All posts by admincmle

The Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange (CMLE) is one of seven regional multitype library systems established to meet the needs of and share the resources of all types of libraries. We love libraries, and are here to support them!
Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

The First Ever MEMO Unconference

3 Comments

Participant’s hands had a death grip on steaming mugs of coffee as we assembled for the Joyce Valenza keynote, which kicked off the Saturday Unconference day for the 2013 MEMO Conference. Valenza was amazing as always, and I have reams of notes from her presentation; mostly new tools. Links will be forthcoming.

About one third of the attendees had attended an unconference before, which surprised me. The content of an unconference is based solely on the immediate interest of those in the room .  The rules were: NO power points, rule of two feet (leave a session if it does not suit your immediate need), everyone has a voice, everyone is an expert, and have fun! Then, pads of sticky notes were placed on the tables and we were asked to consider topics to put on the slips of paper to then transfer to a large grid at the front of the room. We were asked  to consider: What can I teach about, what do I want to learn about, or,  I want to discuss or collaborate with others on this topic. The suggested topics  sorted themselves out quickly and numbers were placed on tables to correspond to the numbered topics.

10-8-2013 2-05-05 PM

It was really hard to choose where to go, but then I remembered the “two feet” rule, so the stress was instantly gone! In round two, I chose the e-folio table, but most of us were there hoping for an expert or someone to lead the conversation. When no one took on either role, without guilt, I got up and ambled on over to student PLN’s which was better.

But the highlight for me was truly during the first round, I picked Being Influential. I was delighted and surprised to see that Stephen Abram, our Friday luncheon keynote speaker was prepared to lead the conversation. Stephen has many claims to fame and I have followed him online for years.  He is the author of Stephen’s Lighthouse blog, is a library trend watcher, fundraiser,  innovator, thought provoker, and has held several executive leadership positions in the library field; big names like Gale, SirsiDynix, Thomson, and ProQuest. Bonus! So, I and seven other professionals could sit around a table and listen to Stephen’s thoughts on the subject,  and shoot him questions about how to apply his suggestions to local situations. It was well worth my while, I took detailed notes,  and will share the details of that little round table discussion next week, so stay tuned!

If you were also at the MEMO Unconference, what did you think? Is this an event model that you would like to try in our Central Minnesota region among colleagues? CMLE listens to its member libraries/media center staff,  so if you have an opinion, make your voice heard!

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Positive News for Academic Performance in Minnesota K-12’s

Image by Phil Roeder. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Phil Roeder. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

As you may know, the MN Department of Education (MDE) has a new mechanism to measure schools across the state. The new rating system is said to be fairer, and a more accurate accountability system for schools. Why the change? This new system was put into place because Minnesota was granted a waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act. The long and short of the new system is to improve disparities in academic performance and positively impact a school’s performance in four categories: 1) Proficiency, 2) Growth, 3) Progress in closing the achievement gap, and 4) Graduation rates.

The three Multiple Measurement Rating (MMR) school designations include:

  • Reward Schools: The highest performing 15% of Title I schools in the state. Reward schools will be identified every year.
  • Focus Schools: The 10% of Title I schools making the biggest contribution to the state’s achievement gap. New listing of schools once every three years.
  • Priority Schools: The five percent most-persistently, low-performing Title I schools in the state. New listing once every three years.

MDE and the newly created Regional Centers of Excellence will recognize Reward Schools, and work closely with Priority and Focus schools by helping them create a school turnaround plan based on federal turnaround principles. They will also share best practices from reward schools. According to Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, The October 1 “…press  release is about the hard work taking place every single day in our schools to ensure the success of each child. “…It is because of the inspiring commitment, dedication and collaboration of teachers, support staff and school leaders that we are seeing improvements in our Priority and Focus schools.”

Read the full press release which includes a list of schools who have progressed out of their previous category (scroll down in the press release).

Other Resources:

Read a list of the 2013 Reward Schools

See a summary of 2013 MMR results

View a spreadsheet of all of the 2013 MMR results data

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

Assorted Updates About eBooks

Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by melentia2012. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

If you are looking for e-book updates, these snippets have been supplied through my membership in the American Libraries Association.  

The Big Six and library lending: An update 
Rob Maier writes: “In May 2013, when I started to track the Big Six and their library lending terms, there were many changes taking place in the publishing world. I assumed that I’d be issuing updates at least monthly. Instead, we entered a time of limited change until September 25, when Penguin resumed licensing its ebooks through OverDrive. Since OverDrive is the leading provider of ebooks to public libraries, the lack of access to Penguin titles has been frustrating to say the least.”…
AL: E-Content, Sept. 27; OverDrive Digital Library Blog, Sept. 25
Penguin drops side-loading requirement 
Matt Enis writes: “In a quick reversal of its position on Kindle lending, Penguin on September 26 loosened the terms of its renewed agreement with OverDrive. The publisher has agreed to allow library patrons to download ebook titles wirelessly via OverDrive’s ‘Get for Kindle’ function instead of, as initially announced, first downloading titles to a computer, and then side-loading those titles to their Kindle classic or Paperwhite using a USB cord.”…
Library Journal: The Digital Shift, Sept. 27
Scribd offers ebook subscription service 
Scribd announced October 2 it is offering its own subscription service for ebooks. The service will cost $8.99 a month for an unlimited amount of books and will have many HarperCollins titles. Scribd is a six-year-old document-sharing company. Laura Hazard Owen writes: “Overall, the service is a strong contender in this emerging space, and if you’re trying to choose between Scribd and Oyster, you’ll have to consider selection, design, and platform.” Nate Hoffelder notes a potential problem with content availability….
TeleRead, Oct. 1; GigaOM, Oct. 1; The Digital Reader, Oct. 1
OverDrive releases library circulation APIs 
Adam Sockel writes: “Last year we introduced the initial set of OverDrive APIs that enable approved vendors to deeply integrate OverDrive-hosted catalogs and nearly one million digital titles with their apps and platforms. These included the ability to access catalog metadata, see the availability of a title, and search the library’s collection. The all-new Circulation APIs are now available on the OverDrive Developer Portal.”…
OverDrive Digital Library Blog, Oct. 1
Source: American Libraries Direct, 10/2/2013
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Lessons Learned with iPad Deployment

Image by LJR.MIKE. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's license.
Image by LJR.MIKE. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ license.

Are your school administrators all geeked up about rolling out a 1:1 initiative in your school in a hurry? As an information professional, it may prove helpful for you to be familiar with  what works and when to take pause…..

Joyce Valenza was the keynote speaker at the October 5th  Saturday morning portion of the  MEMO Conference. Within her presentation, she alluded to the problems encountered in Los Angeles’ failed iPad roll-out. A murmur of an undefined sort rippled  through the room, which made me wonder if I was the only person who had not read or heard about this news item. Armed with my trusty iPad, I immediately Googled it, and sure enough, the news had only hit the social media circuit on October 2nd, which made me feel slightly better, as I had joined the MEMO Conference on October 3rd.

According to Mind/Shift, “There’s an incredible litany of problems here that reads like a primer on what NOT to do with a major deployment of technology in a school district, “ and I couldn’t agree more. Although the story is about the nation’s second largest public school district, the lessons apply well in most settings.

Read from an insider’s viewpoint what went wrong with a $1 billion plan to give one iPad to every single student ($500 million for devices, plus an additional $500 million for internet infrastructure upgrades, raised through construction bonds).  Some of the comments to this blog post are as valuable as the story itself, which is so often the case! Feel free to exercise your right to comment here too….

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

Can Libraries Afford Ebooks Given Current Pricing Models?

2 Comments
Image by Welkyn Software Solutions. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by Welkyn Software Solutions. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.

If you follow ebook news, you have no doubt heard of James LaRue, Executive Director of the Douglas County Libraries (Colorado). Patrons often want the New York Times list of bestsellers in ebook format. But, it is doubtful that they understand how dearly libraries are paying for some of these titles. Ebook prices are set by the publisher, and current distributor business models depend on pocketing more than half of the sale. In true form, Larue challenges librarians as to why they are willing to go along with this model. Prepare to be astounded by the following chart that compares the library pricing of an ebook as opposed to consumer pricing. What does this mean for the future of libraries if readers increasingly ask for ebook formats?