MLA 2024 Annual Conference Featured Speakers

Opening Keynote

Creating A Limitless Culture: Better Results, Better Relationships, Limitless Possibilities with Ben Whiting

What do you get when you combine a background in leadership development with decades of corporate entertainment experience? You get something that is fun, engaging, and that builds a bridge between insight and actionable strategies to bring the best out of your people. This is what Ben Whiting’s Creating a Limitless Culture keynote delivers. In addition to experiencing draw-dropping (and often hilarious) magic and mind reading, your group will be able to instantly increase productivity through better communication, reduce drama by learning how to create and sustain quality relationships in the workplace, and learn to thrive amidst constant change with a simple mindset shift that will also help them find not just happiness, but fulfillment in their day-to-day work lives (all while having A LOT of fun!).

Struggling to navigate change and change management…
Tired of your employees feeling the hybrid disconnect…
Losing time and money to miscommunication and unnecessary drama…
Trying to innovate in a time when things are constantly changing…
Ready to unleash the full potential of your employees..

Then Ben is ready to give you the Blueprint to Create a Limitless Culture that will help your people…

Communicate in a way that increases productivity while minimizing drama
Create quality relationships with their colleagues, clients, and customers that can be leveraged for motivation and influence (and to reduce turnover!)
Learn a simple mindset shift that when applied empowers them to thrive through change, innovate courageously, and find fulfillment in their work.
Inspire them with an unbelievably fun experience with lessons they will never forget!

Ben Whiting achieved international success as an award winning magician and mind-reader by creating an atmosphere on stage where the impossible was possible and where human connection had no limits. As an entertainer, he’s performed in over 30 countries, had multiple television appearances, and his clients include the likes of Crystal Cruises, Oprah’s HARPO studios, and Facebook. Recognizing his passion for helping others in their careers and day-to-day lives, Ben began focusing on keynote speaking and leadership development in 2014. Shortly after delivering his first TEDx talk, he was hired by an international leadership development firm to create and deliver content around the globe. His consulting clients have included international companies like UNiDAYS, as well as Fortune 50 corporations such as Schlumberger. Today, Ben combines his backgrounds in leadership development and corporate entertainment to help organizations create cultures that can achieve the impossible (while having A LOT of fun). He’s been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, the New York Times, and his clients include Apple, Google, American Express, and Amazon.

Thursday Keynote

Surviving the Public with Gene Ambaum

Tough customers got you down? Let us teach you how to stop worrying and learn to enjoy difficult people! In this keynote we focus on the Unshelved approach to customer service: the customer is seldom right. Most customer service interactions can be enjoyable if you have the right frame of mind. Or, failing that, at least you can have the last laugh.

See You in the Funny Pages Library Comic Contest

Submissions are now closed for this event.

Gene Ambaum of Unshelved and Library Comic is offering at least one lucky library attendee the chance to have their library’s story immortalized into a comic strip created by him. All 2024 Annual Conference attendees were invited to submit their favorite library stories by Friday, August 2. The best of these will be made into a comic strip by writer Gene Ambaum, who will be presenting at the 2024 MLA Annual Conference, and Library Comic's artist Willow Payne. (If there are a bunch of excellent stories, they may even pick more than one winner.)

As part of his breakout session on Thursday, October 17, Gene will share the runners up, with some insight into why some stories were better suited for comic strips than others, and unveil the winner(s) and the comic strip(s). The winner and the Michigan Library Association will get signed prints, and top runners-up will get prizes too. (Note that winners need not be present at the presentation to win, but they should be registered for the conference.)

Gene Ambaum is a library guy who lives in the Pacific Northwest. He reads, talks to his cats, and takes long walks in the rain. For a long time he wrote Unshelved, and you can find his more recent comics about libraries and graphic novel reviews at LibraryComic.com. After the big earthquake hits Seattle, he will be found under a pile of books.

All Conference Session

Making Your Library A Model For Disability Rights

Disability Rights activist and leader, Susan Odgers, will lead a conversation about how libraries in Michigan can serve as the model or hub for disability rights. The conversation will look at all disabilities and their impact on libraries. Emphasis will be on building upon what your library is already doing, regardless of size and resources. Conversation will look at ways to respond to conflicts with disability rights. Plenty of time for Q&A.

Presentation slides (pdf)

Susan Odgers
Board Member and Educator, Traverse Area District Library

Susan Odgers, activist, leader, college educator, columnist/writer, and psychologist Susan served for many years on the board of Disability Rights MI, including as president. Since 2008, she's written a health/disability column for the Traverse City Record Eagle. In 2010, she was awarded the Traverse City Humanitarian of the Year. She is the past board president of the Traverse Area District Library and the current board treasurer.

Closing Keynote

The Past, Present, and Future of Book Bans with Kelly Jensen

Book banning is baked into American tradition, coming and going in waves as it is politically advantageous. Now nearly four years into the current wave, what are some of the trends and shifts in the types of books being targeted? What tactics are being used not only nationally but right here in Michigan and why? While the impact of book bans is predominantly negative, this era in librarianship has also provided several positives. This keynote will offer insights into trends in book banning, discuss the mental health ramifications of book bans, and leave attendees feeling not only prepared to continue protecting the right to read but feel supported and encouraged in their unique roles as defenders of democracy.

Presentation slides (pdf)

Kelly Jensen is an Editor at Book Riot (www.bookriot.com), where she has been writing about book censorship for nearly a decade. She was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker for 2024, as well as named a Person of the Year from Publishers Weekly and a Chicagoan of the Year from the Chicago Tribune in 2022 for her anti-censorship work. Prior to Book Riot, she worked in several public libraries in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. She is also the author and editor of three critically acclaimed and award-winning anthologies for young adults, including (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health. She lives in Chicagoland.