries in the Mountain Plains region. In the case of retired individuals, the nominee may be a past member of MPLA. * The ''MPLA Literary Contribution Award'' is presented to an author whose published writings have furthered an appreciation of the Mountain Plains region. The author need not reside in the region. Published works are evaluated on the basis of literary worth, readability, and evidence of responsible research. * The ''MPLA Beginning Professional Award'' recognizes an MPLA member who, as a librarian/media specialist within the first five years after receiving a library/media master's degree, has made a positive impact on the quality and role of library service. Factors such as innovative programming and planning, use of resources and special projects are considered. * The ''MPLA Dan Chaney Unsung Hero Award'' is presented to any library individual or group in the MPLA region who have worked on a special project that has some significance to a community but which has not been eligible for a library award.

Conferences

The MPLA meets annually in joint conferences with member states on a rotational basis.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Hall, B. "A History of MPLA." Newsletter 42:5, April 1998. * Hall, B. citing Kraenzel, C. F. in "A History of MPLA." Newsletter 42:6, June 1998. * Hodgson, J. G. Regional library cooperation in the Rocky Mountain region and the northern Great Plains, 1935-1953. Denver Public Library, 1954.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mountain Plains Library Association (Mpla) Libraries in the United States Library-related professional associations Organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Colorado