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Member Testimonials

Anonymous Testimonials from the 2007 Membership Survey

We asked respondents to the 2007 membership survey "we'd appreciate a brief paragraph on why you joined MLA or on how MLA has helped you in your career." These are some of the responses:

"I joined MLA because I thought I should. I stay with MLA because it has continually proven itself to be valuable to me on so many levels, professionally and personally."
"MLA membership helped me attain my dream job. Being a MLA member was one of the factors that separated me from the other candidates. AHIP membership has helped to guide my career path via its Point Index, Ledger, and my AHIP mentor. I formulated my career path and development thanks to these AHIP resources and therefore have developed quicker in my field than others--thus gaining me a better salary than most."
"When I volunteered for my first MLA committee, I had no idea how valuable the experience would be. I now have nation-wide colleagues. Employers have respected and valued my committee involvement. The skills I learned to coordinate a project nationally, via telephone contact and e-mail makes performing the same function in my organization a piece of cake. It also gave me a better understanding of how MLA uses feedback from the membership as part of the decision making process."
"Being a member of MLA has opened doors for networking and mentoring opportunities not otherwise found easily. Being a member of MLA ensures me that I'm not just one librarian, rather, I'm one of many health information professionals. Having the backing of a large network of health information professionals, we have a strong presence and we're more successful in making a difference."
"My membership in MLA has helped me gain confidence in my own abilities and connect with outstanding "unofficial" mentors who have been great at providing me with advice. I will NEVER let my membership lapse."
"MLA is the medical library profession. I for one cannot separate the two. Professional identity has been paramount for me my entire 30+ career and this identity comes from the leadership provided by MLA members."
"I became a medical librarian fairly late in life (over 40) and my membership and activities in MLA have given me an amazing opportunity to meet others in my profession and educate myself about being a medical librarian. I've been welcomed on committees and in section and chapter activities and my contributions to this professional organization have been recognized by my employer and have counted toward salary increases."
"MLA has allowed me to interact with professionals at all levels of career status through the annual meetings. The exposure to leaders in the field has been inspirational and encouraging in my own career."
"MLA has provided some outstanding programs and services that have helped me move forward in my career. The CE courses at the annual meeting, JMLA, and the networking opportunities have all helped to motivate me and boost my career. Thank you MLA!"
"As a solo librarian without a background in the health sciences, MLA resources were crucial in my development and in my ability to interact with other librarians, especially through the MEDLIB-L, where help was only a question away."

Many MLA members have commented on the value of MLA membership to them in their different jobs and situations. Browse below to see a few of the comments we've received in past membership surveys!

Margaret (Peg) Allen, AHIP

Library/Information Consultant; Resource Librarian Consultant for Cinahl Information Systems, Inc., and Project Director, Northwoods HealthNet, Northern Wisconsin AHEC, Inc., Stratford, WI

When I started my professional career as a hospital librarian, a local colleague encouraged me to join MLA - what wise advice! MLA soon became my professional home, and the value of this professional connection increased when I moved to a rural area, isolated from other professional health sciences librarians. In MLA, I found a close group of colleagues who shared my special interests, as well as presentations, courses, and publications that increased my knowledge. I also found an opportunity to share via participation in section sponsored research, writing newsletter articles, and developing and teaching MLA CE courses.

MLA is also our advocate, serving us by promoting health sciences libraries and librarianship and maintaining the Academy of Health Information Professionals. Yes, I do value the AHIP behind my name!

In honoring MLA we honor our collective collegial spirit, which has sustained us for this century and will propel us into the challenges of the next.

Michel C. Atlas, AHIP

University of Louisville, Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, Louisville, KY

I graduated from library school in 1970, but did not begin working in a medical library until 1991. Librarianship had certainly changed a lot in that time period and I never had any background in medicine or the biological sciences. It is through my membership in MLA and its terrific series of continuing education courses that I have learned what I need to know to function at a high level in my library. Taking these courses has added to my confidence in facing the other health care professionals that come into my academic health sciences library.

As a new member of the association, I applied for membership on a committee with a "what the heck, what have I got to lose" attitude, When I was accepted, I was totally surprised and completely pleased... [W]hen I started to work with the committee, saw what good work was done, and got to meet and work with the super people who were a part of it, I was very proud to be a medical librarian, and part of an association that actively encouraged the participation of new members with committees that actually accomplished things in a reasonable time frame.

Karen Brewer, Ph.D., AHIP, FMLA

New York University Medical Center, Ehrmann Library, New York

As you get more active in MLA on committees and do more, you also learn skills that you may not have an opportunity to learn anyplace else. These are skills...like how to run a meeting, how to get things done in groups, how to make people meet deadlines, how to communicate effectively across broad geographic spaces...That's what I want people to experience.

Holly Buchanan, Ed.D., AHIP

Professor, School of Medicine and director, Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

Towards the end of the 1970s, my mentor (who was an officer in MLA) appointed me to my first committee....From there I became more active in the association and it gave me the opportunity, coming from a small hospital library environment, to gain skills that I didn't get the opportunity to gain in the hospital at the time...skills in group dynamics, organizational planning, consensus building, an opportunity to hear about how other institutions were solving problems.

Jean Demas, AHIP

Assistant V.P. - Publishing, PCI-Property Casualty Insurance, Des Plaines, IL

I joined MLA when I was a graduate library science student and went to my first annual meeting before I graduated. I found everyone very helpful, receptive to my questions, and immediately had a sense of "coming home" about the Association.

I also at that time was introduced to the Bulletin [now the Journal] and the MLA News, and right after graduation had my first article published in the Bulletin [now the Journal]. Several years later I applied for the position of MLA News Editor, thinking I never even had a chance (since I was only three years into the medical library profession). I was selected after a national search and realized that the association was willing to give each person who could make a contribution a chance and opportunity to do that.

I would encourage a new member to join MLA for the camaraderie, networking, continuing education, publications, committees, chapters and sections and most important for providing a forum for growth, development, confidence and encouragement to be the best information professional one can be!

Craig Haynes, AHIP

Head, Medical Center Library, University of California, San Diego

I have been a member of MLA since 1991. My active involvement began in 1992 when I offered to serve as the regional rep for the Membership Committee of the Hospital Libraries Section. The call for help went out and I simply jumped-in and started serving. That's what I've appreciated most about MLA--anyone who truly wants to make a contribution, has a place in MLA. Through my involvement, I've met some extraordinarily talented people from all across the country. I look forward to each annual conference knowing that I'll have the good fortune of not only meeting more new colleagues, but renewing my acquaintance with colleagues met at previous conferences. The annual conferences (though a little exhausting) are so much fun! The depth and timeliness of CE offerings gets better each year.

What do I tell others about MLA ? I tell them that MLA is a lifeline for health sciences librarians interested in professional development and contribution. I tell them to give MLA a try. If you're a health sciences librarian interested in an active professional association, MLA is a wonderful place to serve.

Pat Higginbottom, AHIP

University of Alabama at Birmingham, Lister Hill Library

I have been a member of MLA for about four years and I am still amazed at how easy it was to become involved in the organization. I'm already part of the membership committee. My mentor has done a lot to help me, for example, introducing me to other members and giving me advice on CE classes. The certification program is very important to me. It helps make others understand that we are trained professionals. The best reason to join is to meet new people. Networking is vital even if you aren't job hunting!

Patricia W. Martin

University of Michigan, Taubman Medical Library, Ann Arbor

The single most important benefit of MLA, from my standpoint, is the networking -- the opportunities to meet librarians from all over the world and to see/listen to/speak to the leaders in our field. There is simply no other way to make this happen. Our annual meeting is a wonderful vehicle for this networking.

Attendance at the meeting as an MLA member provides each of us with little perks that kick in as the months pass between meetings. Recognizing the name of an author of a relevant article, swapping email with the new librarian you met through the Colleague Connection in June, working on a MLA committee project by phone, or reading medlib-l messages from people you've met--all tie into the networking piece. It really is fun and exciting and helps you look beyond the pile of papers on your desk to broader issues and concerns.

Lucretia W. McClure, AHIP, FMLA

Librarian Emerita, Edward G. Miner Library, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY

Joining the Medical Library Association is the best way to become a part of the profession. As a member you can explore all facets of librarianship; you can hear from and participate with your peers on issues that affect our work.

When I joined MLA I found that interaction with other librarians, including those about whom I had read, but never expected to meet, was the most rewarding aspect of membership. The ideas and knowledge one gains from meeting colleagues from across the nation and from around the world cannot be duplicated in any other arena. Being a member of MLA reinforces your worth, encourages your growth, forms a foundation for lasting friendships. I would not have missed it for the world. Will you?

Carolyn Ann Reid, AHIP

Cornell University Medical College, Wood Library, New York, NY

When you get right down to it, it's a group of people who have very similar ideas and want to get together and talk about things...we have many different challenges that face us, but they're still challenges that face us...It has always been, from 1898, a group of people with similar interests getting together to share ideas. The networking is really the most important aspect to MLA to many of the members and to me especially.

Bonnie Snow

Thomson Scientific, Philadelphia, PA

...the continuing education program [is] a particularly strong part of MLA. I think they have a national, perhaps international, reputation as one of the few professional library organizations that has an outstanding continuing education program....I mention it because I am one of the teachers in that program. It's partly personal interest, but partly it's been very rewarding to see a program that genuinely cares about medical library education, has encouraged professional development of members as well as the instructors, and I really do believe in it.

Patricia L. Thibodeau, AHIP, FMLA

Duke University, Medical Center Library, Durham, NC

I first joined MLA so I would receive the Bulletin [now the Journal] and the MLA News. I was in a two-person hospital library, and while there was an active local consortia, I wanted to see what other people were doing across the country and see what new, innovative ideas and services people were trying. As an AHEC and then academic librarian, I have continued to rely on both these publications as well as section newsletters. The continuing education courses have been invaluable to me as both a new and experienced health sciences librarian. They have taught me new skills, updated old skills, and kept me abreast of new thoughts and developments in health sciences librarianship. When I was asked to make a presentation at MLA in Anaheim and attended my first annual meeting, I realized how much I could learn at the annual meetings as well as the importance of meeting and talking to other colleagues from around the country.

The best reason to join--to share ideas and experiences with, and learn from colleagues in all types of health sciences settings!