More Shopping for Book Lovers!

Leave it to Buzzfeed to find us book lovers more things to buy!  Chelsey Pippin’s 28 Literary Accessories All Book Lovers Must Have is basically a shopping list of the things we’ll be buying this year.  All the items on the list come from Etsy accounts.

Some products, like this scarf, are general for all book lovers:

This library card scarf.

Others, like these earrings, are specific to a certain book, author, or series:

These Sherlock studs.

As if there wasn’t enough to buy from last month’s post!  Happy shopping!

Recommended App: Easy Portfolio

Easy PortfolioRecently, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) came out with their 25 Best Apps for Teaching & Learning for 2014.  The apps were chosen because they foster innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration.

One of these apps is Easy Portfolio.  This app allows users to save website links, videos, pictures, audio files, and other documents to their personal portfolios.

The app is recommended for all grades K-12.  It is available for $1.05 on Android and for $1.99 on iOS.  This quick video shows a couple of the things you can do on the app:

For more apps, check out our 2014-2015 Recommended App archive!

Libraries at airports?!

800px-Washington_Dulles_International_Airport_at_DuskLibrary branches can be found in many places and now they’re showing up in Airports!? American Libraries Magazine recently reported that airports around the country are seeing more and more libraries among the baggage returns and security checks.

In some cases, like in Boise, digital access is only for Boise residents. In others, like in San Antonio, nonresidents are able to get temporary access to the library’s digital offerings. Regardless of the access, it seems to be a success. “The popularity of the download stations has prompted both libraries to consider establishing more throughout the airports and in other parts of the city.”

MSP -> SAT? Get your library card ready!

Image credit:  Joe Ravi, http://tinyurl.com/khv33ft, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0

Notable Dates for your Noggin: March 2015

Calendar Banner

Introducing our new monthly update – Notable Dates for your Noggin!  Each month we’ll bring you a compiled list of fun national holidays, birthdays of authors, and publication dates of favorite books.  You can use these for your own personal use or for some library inspiration!

Did we miss anything?  Let us know if we did!

For our calendar of library events, including conferences and library days, check out our Events/Initiatives page.

And for more Notable Dates for Your Noggin, check out our Notable Dates page.

Infographic: What do the MN multitypes do?

multitype_infographic_p1The MN multicounty, multitype library systems play an important role in the statewide fabric of libraries, but it is sometimes hard to explain exactly how.  Why? While we all have some common focus areas, we are also tasked with responding to specific needs in our respective regions. So services can vary by region. In the case of CMLE, we respond to the needs of 320 libraries in 12 counties in Central MN. Does this sound like a tall order? Why yes it is, and the hardest part is gathering up a good picture of the regional needs. Stay tuned for a member needs assessment coming soon, where we will give you an opportunity to provide input. For now, feel free to get the big picture of multitypes by taking a look at the infographic we recently created to help legislators understand the work we do. Multitype funding has been flat for eight years, so we are making the case for a funding increase, and hope we are successful. If we are, lots of exciting possibilities are on the seven multitype wish lists!