All posts by Angie

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Services, Special

CMLE Service: Continuing Education and Grants calendars!

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Learn about opportunities!

Looking for a one-stop shop to plan out some professional development in the upcoming months, or begin work on some grant applications?

The CMLE website is here to help with that! We have our Continuing Education page, which features a Google calendar that is updated daily with new learning opportunities. Most of the events on the calendar are webinars or online courses, and yes, some are free! We also have links to organizations like Library Juice and the AASL’s eAcademy that offer their own training and development opportunities.

Our Grant page features both a Google calendar that is regularly updated and also a list of grants that breaks them down individually in more detail. We know that library budgets are tight, and it can be a challenge to run a library or media center on a small budget. Check out some of the grants or awards to see if they could be useful to you!

If you have questions about any of the Continuing Education or Grant items, or need some help applying for an award or grant, don’t hesitate to contact us! We are here to support you!

Check this out:, CMLE, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist

Get them reading!

To be or not to be (Project 365: 24/365)
Read on!

Encouraging young reluctant readers is always a topic for thought and conversation, especially among librarians, or even just among parents that want to foster a love of reading in their children. As a new mom, I definitely fit into the second category! What can we do to help young people that can be hesitant to pickup books?

You can read this article or listen to the conversation from MPR News that tackles this challenge in a fun and informative way. See below for some of the tips included in the article, and keep in mind a common theme is persistence!

  • Show your kids you love reading, too!
    – Read in front of your kids, for your own enjoyment, and they will eventually take notice
  • Make sure books are always available
    – Books should always be visible and accessible, whether around the house or at frequent visits to the library or bookstore
  • Give audio books a try
    – They are great options for kids that have trouble concentrating or sitting in one place. They are also great additions to car rides and road trips!
  • Keep your judgement and expectations in check
    – Try to refrain from pushing books that may be too challenging, or critiquing a book choice that you may view as too easy. Allow kids to gain enjoyment from books, at their own pace.
  • And finally, my personal favorite, when in doubt, get out the Harry Potter!
    – Described as “a gateway drug,” in the article, the series “really allowed kids to fall into a world that was so cool. When you give it to a kid at the right time, it unlocks something for them.”

 

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Special

Strategies to Simplify: Tip 6: Transform your email

“Work simply. Live fully.”  This week CMLE focuses on the following work productivity tip from Work Simply, Carson Tate’s popular book.  At CMLE, we’ve boiled down Tate’s wealth of knowledge from Work Simply to a few key points; please see the book for more detail and resources. At the bottom, see links to earlier tips in the series! Let’s all be our best selves….

This week’s activity: Reclaim your inbox by refining your email skills. 

By making just a few tweaks to your email routine, you can feel in control of your inbox. Take advantage of Carson Tate’s Email Agility System from Work Simply, through which she believes “The faster you can make accurate decisions regarding the content of your inbox, the more time you will have in your day.”

Read
Decide (does this email require me to do something?)
Act (if action is required, then just do it, delegate it, or create a task. If not, delete or file it!)
Contain 

Recently, you discovered your Productivity Style with a simple assessment.

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Work Simply

Find your Productivity Style for some personalized advice for controlling your inbox:

Prioritizer: Take advantage of the Rules feature: Pay attention to patterns of the emails you receive, and write Rules to file them accordingly. You could also try setting a goal of having no more than a specific number of emails in your inbox at any time.

Planner: Schedule specific times during the day to check your email. You could also benefit from using numbers and symbols to organize your email folders so that your current folders of highest importance are at the top and easily accessible.

Arranger: Beware your tendency to overcommunicate, and use the cc: line sparingly. You may also like to try listening to music while you manage your emails, which brings some fun into the process.

Visualizer: Use the tool of color to code your incoming messages by sender or subject (red for your boss, etc) which helps you see quickly which emails require timely attention. Also, minimize distractions by turning off your email notifications.

Previous tips in this series

Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

AASL Recommended App (Humanities & Arts) Newsela

newselaIn June 2016, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their 25 Best Apps for Teaching and Learning. The apps encourage qualities such as innovation and active participation, and are user-friendly.

Newsela is an app that provides news for students at their reading level. There are 5 different reading levels, from 2nd – 12th grade, and features a variety of content. The news sources are reputable and include the Guardian and The Associated Press, among others. Educators are able to track reading progress and each article comes with a quiz for comprehension.

Cost: Free
Level: Upper Elementary, Middle and High School
Platforms: iOS

This article from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute describes how Newsela can be very helpful in providing reading text that fulfills the Common Core State Standards.

Watch this video that details how to use Newsela in the classroom:

Check this out:, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Services, Special

Libraries lending musical instruments

A photo by Roberta Sorge. unsplash.com/photos/PN_c3RKCVlA
Make some music with your library!

The days of libraries only checking out books have long passed. Libraries serve so many vital functions in their communities, and are open to learning from their patrons what types of services and programs would be most valuable. This has led to libraries checking out neck ties to job searchers (check out CMLE’s post on the subject) and now, to the Vancouver Public Library opening their Sun Life Financial Musical Instrument Lending Library.

This article from Public Libraries Online describes some of the instruments available (they are mainly stringed instruments and hand drums) like acoustic guitars, ukuleles, and bongos. The library hopes to gain more instruments to share with the public during their instrument drive.

The way it works is that a person can borrow one instrument at a time for 21 days, and if no one else has made a request for the instrument, they are able to renew their instrument up to two times. However, that opportunity won’t come for awhile – the article shares how only three days after the Vancouver Public Library launched the Instrument Lending Library, every instrument was checked out, with a wait list of up to 70 patrons for some instruments! Hopefully the instrument drive is successful and the library will be able to acquire more instruments to share with the public.

Looking for more libraries that offer musical instruments? Take a look at the Toronto Public Library, Forbes Library in MA, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Ann Arbor District Library which loans out a variety of music-related tools.