Updates from State Library Services

TO: Minnesota Libraries
FROM: State Library Services
DATE: January 23, 2017
SUBJECT: Updates from State Library Services

Updates from State Library Services

Support Kindergarten Readiness Using Minnesota’s Newly Revised ECIPs
The complete revision of Minnesota’s Early Learning Standards: The Early Childhood Indicators of Progress (ECIPs)—including parent guides in English, Hmong, Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese and Russian—are now available on the MDE website. The ECIPs provide benchmarks for parents and care providers so they can know when a child is on track and identify if a child might need additional early learning supports. The language, literacy and communications ECIPs highlight how well the Every Child Ready to Read 2 curriculum supports early literacy learning. The ECIPs can also help you enhance your early learning programing and children’s play environments to support kindergarten readiness across all of the early learning domains, including approaches to learning, math, scientific thinking, the arts, social and emotional awareness, social systems and physical movements. Contact Jackie Blagsvedt (651-582-8805) for more information.

New E-Reader Users Need Your Help
If your patrons need help downloading ebooks to their brand-new e-readers, check out this handy resource featuring step-by-step access advice for major platforms and devices. The website is an ILEAD USA project designed by librarians in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. For more information, please contact Emily Kissane (651-582-8508).

Thank You for Taking Our Afterschool Survey
Back in November, we asked for your help in determining the work public libraries are doing in the afterschool realm. More than 100 of you from all across the state completed an optional survey for us, and we thank you for the time and effort you put into it! What we learned is that libraries approach afterschool/out-of-school services very differently. 63 percent of survey respondents offer an afterschool program of some kind, and those programs serve nearly 66,000 students. Transportation was identified as the most significant barrier to increased participation. We have shared the information with Ignite Afterschool, Minnesota’s afterschool network, and look forward to seeing how they will showcase the afterschool scene in public libraries. Please contact Jen Verbrugge (651-582-8356) for more information.

Early Childhood Screening and Libraries Webinar
Public librarians can help increase participation in early childhood screening by encouraging families to get their children screened between the ages of 3 and the start of kindergarten. To learn how you can help increase families’ awareness of screening and comfort with the process, please watch this 15-minute webinar presented this past December by MDE’s Early Childhood Screening Coordinator, Margo Chresand. If you have only five minutes to spare, this brief informational video (created by MDE and community partners and funded by The McKnight Foundation) presents basic information about screening for parents and caregivers. Please contact Jen Verbrugge (651-582-8356) for more information.

New Recording Program Featuring Minnesota Titles, Seeks Volunteer Narrators
The Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library (MBTBL) provides direct library services to Minnesotans who can no longer read standard print materials. We recently began a recording program for all ages focusing on recording materials (fiction or non-fiction) by Minnesota authors, or about Minnesota in subject or location. We are proud to announce that we just recorded our first digital talking book, Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen. Narrated by Donald Scheel at the recording studio in Faribault, it pairs poetry with factual sidebars to illustrate how animals survive the bitter cold of winter. Winter Bees (DBC09971) is now available to eligible MBTBL patrons statewide on cartridge by mail or nationally via download through Minnesota BARD.

For more information about the library or its recording program, please contact Catherine Durivage (507-384-6860) or if you or someone you know is interested in volunteer recording opportunities, contact Etta Thornburg (507-684-6865).

For more information about the book, check out TPT’s Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Award-Winning Winter Bees: Beyond the Book, produced in partnership with the Friends of St. Paul Public Library and CRPLSA.

Updates from MDE

Progress Update on Minnesota’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan
Thank you to everyone who has so far provided insights about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Due to a changing timeline, you still have time to submit your ideas about the valuable role libraries play in student success. Last month, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations on accountability, state plans and data reporting for ESSA. As a result, implementation will now begin in the 2018-2019 school year. Minnesota will submit our state plan to the U.S. Department of Education in September 2017, which allows more opportunity for additional stakeholder engagement and community outreach. We have a new online survey available in four different languages to hear from you about ESSA. Please share your feedback by completing the survey by Jan. 31. For more information, see our latest ESSA Update newsletter, visit the ESSA webpage or email MDE.

Updates from Our Partners

Get Ready for the Celestial Event of the Century
On August 21, 2017, the shadow of the moon will sweep across the United States in a spectacle that hasn’t occurred in 99 years. The Space Science Institute (SSI) was awarded a grant that will provide 1.26 million solar viewing glasses and other resources for 1,500 public libraries across the nation. Your library could be a center for eclipse education and viewing for your community. Register your library with the National Center for Interactive Learning (NCIL) at the Space Science Institute. Once you’re registered, you’ll have access to NCIL resources to help you plan and promote your eclipse event. Learn more by attending a webinar on Wednesday, January 25, at 2 p.m. or visit the NCIL website for more information. Note: Although the webinar does not require registration, it will be available only on a first-come, first-served basis, so you are encouraged to sign in at least a half an hour early. If the room is full, you can access a full recording on the STAR_Net website on January 26.

Lilead Fellows Program for School District Library Supervisors
The Lilead Fellows Program is an intensive professional development program designed to help school district library supervisors be effective and inspirational leaders while thinking differently and creatively about their library programs. The initial cohort consisted of 25 Fellows from districts across the country who engaged in an 18-month program of virtual and face-to-face learning and sharing both online and in person, concluding at the ALA Annual Meeting in Orlando in June 2016.

Applications for the second cohort of the Lilead Fellows Program will be available beginning January 4, 2017, and will be due on March 17, 2017.

The Lilead Project will host two informational webinars to provide an overview of the program and answer questions about the application process. Join the Adobe Connect meeting on either January 25, 2017, 3-4 p.m. CST, or February 7, 2017, 6-7 p.m. CST. RSVP to receive updates and reminders for the information sessions.

The Lilead Project is made possible in part by an IMLS grant. For more information, please visit the Lilead Project website, email the Lilead Project, or connect with local contact Jane Prestebak.