All posts by Angie

Music Book Mash-Up: April

In this series, we are going to share a fun variety of books about music! Even if you don’t play an instrument you can still absolutely be a music lover. So check back each month for a different collection of books all relating in some way to music! We’ll share fiction and nonfiction titles and try to cover many different genres and time frames. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments! Happy reading (and listening, and playing!)


Since April is National Poetry Month, we’ll share some poetry books written by musicians (and all these titles did have positive ratings on Goodreads)

Useless Magic by Florence Welch
“The Florence + The Machine frontwoman’s first-ever book will consist of lyrics and poetry, as well as art derived from Florence’s own sketchbooks. Useless Magic will also give fans an insight into Florence’s creative process by featuring some of the subjects and areas which have inspired her writing.”

Now and Then… by Gil Scott-Heron
“One glance at Now and Then and it becomes evident that this is not merely a collection of a songwriter’s lyrics. The song-poems of this undisputed “bluesologist” triumphantly stand on their own, evoking the rhythm and urgency which have distinguished Gil Scott-Heron’s career. This collection carries the reader from the global topics of political hypocrisy and the dangers posed by capitalist culture to painfully personal themes and the realities of modern day life. His message is black, political, historically accurate, urgent, uncompromising, and mature, and as relevant now as it was in the early 1970s.”

The Flame by Leonard Cohen
“The Flame is the final work from Leonard Cohen, the revered poet and musician whose fans span generations and whose work is celebrated throughout the world. Featuring poems, excerpts from his private notebooks, lyrics, and hand-drawn self-portraits, The Flame offers an unprecedentedly intimate look inside the life and mind of a singular artist.”

Resources from CMLE for Stress Management Month

April is Stress Awareness Month. We know working in libraries is generally a very rewarding profession, but it definitely can be stressful, too. We have several resources at CMLE that you can explore to work on managing your stress this month, and all year long.

You can also check out this page from the National Alliance on Mental Illness to learn how stress affects you and also get some ideas for ways to reduce your stress.

We have several podcast episodes you can listen to that are full of advice for handling stress while working in a library.

Our Training Tips series includes the article “Stress in the Library Workplace” and provides even more links to resources that can help you manage library stress. (Yes, therapy dogs are included!)

Take a look at all our Stress Management posts to get strategies for reducing your stress at work, including suggestions for audio and meditation tools.

And if all else fails, just look at CMLE Office Dog Lady Grey demonstrating her favorite relaxation technique: napping!

Join CMLE for tea in May!

Spring means melting snow, chirping birds, chocolate eggs…and is a great time to get together for tea!
Since CMLE is a multitype library system with more than 300 members spread around the Central MN area we like to hold member events in different locations in order to make sure more members can attend!

So join us on Sunday, May 5th at 10:30 at the Mad Hatter Tea House in Anoka for a joint member event/postcard party!
We’ll have tea, library and book conversation, and write postcards to mail to library stakeholders encouraging them to support libraries.

Please RSVP below, as we need to make reservations! And since we do not want cost to prohibit any of our members from joining us, CMLE will cover the cost of tea service for members that RSVP and attend.

Since our members work in school media centers, history centers, archives, public, and academic libraries, we really appreciate hearing about the variety of tasks and challenges you handle every day. Plus, we love when our members get to meet each other and form connections across different types of libraries! 

Read all about the fun we had at our last tea event in our article here.

Book Bites from March

We hope you’ve been enjoying our mini podcast series Book Bites! We invite guests to chat with us about a book they’ve enjoyed, and they tell us about it in 5 minutes or less. We’ve gotten such a fantastic variety of book suggestions through this series, so we want to make it easy for you to tune in as well!

We’ll be collecting our Book Bites from each month into one blog post to have them all in one place for you. Of course, the best way to make sure you don’t miss an episode is to subscribe to both of our podcasts: Linking Our Libraries and Reading With Libraries!

Do you have a book that you absolutely MUST share with us? We’d love to record you! Email us at admin@cmle.org.

Book Bites from March:

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Jeeves and the King of Clubs by Ben Schott

The Confidence Code for Girls by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

The Ring by Koji Suzuki

Book Bouquet: Sandwiches!

Each week we look at a collection of a few books on a topic. You can explore the books on your own, or use them as a foundation for building a display in your library!

Sorry in advance for making you hungry, because this week our article is all about sandwiches, real and fictional! Get some recipe ideas or just read about stories that include sandwiches.

Banh Mi: 75 Banh Mi Recipes for Authentic & Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches by Jacqueline Pham
” The quintessential Vietnamese street food–in your own home! Indulge in the intoxicating aroma and exotic taste of a freshly baked baguette topped with savory pork, bright cilantro, and thin strips of pickled carrots and daikon.”

The Sandwich Swap by Rania Al-Abdullah, Kelly DiPucchio, Tricia Tusa (Illustrator)
“Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things, and they always eat lunch together. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus–but what’s that between friends? It turns out, a lot. Before they know it, a food fight breaks out. Can Lily and Salma put aside their differences? Or will a sandwich come between them?”

Bread and Butter by Michelle Wildgen
“Kitchen Confidential meets Three Junes in this mouthwatering novel about three brothers who run competing restaurants, and the culinary snobbery, staff stealing, and secret affairs that unfold in the back of the house.”

Peanut Butter and Homework Sandwiches by Lisa Broadie Cook, Jack E. Davis
“Martin MacGregor is having one rotten week! First, his substitute teacher, Mrs. Payne, gives out mountains of homework. And when Martin’s dog literally eats his homework, little does he know it’s only the beginning of his troubles.”

Sandwiches Without Bread: 100 Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Options! by Daria Polukarova
“Whether you follow a Paleo, non-gluten, low-carbohydrate, or just an all-around healthy lifestyle, Sandwiches Without Bread is for you. Featuring one hundred creative recipes along with mouthwatering photographs, this book will appeal to both your appetite and your waistline.”