Each month we’ll bring you a compiled list of fun national holidays, birthdays of authors, and publication dates of favorite books. You can use these for your own personal use or for some library inspiration! Share what inspired you in the comments.
December is Read a New Book Month!
Other things to celebrate in December. . .
We always have fun during group visits to member libraries, and we think a visit to SCSU’s library would be both fun and valuable!
Being able to tour a member library can give you some inspiration and ideas for your own library, and introduce you to other members in the CMLE system. Plus, you will get a chance to meet the new library Dean!
Let’s narrow down some dates to see what will work best for people who want to attend. Right now we are thinking late December, after the semester ends, or early January before everything gets moving too fast. Give us some idea of your preferences, and we can set up a date for a visit.
Please vote! Looking forward to seeing you!
This is part of our Libraries After Dark series, where we highlight some of the “hidden talents” of our librarian members. Do you have an interesting hobby or artistic talent that you’d like to share with CMLE members? Let us know, we’d love to feature you!
This week we’ve featuring CMLE member (and Vice President of our Board, as well as frequent podcast guest) Susan Schleper! Susan is the librarian at Centracare Health hospital library in St. Cloud, as well as an accomplished musician!
You can see her perform with her band the Vista Jazz Club (pictured above) this Thursday, November 16th at the Olde Brick House Irish Pub in downtown St. Cloud from 7:00 – 10:00PM!
We wanted to find out more about Susan’s interest in music, so she kindly agreed to tell us a little about what got her interested in music growing up. She says she’s always loved music and her brother played a lot of classical music growing up. “He also introduced me to jazz through one of my favorite artists Sarah Vaughan. I also love Latin music. I spent a year in Brazil and was exposed to Samba and the music of Carlos Joabim and Elise Regina and Gal Costa. Music for Brazilians isn’t a “nicety” it’s a necessity – everyone plays an instrument and sings.”
Susan has played with several different musical groups, and the longest running is a group called Random Road. “It’s a seven piece group that plays Irish, Americana, Folk, Latin, Jazz, you name it, we’ll do it :)”
She also plays a number of different instruments, including the harmonica, accordion, Irish drum, flute, and in high school played the French Horn. Plus, she sings! Susan’s favorite part of performing is the creative outlet that it provides. “I know that in the moment, I’m creating something that really can’t be replicated or happen again. It’s there and it’s gone and either it’s had an impact or not. Maybe that’s one reason I’m not too keen on recording because then it’s fixed or static.”
We are so grateful to Susan for her involvement with CMLE and for letting us share her musical history with our members! Make sure to go support Susan and the Vista Jazz Club this Thursday and enjoy some delicious Irish food at the same time!
We love to read books, and to talk about books. Check out our entire series here! Need more book chatting and suggestions in your life? Listen to our Books and Beverages podcast!
A few weekends ago I was lucky to stay at a very cozy B&B that had an old but interesting book all about Britain and Ireland. I really enjoyed paging through it and learning all about the various regions of the area, including Cornwall. So when I noticed this book pop up on Overdrive, I thought it was perfect timing!
Last May we had a great time connecting with our members and advocating for libraries at our first Postcard Party in the Park! If you missed it, check out the recap here. The goal behind our Postcard Parties is to share the value of libraries with legislators and other library stakeholders who may not hear enough about the incredible work that takes place in libraries.
And since library advocacy is always going to be necessary, we are planning our next Postcard Party! We will provide the postcards, facts about the value of all types of libraries to their communities, addresses for state and federal legislators (feel free to bring your own addresses for your library’s stakeholders), and sample text of what to write on your postcard. We will even mail your postcards after the event so no need to worry about postage.
We are offering a few different location and date suggestions in our poll below. Our system is large and we know that our events aren’t always conveniently located for all our members. You can vote for your preferred location and date ranges below. Don’t be shy, make your voice heard! We want to connect with you and work on some library advocacy together 🙂