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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!
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Legislative Update

This update is from Elaine Keefe, MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Lobbyist

Data Privacy:  Under current law, records linking public library users to library materials they have searched for or borrowed that are owned by the library are private. HF 695, our bill extending the same protection to electronic data owned by a private vendor and licensed by a public library (e.g., e-books) was introduced last Monday by Rep. Steve Simon (DFL – Hopkins), chair of the House Data Practices Subcommittee.  The companion bill, SF 745, will be introduced on Monday, February 25 by Senator Kari Dzeidzic (DFL – Minneapolis).  Senator Ron Latz (DFL – St. Louis Park), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a co-author.

Homework Help:  Our bill to fund a statewide contract to make a free online homework help service available statewide will be introduced as SF 781 on Monday, February 25.  The chief author is Senator John Hoffman (DFL – Champlin). Co-authors are Sen. Alice Johnson (DFL – Spring Lake Park), Sen. LeRoy Stumpf (DFL – Plummer), Sen. Vicki Jensen (DFL – Owatonna) and Sen. Carla Nelson (R – Rochester).  The House version will be introduced soon.  Rep. Kathy Brynaert (DFL – Mankato) has signed on as the chief author.  If any of these legislators represent you, please write to thank them.

Minitex and MnLINK:  We have secured chief authors in both bodies for our bill to increase funding for Minitex and MnLINK.  Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL – Golden Valley) will carry our bill in the House and Senator Kent Eken (DFL – Twin Valley) will carry our bill in the Senate.  I am currently recruiting co-authors, with the goal of getting the bills introduced no later than Monday, March 4.

Legacy:  Last Wednesday Mark Ranum made a presentation before the House Legacy Committee about what regional public libraries have done with Legacy funding received to date and about our request for funding for the upcoming biennium (FY 14-15).  It was very well received by the committee, resulting in extended remarks by committee members about the benefits of Legacy programs provided by public libraries and of libraries in general.  Reps. Mary Murphy (DFL – Hermantown), Leon Lillie (DFL – N. St. Paul) and John Ward (DFL – Brainerd) were especially effusive.

State Economic Forecast:  The next forecast will be released on Thursday February 28.  It is widely expected that the forecast will show improvement from the forecast released in December that projected a $1.1 million deficit at the conclusion of the FY 14-15 biennium.  It may also show an increase in the forecasted surplus for the current biennium, which would result in a further repayment of the education funding shift.  Governor Dayton will release his revised budget recommendations about two weeks after the forecast is released.

Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
office 651-293-0229
fax 651-293-1709
cell 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Video Production Has Begun!

Some rights reserved by M4D GROUP
Some rights reserved by M4D GROUP

A small group of high school media specialists and college librarians continue to work with CMLE  on our attempts to Bridge Information Literacy Efforts Across Libraries. Recently, we crafted and implemented a college-student survey that basically asked college students: Based on your experience, if you could tell a high-school student three things to help them prepare for college-level research, what would it be?

We received over 400 responses from students at four local colleges and  69 respondents indicated a willingness to appear in a video. Hard choices were made to arrive at whom to film and we have begun  production of a short video capturing some of the responses. We hope to make the video available widely through YouTube. The video will be used for various purposes, and we hope to use it as a conversation starter at an upcoming event that is open to all types of libraries in late spring as a springboard to new “bridging”activities next Fall. Are you curious about the work of the three media specialists and three college librarians to date? Go to http://tinyurl.com/bjsugro to read the executive summary of the group’s work. Watch for further updates on this exciting work!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

CMLE Announcements

Please review a couple of important updates from our office:

  • Monday, February 18th, the CMLE office will be closed in observance of President’s Day. Normal office hours will resume on Tuesday.
  • Due to the short week and a number of other competing service areas, the CMLE Weekly Review will skip a week and be back in your in-box on Thursday, February 28th
  • Please feel free to send us your stories about what is cool in your library,  or your other ideas for blog posts. Send all to cmle@stcloudstate.edu and use Subject Line: Possible Blog Post
General, Public, School Media Specialist

Got Reluctant Readers?

red bookThe Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), announced its 2013 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers selection list recently at the annual ALA Midwinter Meeting. The Quick Picks list suggests books that teens, ages 12-18, will pick up on their own and read for pleasure; it is geared to the teenager who, for whatever reason, does not like to read.

The complete list of 65 titles and 3 series, drawn from 217 nominations, can be found at http://tinyurl.com/aztxrlz

The Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers committee also selected a Top Ten list which can be found at http://tinyurl.com/a8gbuks

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Makerspaces in Your Library?

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makerspacesheadHave you heard the latest buzz about makerspaces,  which are  library spaces to create, build, and craft? I was happy to see it highlighted front and center recently by ALA.  And, at the recent midwinter conference, there were meetings and sessions on this topic. Typically, we might think of these spaces most within the context of public or academic libraries, but I see no reason why meeting places for enhancing creativity could not fit within most library types. Check out this article by ALA which also includes some popular  activities and tools for  these spaces. If you already have a makerspace in your library, tell us about it in comments! The full article is at http://tinyurl.com/c64rh5k