As the Minnesota multitype library systems prepare to enter our tenth year without a budget increase, we are looking for ways to diversify our income from other sources. We want to be able to provide more services and more programs to our members!  One easy way to help us to do this is by using Amazon.com.

Amazon provides a program called Amazon Associates. When people click through our site to buy things at Amazon.com, we get a small percentage of their profits on the sale.  You have probably seen some other libraries, nonprofits, and small businesses using this program.

What could you do to support CMLE? It’s easy!

Click on our website. Find stuff you like at Amazon.com. Buy it. Bask in the glow of supporting library services!

Aaaaaaannnnd…that’s it!

If you are already shopping at Amazon.com, you have everything you need.

• You do not do anything extra.
• You do not fill out any paperwork.
• You do not give your information to CMLE (we have no idea what you buy, we’re just grateful!)

The only thing you do is to start from our website for your search. Everything you buy will then get added into our total. Amazon takes a few cents off their profits to give to us – we help them by advertising, they help us with support. It’s a happy system!

To make it even easier, when you click on a link to a book or some other item from our site that takes you to Amazon, that item and any others you buy in that shopping trip also provide CMLE support.

So, what might you buy once you are at Amazon? Well, since you asked – we have a few suggestions! We are here to support our libraries in all kinds of ways – and we want to improve our services!

One: Bike Desks

We love our bike desks!

(I’d skip the assembly cost – it takes a little while to put together; but I’ve done two now and it’s not hard. Call me to come over if you need backup!) These really do help us to focus on work, and they are a healthy addition to the office! (And so popular that other people in our building regularly stop by to try them out – always encouraged!) CMLE members are welcome to come over and try them before you make a purchase decision.

We are starting a Virtual Library Bike Tour! We are tracking our mileage each week, and will virtually “visit” libraries along our trip. You can keep up with us at the Twitter account for this adventure: @CMLEBikeTeam.

Two: Podcast books

Have you listened to our Podcast yet? We talk about many things, including the books we are reading each week. Check out the books we were reading in Episode #1!

Angie

Stardust by Neil Gaiman: Tristran Thorn promised to bring back a fallen star. So he sets out on a journey to fulfill the request of his beloved, the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester—and stumbles into the enchanted realm that lies beyond the wall of his English country town. Rich with adventure and magic, Stardust is one of master storyteller Neil Gaiman’s most beloved tales, and the inspiration for the hit movie.

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard In this collection of short essays, Annie Dillard—the author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and An American Childhood—illuminates the dedication, absurdity, and daring that characterize the existence of a writer. A moving account of Dillard’s own experience, The Writing Life offers deep insight into one of the most mysterious professions.

Mary

The Librarian by Larry Beinhart How on earth did nebbish university librarian David Goldberg end up on Virginia’s Ten Most Wanted Criminals list for bestiality? And how did he get ensnared in a vast right-wing conspiracy to steal the presidency? It all begins so innocently when Goldberg starts moonlighting for eccentric, conservative billionaire Alan Carston Stowe as an archivist. But Goldberg’s appointment worries a cabal of ruthless right-wingers—ostensibly allies of Stowe, whose money lubricates their zany scary conspiracies—with very close ties to the White House. They fear that Goldberg will find something in Stowe’s records that will compromise the dirty tricks involved in re-electing Augustus Winthrop Scott, the dim scion of a powerful Republican political family, for a second term. As the presidential election heads into its final stretch, the hunt is on to remove Goldberg from his position—by any means necessary. The acclaimed, Edgar-winning mystery writer Larry Beinhart returns with this timely novel. In the tradition of Carl Hiassen, Elmore Leonard, and Joe Klein, The Librarian is a frenetic, scary and hilarious thriller that goes deep into the dark heart of election year politics.

The Heart of Henry Quantum by Pepper Harding Henry Quantum has several thoughts going through his head at any given time, so it’s no surprise when he forgets something very important—specifically, a Christmas gift for his wife, which he realizes on the morning of December 23. Henry sets off that day in search of the perfect present for her: a bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume. But much like Henry’s ever-wandering mind, his quest takes him in different and unexpected directions, including running into the former love of his life, Daisy. His wife, meanwhile, unhappy in her marriage, is hiding a secret of her own. And Daisy, who has made the unsettling choice of leaving her husband to strike out on her own, finds herself questioning whether she and Henry belong together after all.

Three: Book Group books

Have you been following our Goodreads book groups? We have two each month: a fun book with a librarian character, and professional book with skills that can be useful at work!

Check out our April book selections:

Fun Book: The  Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. “A most untraditional love story, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who inadvertently travels through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare’s passionate affair endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love.”

Professional book: Radical Candor, by Kim Scott: From the time we learn to speak, we’re told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. When you become a manager, it’s your job to say it–and your obligation. Author Kim Scott was an executive at Google and then at Apple, where she developed a class on how to be a good boss. She has earned growing fame in recent years with her vital new approach to effective management, Radical Candor.

Radical Candor is a simple idea: to be a good boss, you have to Care Personally at the same time that you Challenge Directly. When you challenge without caring it’s obnoxious aggression; when you care without challenging it’s ruinous empathy. When you do neither it’s manipulative insincerity.

This simple framework can help you build better relationships at work, and fulfill your three key responsibilities as a leader: creating a culture of feedback (praise and criticism), building a cohesive team, and achieving results you’re all proud of.

Radical Candor offers a guide to those bewildered or exhausted by management, written for bosses and those who manage bosses. Taken from years of the author’s experience, and distilled clearly giving actionable lessons to the reader; it shows managers how to be successful while retaining their humanity, finding meaning in their job, and creating an environment where people both love their work and their colleagues.”

Hopefully that gets you started with some ways to use our services, and to help support us at the same time!
At CMLE Headquarters, our mission is to support our libraries; and we want to do the best possible job – our members are worth it!