All posts by Mary Jordan

CMLE, Communication

February Monthly Topic: Social Media

Socialmedia-pm
Monthly topics! This is a way for us to look at some information about a topic from a variety of different perspectives, to cover it fully. Our topics are taken from the recent needs assessment survey, and are the ideas and skills our members said they most wanted to know about in their library work.

We have concluded our look at Grants in January, and are covering Social Media this month.

There are all kinds of tools for social media, but the purpose to all of them is the same: to connect with your community members where they are.  Social media can also be a great tool for that very important skill in communication: listening. It is a very easy way to listen to issues of interest to your community members, to find out what questions are coming up, and to make connections between people and ideas.

Do you have topics you want to see this month? Do you have some great social media ideas or tips to share? Add them to the comments below! We look forward to hearing your ideas!!

CMLE, Communication, General

Let’s visit libraries together!!

https://www.pinterest.com/kayedacus/architecture-libraries-studies-offices/

At CMLE Headquarters, we are working to help our members build connections with others! With our regular dinner gatherings underway, we want to implement the next request from members: group visits to libraries across the system!!

From our feedback, it seems like there is a lot of interest in visiting other member’s libraries. (And at HQ we endorse this idea: our member libraries are SO interesting to visit!!)

We want to be sure we schedule visits at days and times that work for you! So fill out the comment form below to send your best day/time to us. Feel free to write more info into the open-ended question, or email us with ideas!

Continue reading Let’s visit libraries together!! →

Advocacy, Communication

Free webinars from the Government Publishing Office!

The federal government provides all kinds of great information and training – all free to use! You can explore some new ideas and skills, and provide resources and information to your patrons.

Advocacy Note: Government information is currently being censored, hidden, removed from online use, and even destroyed. This information belongs to all of us, and was created for us!! This would be a great topic to discuss with your legislators at all levels of government. Libraries support a full and free sharing of information; and government information has traditionally been a strong and reliable resource. Keep this information free, public, and available!

Continue reading Free webinars from the Government Publishing Office! →

Advocacy, Communication

Statement from MLA President Amy Boese

CMLE continues to serve as your sources for news around the profession. There are a lot of changes happening nationally that affect libraries, and library activities and missions. We are sharing information from our professional organizations with you to help you sort through ideas for yourself, and to have professional information to share with your stakeholders.

Sharing information freely, and understanding the value of valid and reliable resources as part of information literacy, are cornerstones of our professional work. These are issues we deal with every day in the library. Any changes to these core ideas are a problem for us, and we want to be able to address them.

People sometimes ask what kinds of things would be appropriate topics for library advocacy. Certainly anything you feel impacts your work in libraries, or libraries across the country, would be very appropriate to discuss!  You should feel empowered to talk with your legislators (local, state, and federal) to share your experiences and your views. (If you want to practice an elevator speech, or having another set of eyes look at an email draft – CMLE is here to help you!)

Read on for the MLA statement: Continue reading Statement from MLA President Amy Boese →

CMLE, General

Libraries and Pop Culture: A Natural Partnership!

https://www.pinterest.com/kayedacus/architecture-libraries-studies-offices/

We have already established that library people are extremely cool, and naturally other people have taken notice of that! Libraries and library people are represented prolifically in popular culture. Last week we talked about libraries in the comics. And we are also well represented across all types of pop culture: books, movies, games, TV shows.

Pop culture is not just for fun (though, of course that would be fine!); there are many academic areas of study looking at aspects of pop culture. The Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association holds annual conferences for people involved in pop culture scholarship from across the country, as well as smaller regional conferences.

Of course, they have a section just for Libraries, Archives, and Museums! (Disclaimer: I have presented twice at their annual conferences. And it was fantastic!!)

One of my studies looked at the images of library people in pop culture, to see what kind of images people in our profession were identifying with as part of their own professional image. If you would like to build up your own reference collection of library pop culture images, here are some of their suggestions (not in any order): Continue reading Libraries and Pop Culture: A Natural Partnership! →