All posts by Angie

CMLE, Communication, General

CMLE’s Fall Social Event will be Monday, Oct. 23rd!

Thank you to everyone that helped select Monday, October 23rd as the date for our next social event! We will gather at Old Chicago in St. Cloud at 5:30pm for food and library socializing.

We would love for you to attend! These social events are casual, with no agenda, and everyone pays their own way. At CMLE, we appreciate the opportunity to meet our members face to face, and we have heard from our members they like to be able to chat with other people in the library world. Even though our members are from different types of libraries, many challenges and opportunities for growth are very similar!

So join us!
Monday, October 23
5:30 pm
Old Chicago
4040 2nd St S, St Cloud, MN 56301

Please RSVP below so we have an idea of how many people to expect:

Advocacy, Communication, General

Learning About Library Associations: Library and Information Technology Association

Library science is an enormous field, home to every interest you could imagine! This means that there are many organizations out there for you to join, in order to connect with other people who share your professional interests.

So even if you work alone in your library, there are other people out there doing work similar to yours! Each week we will highlight a different library association for you to learn more about, and depending on your work, potentially join! You can also check out our page dedicated to Library Associations.

This week we are learning about the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) which is a division of ALA. According to their Wikipedia page, “LITA became a division of ALA in 1966 in response to the changing technological environment in libraries. LITA advocates for equitable access to information and technology, placing a focus on providing an environment that fosters investigation and enables the implementation of new technology within libraries. LITA is headquartered in the Chicago ALA offices.” You can find out more about membership to LITA and ways to get involved here.

According to their website, LITA’s vision is: “As the center of expertise about information technology, the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) leads in exploring and enabling new technologies to empower libraries.  LITA members use the promise of technology to deliver dynamic library collections and services.”

LITA publishes an open access e-journal called Information Technology and Libraries which can be accessed here. They also offer several awards and a scholarship each year.

To learn more about LITA’s work with advocacy and the issues they promote, check out their page!

CMLE

No Office Hours this Wednesday, Sept. 20th

Due to a Board Meeting, CMLE will NOT be holding office hours this Wednesday, Sept. 20th. We apologize for the inconvenience! If you have a library question or concern that you were planning on discussing with us, contact us and we can setup a time to get together.

Our next Office Hours date will be Wednesday, Oct 4th. Feel free to stop in and chat about library projects or issues with Angie, and the Office Dog Lady Grey (Mary will be at the Multitype Director’s meeting).

CMLE holds Office Hours every Wednesday afternoon with an even numbered date from 11:00 to 1:00 to be available for members to stop in to talk about library programs, policies and procedures, ask questions, talk about cool things you are doing, or any other library-type stuff.

CMLE, Conference

Need a scholarship for ITEM or MLA?

During this busy fall season, don’t forget that there are some excellent library conferences approaching! And CMLE has scholarships available to help with some of the cost of attendance! Read more about our scholarships on our page. New this year is the ability to apply for up to $300 worth of scholarships to help cover your expenses!

The Minnesota Library Association has their annual conference coming up on Oct. 5-6th in Rochester. The theme this year is Radical Librarianship which they describe as “the power of libraries to provide access to the truth, strengthen our community voices, create opportunity for exploration and innovation, and assist our patrons to build a better future.” Learn more about the conference and register here.

The Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota (ITEM) also has their fall conference in early October! From October 5-7th in Brooklyn Park learn how to be “Future Ready for the 21st Century!” Keynote speakers at the conference will be Duchess Harris on Friday morning and Kelly Barnhill on Saturday morning. Access the schedule and register here.

Plus, if you make it to either conference you can connect with Mary (who will be at MLA) or Angie (who will be at ITEM) and we would love to see you there! Let us know if you’ll be there and would like to get together!

And don’t be shy – apply for a scholarship! We really do want to assist our members in their continuing education and professional networking, and attending conferences can be a great start! Apply today!

School Media Specialist, Tech

AASL Recommended App: STEM: Disaster Detector

This summer, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) announced their Best Apps for Teaching and Learning 2017. The apps encourage qualities such as creativity and collaboration, and encourage discovery and curiosity.

The app Disaster Detector from Smithsonian Institution “teaches players how to analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and how to implement tools to mitigate the effects of those disasters.” Students work to protect the citizens of the town of Smithsonville by predicting and preparing for natural disasters.

Level: Middle School
Platform: iOS and Android
Cost: FREE

On the app’s website, you can find 6-8th grade level curriculum to use in the classroom, as well as some resources specifically for Earth and Space Science. PBS Learning Media has a quick description of the app and how it incorporates certain Educational Standards. Blogger Larry Ferlazzo who specializes in ELL/ESL websites writes in this post that the app looks to be accessible to ELL students and “would be an excellent game for students to play who are learning about natural disasters.”

The Smithsonian Science Education Center, which developed the Disaster Detector app, has their own YouTube channel, which you can find here. Watch their quick intro video below: