Connecticut Library Association

For those who weren't able to attend the April 28th Award Ceremony at our Annual Conference, here is an article on this year's winner of our Outstanding Librarian award:

https://today.uconn.edu/2026/06/uconn-law-librarian-jessica-panella-receives-statewide-honor/

Congratulations again to Jessica and thank you for all of the amazing work that you do!

Earlier this week, CLA Board Members and the CLA Legislative Committee were honored to hold a special ceremony to present the CLA Legislator of the Year Awards at the Mark Twain Library. Congratulations to our award winners: Senator Bob Duff, Senate Majority Leader, State Senator Ceci Maher, State Senator Tony Hwang, Matt Blumenthal and Eleni Kavros DeGraw. Thank you all for the consistent support you have given to CLA and our libraries. We truly appreciate you all and it is our honor to award you with this recognition.

Join us for a very special event on May 13th honoring
Matt Blumenthal, Eleni Kavros DeGraw, Senator Bob Duff, Senate Majority Leader, State Senator Tony Hwang, and State Senator Ceci Maher at the Mark Twain Library

A staff filled with talent! Thank you for sharing and spending time with us!

We love seeing CT libraries publicizing their services to patrons in creative ways!

Did you miss out on getting some CLA merch at the conference? Don't worry, our Bonfire store is always open and items ship directly to you! Plus, if you're looking for tank tops, longsleeves, sweatshirts or other styles than tshirts, you can only get those through Bonfire. Check it out here:

Connecticut Library Association Merch | Official Merchandise | Bonfire Items available in this store have been created by or for the Connecticut Library Association to promote their work to support CT Libraries.

We hope all those that attended our 2026 conference enjoyed themselves. Please look out for our Post-Conference Email after May 4th that will include a survey and the link to any uploaded session presentations you may have missed.

So deserving! It was our pleasure to honor your work for children’s services!

Honored and incredibly grateful to receive the Faith Hektoen Award for Career Achievement from the Connecticut Library Association this week at their annual conference. Libraries are so much more than a place for books- they are lifelines, launchpads and places for discovery and I'm lucky enough to do this work alongside some of the more passionate and dedicated people in the City of Ansonia, including Steffanie Arduini, Board President.

We love hearing how our libraries get to connect at the conference! Thank you for joining us!

We had a wonderful time attending the Connecticut Library Association Annual Conference! It is a great opportunity to connect with colleagues, gather new ideas, and see the incredible work Connecticut library professionals are doing to strengthen and support communities across our state.

We were especially happy to catch up with our neighborhood friend and partner, Teresa from Minor Memorial Library. Collaborating and learning together is one of the best parts of being part of such a dedicated library community.

We were so happy to have Traveling Toys, Inc. with us at the CLA Conference to share the work they did in collaboration with Ansonia Library!

We had a wonderful time at the Connecticut Library Association Conference!

Traveling Toys, together with Jen Shuart, Director of the Ansonia Library presented “Check Out the Fun! Traveling Toys in Your Library.” It was a great opportunity to share how toy lending libraries are bringing the power of play to communities and expanding access for children and families.

Thank you to everyone who joined us—we loved connecting, sharing ideas, and seeing such enthusiasm for this work!