Category Archives: Guest Blogger

Stearns History Center CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Steve Penick, archivist at the Stearns History Museum.

The Stearns History Museum’s (SHM) $4,000 storage project was partially funded through CMLE’s Extended Mini Grant Program, enabling staff to purchase shelves and archival storage boxes for collection materials.  Thanks in part to community partners, local Stearns County Lion Clubs, and a generous anonymous donor, the project’s goal of improving storage capacity and reorganizing our photographic collection has been achieved.  

Photo reorganization was the first component to be addressed.  SHM’s collection, around 25,000 images, had been stored on shelves in several different locations within the archives.  Staff assembled two 10’ storage units, bringing the entire collection into one space.  The remaining three shelves, have room for approximately 2,700 images, will be available for future growth.

Three units containing 30 shelves, space for 90 large archival boxes, are planned for new collections that previously did not have a permanent location.   A few examples include:  Eden Valley’s Marge Gruenes political correspondence and photographs (1980’s-1990’s), the Siefermann Family Papers (1890’s-1920’s) documenting their Richmond farm, and Senator Dave Durenberger collection, highlighting his formative Collegeville education years from St. John’s Preparatory and University.  Combined, some two dozen collections are prepared for data entry into our catalog and ready to be assigned a permanent location.

With the photograph reorganization, two empty units became available for incoming collections as they are received from donors.  Staff will have the opportunity to better organize and prepare these materials for collection storage. The space allows for 24 large archival boxes and up to a dozen mid-size ones.

The benefits of this shelving project are both immediate and long-term.  Patron and staff access to our resources has been improved, especially our photographic collection.  

Thanks CMLE for helping us make this happen!

Fieldstone and St. Michael Elementary CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Kristina Kampa, Media Specialist at Fieldstone Elementary and St. Michael Elementary.

I have seen this grant application before, but never thought to apply. My thoughts were it would be too much work since I have never applied for a grant before, I don’t have time, I would never get it, the list goes on. 

I saw the information in the CMLE Newsletter this fall and I figured I would apply this year because we were not given any funds to purchase books other than the money we raised from our book fairs.

So this was the year I was going to sit down and fill this application out for the two elementary media centers I work in. The Google Form for the grant was very simple to fill out.  When I received the email back saying that both of my schools I work in were awarded the grant, I was beyond excited.

I work at two different elementary schools in my district and they both have areas in the collection that need updating, but funds have kept the updating limited. 

I started weeding the non fiction section in one of my schools last year, but realized I couldn’t weed all of the books my report suggested because I didn’t have funds to order new ones.

Our sports team section was in desperate need of more current updated books and I was able to purchase a whole new collection of football books from this grant. I was also able to purchase a few new graphic novels as well which we never can keep on the shelves! 

My other school desperately needed updated picture books for the students and teachers to have for read alouds. With this grant, I was able to place an order for over 50 new picture books

The students have been eagerly waiting for these books to arrive and to read them. I am very thankful for this grant and how it allowed me to purchase new and current books for my students and staff at both schools. Thank you CMLE for helping me update our collections this year! 

Northwinds Elementary CMLE Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a Guest Post from Carmen Tubbs, Principal at Northwinds Elementary.

The grant the Northwinds Elementary School received from Central Minnesota Library Exchange was beneficial to our school community in several ways.

The books purchased through the grant were based on feedback from our students and educators. The grant gave financial support in order for us to provide materials and increased learning opportunities for both students and educators as well as expand our connections to families. 

The books support teachers in making connections to their lessons and the real world. Teachers use the books in the library, including the new ones purchased, to supplement their lessons, add to their classroom libraries and supplement instruction.

Many teachers use the books to read aloud to students as well as lead literature circles or small reading groups as sometimes we are able to provide more than one copy of a specific book. 

The grant also supports students in offering more choices for them, increasing their reading abilities as well as nurturing excitement and enjoyment in reading. We know that research shows that reading not only increases academic achievement overall but also helps students enjoyment of school and learning.

Students use books to learn about the world and gain a greater sense of self. We have observed students being highly engaged during library time, excited to check out books, sharing what books they enjoy and have read or want to read with library staff as well. 

Finally, the grant allowed for increased connections between home and school. Our Kindergarten through 5th grade students check out their library books at school. They can then read them at school but also bring them home.

When students can share their learning with their families at home, this strengthens the collaboration and connection between the home and school and adds value to a child’s education. 

This grant expanded our library with additional books but it also added positive value to the learning environment at Northwinds in many ways that will continue to grow in the future. Thank you for this gift to the Northwinds library, our students and our educators.

Brian Krause at Melrose Public Schools Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Brian Krause, Media/Technology Integrationist at Melrose Area Public Schools.

The Melrose Area Public Schools would like to thank the Central Minnesota Library Exchange for its generosity in granting us a Mini Grant for this school year!

This is my first year working in this school district so it took me a while to realize what books we had and where there might be some areas to improve.

One day I decided to read a Choose Your Own Adventure book to several groups of students and the kids really enjoyed it. Many were asking if we had more, but unfortunately once we checked we found out that we did not. Through this grant we were able to purchase several different series of Choose Your Own Adventure books and they have been flying off the shelves!

The students really enjoy the chance to make decisions to see where the story goes and to see the different outcomes that might happen. We now have an entire section of shelves filled with Choose Your Own Adventure books; or they would be filled if so many weren’t checked out!

Besides purchasing Choose Your Own Adventure books, this grant also allowed us to improve two other sections of our library – Graphic Novels and several brand new series we didn’t have.

Graphic Novels are very popular among students here like I’m sure they are everywhere, but there were several incomplete series that now we were able to fill out, and there were several other book series on student’s wishlists that we were now able to purchase.

For our youngest readers we were able to purchase many books from three popular series that we didn’t have – OtisSplat the Cat, and There Was An Old Lady.

Thanks again for your generosity! Our students have really enjoyed the new books. It’s always fun to see how so many student faces light up when they find out there are new books on the shelves.

Lauren Kunde at Albany Area Secondary School Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Lauren Kunde, Instructional Tech/Media Specialist & District Assessment Coordinator at Albany Area Secondary School.

As we made our way through the first few months of the school year, I started finding ways we could bring our Media Center back to life. While our fiction section is well loved and frequented by many, our non-fiction was seriously outdated and overwhelming.

Near the end of the weeding process, there was a moment of panic. Approximately 40% of our collection had been taken out of circulation for a myriad of valid reasons. However, this made the process of updating feel daunting. We could spend our budget about 14 different ways each year.

I didn’t know how to justify spending the bulk of it on non-fiction when our students are so hungry for fiction. And I also didn’t know how to justify not updating our non-fiction section. It could breathe life into our collection and encourage students to use it for their courses. 

The mini-grant from CMLE made this task far less daunting. We were suddenly able to purchase books that would reflect current and historical events from diverse perspectives, fill in many of the holes we had noted during the weeding process, and get non-fiction that was fun to read.

In total, we were able to purchase 82 books, which has truthfully changed our collection. They are geared towards students of varied reading levels and interest levels. No longer are the days of a non-fiction section with dusty books stuffed haphazardly onto the shelves in the corner of the library.

A huge thank you to CMLE for the opportunity to do this for our students!