What Medical Library Association does

The Medical Library Association (MLA), legally Medical Library Association, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit professional association founded in 1898 and headquartered at 233 S Wacker Dr, Fl 44, Chicago, Illinois. It serves health information professionals—principally medical and health sciences librarians at academic institutions, hospitals, and research organizations—through credentialing, continuing education, advocacy, and scholarly publishing. MLA's core offerings are: MEDLIB-ED (online continuing education platform issuing CE credits at $96/course with a CE Passport subscription option), the Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA, a quarterly open access peer-reviewed journal hosted on Open Journal Systems 3.3.0.21 and published in partnership with Pitt Open Library Publishing), the MLAConnect weekly newsletter, and an annual national conference (MLA '26 at Baird Center, Milwaukee, May 19-22, 2026). Member-only services include the AHIP credentialing program, the MLA Rising Stars leadership development cohort, the Research Training Institute, Be Well Wednesdays wellness programming, caucuses, councils, committees, and a Member Directory.

Revenue is generated through annual individual and institutional membership subscriptions (recurring), conference registration fees, CE course/webinar unit sales, and JMLA open access publishing operations. Marketing and distribution are primarily self-serve via the MLANET website, supplemented by a regional chapter network, social media presence on Facebook/LinkedIn/X, the MEDLIB-L public discussion list, and email newsletters. Strategic partnerships anchor the association's external engagement: a longstanding collaboration with the National Library of Medicine (joint lectureship, strategic planning), the NIH All of Us Research Program (Data Training and Engagement Program for Academic Libraries, training 115 library professionals), and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (joint taskforce on educational research standards). The organization is governed by an elected President (Heather Holmes, 2025-2026), President-elect (Tara Douglas-Williams), Treasurer (Kate Flewelling), and Board of Directors, with Katrina Holland serving as the new Executive Director in 2026.

Name

Medical Library Association

Legal name

Medical Library Association, Inc.

Website

https://mlanet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1898

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Medical Library Association is a 501(c)(3) professional association founded in 1898 that serves medical and health sciences librarians through credentialing (AHIP), continuing education (MEDLIB-ED), an annual national conference, and the peer-reviewed Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services for Health Sciences Librarianship

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Libraries and Archives (51921), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare & Clinical Professional Development (CME/CE) (EDAGANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Medical, Clinical & Biomedical Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAB), Special Libraries (Law, Medical, Corporate, Government) Operations (EDAEAGAD), Healthcare Clinical Professions (CME/CE for Nurses, Allied Health, Pharmacy) (EDAAALAC)

Keywords

• Professional association services
• Health sciences librarianship
• Continuing education platform
• Peer-reviewed journal publishing
• Professional credentialing programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership Dues: Annual membership fees for individual health information professionals providing access to communities, resources, professional development, and advocacy.
2. Institutional Membership: Organizational membership tier for libraries and institutions supporting their staff's professional development and access to MLA resources.
3. Conference Registration: Annual national conferences (MLA '26, MLA '27) generate revenue through registration fees for sessions, exhibits, and networking events. MLA '26 at Baird Center Milwaukee May 19-22, 2026.
4. Continuing Education Courses: MEDLIB-ED platform offering CE credits for webinars ($96 per course), with discounts for CE Passport holders. Courses include leadership, research skills, and clinical librarianship training.
5. JMLA Open Access Publishing: The Journal of the Medical Library Association operates as an open access publication, with revenue supporting scholarly communications in health sciences librarianship.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Medical Library Association is a not-for-profit professional association that delivers individual and institutional memberships, continuing education through the MEDLIB-ED platform (courses, webinars, CE Passport, AHIP credentialing), the peer-reviewed open-access Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA), the MLAConnect newsletter, and an annual national conference, all targeted at health information professionals working in medical, hospital, and academic health sciences libraries.

Product overview

The Medical Library Association offers a portfolio of professional membership services centered around four core offerings: MEDLIB-ED (continuing education platform), the Journal of the Medical Library Association (peer-reviewed journal), MLAConnect Newsletter (news publication), and the Annual Conference (major events). Additional add-on modules include AHIP credentialing, Rising Stars leadership program, Research Training Institute, Be Well Wednesdays wellness programming, and the Member Directory. MLA also provides grants, scholarships, fellowships, awards and honors, career resources, and advocacy support for health information professionals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MEDLIB-ED: The Learning Destination for Health Information Professionals to earn Continuing Education (CE) credits
• MLA Connect
• Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA)

Products and services

• MEDLIB-ED Continuing Education Platform Online continuing education platform for health information professionals to earn MLA CE credits through courses, webinars, and professional development programs (e.g., Grant Writing for Librarians, Evaluation of Generative AI for Clinical Decision Support).
• Journal of the Medical Library Association (JMLA) Open access peer-reviewed journal published quarterly, dedicated to advancing the practice and research knowledgebase of health sciences librarianship. Hosted on Open Journal Systems (OJS) 3.3.0.21.
• MLAConnect Newsletter Weekly newsletter providing news, perspectives, and resources for health information professionals, including coverage of conferences, professional development, and member achievements.
• MLA Annual Conference Annual national conference bringing together medical librarians and health information professionals for educational sessions, exhibits, networking, leadership development, and presentations (MLA '26 in Milwaukee May 19-22, 2026).
• MLA Individual Membership Annual membership subscription for individual health information professionals providing access to communities, professional development, advocacy resources, JMLA, MEDLIB-ED, and member-only content.
• MLA Institutional Membership Annual organizational membership tier for libraries and institutions, allowing multiple library staff to access MLA benefits, resources, and professional development.
• AHIP (Academy of Health Information Professionals) Credentialing Professional credentialing program that recognizes distinguished health sciences librarians with the AHIP designation, providing standardized competency tiers for the profession.
• MLA Rising Stars Leadership Development Program Cohort-based leadership development program for emerging leaders in MLA and the broader health information industry, using a structured application and cohort model.
• Research Training Institute Research training fellowship program for MLA members to develop research skills in health sciences librarianship.
• MLA Member Directory Online directory platform that allows MLA members to find and connect with colleagues across the health information profession.
• Be Well Wednesdays Wellness Programming Bimonthly virtual wellness programming for health information professionals featuring sessions on mental health, creativity, financial literacy, and other wellness topics.

Quantifiable outcome

• 115 library professionals trained through the All of Us Data Training and Engagement Program
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Taiwan Medical Library AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 August 2026Joint collaboration on international conference sharing from EAHIL (European Association for Health Information and Libraries) meeting in Antalya, Turkiye. The August 25, 2026 event enabled participation from Taiwanese colleagues despite the 12-hour time difference.
• Clinical Knowledge and AI (CKAI)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 August 2026CKAI sponsored an MLA webinar on 'Evaluation of Generative AI for Clinical Decision Support' presented by Amanda Barry on August 7, 2025, exploring healthcare AI technology evaluation.
• National Library of Medicine (NLM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 May 2026NLM and MLA maintain a longstanding strategic partnership including joint sponsorship of the Joseph Leiter NLM/MLA Lectureship, NLM Update sessions at MLA annual conferences, and collaborative strategic planning. Dina Paltoo, PhD, serves as Deputy Director (Acting) for Policy and External Affairs. Ken Koyle serves as NNLM Program Director (Acting). Lisa Federer serves as Director (Acting) of the Office of Strategic Initiatives.
• Marquette UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 May 2026Marquette University, which has owned J.R.R. Tolkien's original manuscripts for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings since 1957, partnered with MLA to offer a private tour of the collection to MLA '26 attendees. Space limited to 25 attendees on May 19 at 4:30 p.m.
• Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 August 2025Joint MLA/AAHSL Taskforce on Educational Research Standards working on developing standards for educational research in health sciences libraries. Open forum scheduled for August 4, 2026.
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) All of Us Research ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2024NIH All of Us Research Program partnered with NLM and academic libraries through the Data Training and Engagement Program for Academic Libraries (ALP). The program successfully trained 115 library professionals to leverage the All of Us Researcher Workbench for biomedical and public health research, building institutional research capacity.
• Mentoring in Medicine (MIM)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Weill Cornell Medicine librarians partnered with Mentoring in Medicine, a Bronx-based nonprofit, to develop the Community Health Ambassador Program (CHAmP) curriculum introducing high school students from BIPOC communities to health sciences librarianship careers.
• Association of Vision Science Librarians (AVSL)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024AVSL, an international organization of librarians serving vision scientists, collaborated with MLA through scholarly publishing. AVSL updated its Standards for Vision Science Libraries (first revision since 2014) published in the JMLA.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• American Library Association (ALA): The largest US library professional association. It is a direct peer because MLA and ALA both serve librarians through membership, conferences, credentialing, advocacy, and publishing, but ALA is broader across all library types while MLA specializes in health sciences.
• American Association of Law Libraries (AALL): A US professional association for law librarians. It is a direct peer to MLA because the business model (specialized librarian association, membership, annual conference, peer-reviewed journal, credentialing) is essentially the same, differing only by subject domain (legal vs. health sciences).
• Special Libraries Association (SLA): A US-based professional association for information professionals in corporate, government, legal, and specialized settings. SLA is a direct peer to MLA as both target specialized library professionals and provide continuing education, networking, and credentialing in a comparable association model.
• Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL): A US association of academic health sciences libraries that already maintains a documented partnership with MLA (Joint MLA/AAHSL Taskforce on Educational Research Standards). It is a direct peer because it serves the same institutional members and overlapping leadership, though AAHSL is more focused on academic health center library directors.

Broad incumbents

• American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA): A large US professional association for health information management professionals. It is comparable to MLA because both serve health information professionals through certification (AHIMA's RHIA/RHIT vs. MLA's AHIP), continuing education, and advocacy, but AHIMA is a broader incumbent covering the entire health information management field rather than the librarian sub-niche.
• International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA): The global umbrella organization for library associations worldwide. It is comparable to MLA as a peer professional association serving the library field, but IFLA is a much broader incumbent operating internationally across all library types rather than specializing in health sciences.

Emerging players

• American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA): A US professional association for informatics professionals in healthcare. It is comparable to MLA because it sits at the intersection of health information and technology, offers education and certification, and increasingly overlaps with MLA members on data science and clinical AI topics — though AMIA's center of gravity is informatics rather than librarianship.

Regional players

• Medical Library Association of India (MLAI): The national medical library association in India. It is a regional peer because it serves the same medical librarian profession in South Asia with comparable membership, conference, and continuing education programming.
• Taiwan Medical Library Association: A national medical library association in Taiwan that has an active partnership with MLA. It is a regional peer because it operates the same professional association model for medical librarians in a different geography and is explicitly collaborating with MLA on international conference sharing.
• European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL): A European counterpart association for health information professionals. It is a regional peer to MLA because it serves the same profession in a different geography, hosts similar conferences and workshops, and is referenced in MLA's partnership ecosystem (MLA shared EAHIL conference content in August 2026).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/MedLibAssn
• Facebookfacebook.com/MedicalLibraryAssn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/medical-library-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Medical Library Association