This season we are talking about library programs – giving you some ideas about different ideas you can try in your own library. It is always good to share ideas across libraries, and we are all better! Each week we will look at a different theme of programs.

This week we are talking about a very standard library program: book groups! Check out our show notes page here.

We’re at the end of the big holiday season, and everyone is tired of celebrating – and ready to start some resolutions for the new year. Reading more books is a pretty common resolution; book groups of all types can be helpful to your patrons – and fun for you!

These can be a big assortment of different kinds of programs, and for any age in your library. They can be regularly scheduled, or can be one time special events. They could be storytime for toddlers or travel books for senior citizens in assisted living. Our usual brand is books, no matter what kind of library you are in; and people who like our mission will want to come talk about the books in your collection. The rest is limited only by your imagination!

We are here to help you find new books, for yourself or for your library.

This season we continue to travel around Minnesota but this time we’re learning about all the fascinating historical sites our state has to offer and giving you a book prompt inspired by each site.  

We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!

This week we encourage you to explore the story of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe through museum exhibits, objects, demonstrations, and tours, and shop for locally made Native American arts and crafts in the restored 1930s trading post. To celebrate this museum, read a book about arts and crafts.

We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all – including a nice book – Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!

Welcome to Season Ten of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you join us again! This is the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and our members are all types of libraries and their staff. It’s so good to have you here also. In this podcast, we talk about the skills library staff need to be successful and to help them to serve their communities.

Check out our show notes page here, with links to everything we share today.

This season we are talking about library programs – giving you some ideas about different ideas you can try in your own library. None of us is as good at this as all of us thinking together. It is always good to share ideas across libraries, and we are all better! Each week we will look at a different theme of programs.

This will be a fun week, because we are sharing some citizen science programs! At CMLE, we are such fans of bringing citizen science to libraries. We have done a series of blog articles about citizen science, with suggestions for bringing it into your library. (You can find our blog here!)

This season, we continue to travel around Minnesota, but this time we’re learning about all the fascinating historical sites our state has to offer and giving you a book prompt inspired by each site.  

We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!

This week we admire the 19th-century home of lumber baron W.H.C. Folsom, located in Taylors Falls, nestled among other New England style buildings and filled with original furnishings. To celebrate that style, read a book set in New England.

We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all – including a nice book – Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!

It is not news to anyone reading this: working in a library is hard. Doing any kind of public-facing customer service work is always hard, and right now a lot of things are coming together to make it more complicated.

We can’t fix that for you. Sorry.

But this semester, we are going to provide small weekly stress-management/happiness builder ideas. They aren’t going to make all your issues magically solve themselves. But, everyone can use a reminder to take a step back and breathe.

This week we are looking at another one of these small actions that may feel silly. Or you may have read articles that over-rely on this one as a way of keeping yourself stable and happy. Keep in mind that that this is just one piece of all the small things you can do to help to move your needle toward the happier end of the scale.

Add positive affirmations to your day! Get a daily calendar that says gives you a happy fact or a nice thing to say each day. Put a sticker on your bathroom mirror. Leave notes in your refrigerator. Make the background on your computer or phone something positive.

And of course, it’s good for you to share around those affirmations. Drop them on places your family or roommates will see them. Share with your colleagues. Mail cards to your friends. (Don’t be a pest, obviously; know how to read the situation and see whether this is something that would be welcome or annoying.)

You know what? You are doing a great job today. We are really proud of you!