The 83rd meeting of the Music Library Association Midwest Chapter will be held October 24 through October 26 at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. We are excited to welcome the MLA national Board, which will be meeting in Detroit in conjunction with our meeting. This will be a hybrid meeting and most sessions will be available to stream live.
Program sessions will occur all day Friday and Saturday morning, wrapping up by 12:00. The program will feature presentations from our colleagues on such diverse topics as preserving Detroit music venues, music information literacy developments, training student staff, and processing unique collections, from polka to suffragist sheet music. The Business Meeting will occupy its usual lunchtime slot on Friday (lunch provided).
Librarians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will be offering tours of their facilities and unique collections on Thursday afternoon. In response to feedback from the post-meeting survey, and to keep registration rates down, we will not be having a Thursday evening reception. Attendees are free to make their own plans, but I’m sure some of us will be in the hotel bar and happy to welcome newcomers and veterans alike.
Speaking of registration rates, we are happy to say that no rates are going up this year, in fact most rates will be going down. For this year, we are also doing away with the early registration deadline, so the “early” rate will apply at all times for regular registration. Please see the page on registration for rates and the link.
Detroit
Detroit has many cultural attractions, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation (actually located in Dearborn, probably 30-ish minutes west of Detroit), and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. There are also many musical landmarks, such as the Motown Museum and Third Man Records. Cliff Bells and Baker’s Keyboard Lounge are good spots for jazz.
We’re also only a river-crossing away from Windsor (in Canada), so anyone who would like to squeeze in an international border crossing at this meeting should bring their proper documents (real ID or passport, I believe). There’s also a casino there as well (Caesar’s Windsor), and the best views of the Detroit skyline (all the views you see on TV are actually taken from Windsor).
As far as local food, our hotel is steps away from American and Lafayette Coney Island spots. This is a signature of Detroit cuisine! I’d advertise Detroit-style pizza, but the plan is for us to have it for lunch on Friday, but if you are curious for your own adventure, there’s Buddy’s and Shield’s, as well as some other fast-food-versions, like Jet’s.
See also Visit Detroit.