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    <title>Maine Library Association upcoming events</title>
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    <description>Maine Library Association upcoming events</description>
    <dc:creator>Maine Library Association</dc:creator>
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    <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2026 04:34:09 GMT</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2026 04:34:09 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Coffee Chat: Public Comments &amp; Advocacy (22 Oct 2026)</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="https://mainelibraries.org/resources/Pictures/Working%20with%20your%20Local%20Legislator%20(1).png" alt="" title="" border="0" width="555" height="555"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Join us on Thursday, October 22, at 12:00 PM for an informal coffee chat on participating in the public comment process across local, state, and federal levels.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Policy decisions affecting library services, funding models, and intellectual freedom often come down to public administrative records. This session walks through how to translate everyday library impacts into effective formal comments, letters to the editor, and community advocacy. There are numerous upcoming opportunities to provide your expert public comment, such as &lt;font face="-apple-system, sans-serif"&gt;the Maine Library Commission's proposed updated standard’s rules and the&lt;/font&gt; &lt;span&gt;&lt;font face="-apple-system, sans-serif" style=""&gt;Federal E-Rate Review.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;font face="-apple-system, sans-serif" style=""&gt;We will also touch on:&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;ul&gt;
  &lt;li&gt;&lt;font face="-apple-system, sans-serif"&gt;Tracking municipal ordinances , school board policies, and agency notices where professional library input is needed.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

  &lt;li&gt;Writing concise letters to the editor, and using LinkedIn to educate local stakeholders and town leadership.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font color="#222222" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"&gt;Bring your lunch, your questions, and your perspective from the field!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong style="color: rgb(50, 49, 48); font-family: &amp;quot;Segoe UI&amp;quot;, sans-serif;"&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;font color="#323130"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Coffee Chat Series is typically an MLA member benefit, but due to the timely nature of this topic, we're opening this session to everyone! The Zoom link will be included in your registration confirmation email, or you can join the meeting here:&lt;br&gt;
&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Join Zoom Meeting:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82163393168?pwd=4yoSfbnBgN8j5rdvTfn9maxCeJxtso.1" target="_blank"&gt;https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82163393168?pwd=4yoSfbnBgN8j5rdvTfn9maxCeJxtso.1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Meeting ID: 821 6339 3168&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Passcode: 869142&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <link>https://mainelibraries.org/event-6880110</link>
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