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

Welcome & Service Changes: From the Director

First off, welcome back to a new academic year! Our K-12 and college libraries are gearing up just as the public libraries breathe a sigh of relief after their summer reading programs come to an end. We have lots of exciting news at CMLE, so hang in there for a few minutes, and let me know if you have concerns or questions! Hopefully, during our eight month strategic planning process, we did our homework, and our plans for the future will meet your needs. If not, please know that I welcome any and all of your suggestions!

Our mission: CMLE is a Central Minnesota library hub, a clearinghouse of talent, materials, and expertise for all types of libraries.

Our new strategic focus areas for the next three years include:

  1. Refined focus on K-12 media center needs
  2. Convening and bridging libraries around issues
  3. Stretching dollars: Cost avoidance and cost savings

For more detail on our Strategic Framework and our Strategic Workplan, go here

New Communication Streams: Our staff strives to get you important library/school media information, yet keep your life uncluttered. With our new communication strategy we hope to reach you wherever you are:

  • Each Thursday, you will receive a CMLE Weekly Review message recapping our blog posts of the week. Just click on the links of what interests you; it is as easy as that! So, going forward, you will receive fewer emails from CMLE, but will lose no content from us.
  • Twitter: Find us, follow us, and we’ll follow you back!  Our Twitter handle is CMLEMN
  • Facebook: Find us by searching for “Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange”.  Please “Like Us” right away so you never have to do this search again!

Service Changes….

Interlibrary Loan (ILL): After conducting  a 10-year trend analysis which showed consistent drop in ILL requests,  and a cost-benefit analysis of what it costs us to provide this service, our governing Board is in agreement that we sunset our physical ILL service. However, we do not want to end our tradition of resource sharing in Central MN and will evolve resource sharing into more digital resources. We will spend this academic year helping users of the ILL service to find alternative methods for getting the resources they need before our end date of June 30, 2013. We will also be unveiling new resource sharing strategies soon, so stay tuned!

 Annual Meeting: After careful debate and thought, the Board agreed that we can serve more of you better if we convene some smaller, targeted gatherings around the region rather than one big event. Please watch for more detail about possibilities, and if there is a conversation you would like us to convene, please let us know. Example: Would you enjoy a conversation about information literacy with academic, K-12, public, and special librarians to hear what works best in their settings? Information literacy and e-books are already on our wish list of possibilities, what is on yours?

As we work through this exciting but difficult transitional year, know that we are seeking ways to further assess and serve your needs, and engage you. We hope that some of our new ideas including our new communication streams provide new opportunity and energy in your world.

Patricia Post, Director of CMLE

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

New Minitex Director

ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE MINITEX COMMUNITY

I am pleased to share the exciting news about the successful search for a new director of Minitex.  Valerie Horton, Executive Director of the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC), will assume the role in early December.

Ms. Horton brings an extraordinary portfolio to the Minitex leadership position.  As the founding director of CLiC, she has developed robust programs of resource sharing, as well as open source library systems and continuing education.  Earlier appointments as a library director (Mesa State College), systems and budget officer (New Mexico State University), ALA International Library Fellow,  and systems librarian (Brown University) round out her rich record. Her commitment to collaboration is evidenced in her lead roles in the open access journal Collaborative Librarianship and in conferences around the challenging topic of delivery and in her extensive contributions to our profession.

The search process has been expansive.  The search committee, with representatives across the various sectors of the Minitex community, did a stellar job, bringing us an exceptional pool of finalists.  The engagement of our communities was significant, with well over 150 individuals online watching the public presentations.  Feedback from participants was equally strong, with abundant commentary from individuals across the region. I want to thank the search committee, particularly the chair Linda DeBeau-Melting, for managing this inclusive process. And thank you to all who contributed to this important search.

Valerie hopes to visit Minnesota in the months before her official start, and looks forward to working with the fabulous Minitex staff and deeply committed library communities across Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Wendy Pradt Lougee, University Librarian, University of Minnesota

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Language Learning Courses for 60 Languages Now Available at GRRL Libraries

Pronunciator, the world’s largest language learning service, is now available free of charge at Great River Regional Library (GRRL). Through the library’s subscription, cardholders have access to Pronunciator at all 32 library locations and also from home.

Learners can choose from 60 languages in the Pronunciator database, including European languages, Arabic, Chinese, Croatian and Hebrew. Language learning through Pronunciator is self-guided and interactive with options for both written and spoken language. Users simply enter their native language, choose a language they want to learn, then select a unit and lesson. Three thousand courses are available with three million online lessons and a range of learning levels. The service also has 45,000 hours of MP3 files that users can download for learning on the go.

•             Pronunciator’s first level provides important vocabulary

•             the second provides important verbs in conjugation

•             the third combines them into simple sentences

•             the fourth includes phrases for tourists and travelers

•             the fifth is a virtual conversation mode.

A library card is required in order to establish an online account with Pronunciator. Computers are available at all GRRL locations. Please contact your local library to obtain a library card and determine local procedures for reserving computer time.

Great River Regional Library (GRRL) provides library services at 32 public libraries in Benton, Morrison, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright Counties. It provides Central Minnesota residents with nearly 1 million books, CDs and DVDs, 250 public computers, programming and information services.

Contact: Karen Pundsack

Patron Services Coordinator

320-650-2516

School Media Specialist

Teach With Tablets

A partnership between 3M and the education nonprofit Digital Wish offers parents, teachers and administrators the opportunity to win new tablets for their schools. Called 3M Screens for Schools, this new grant program will award one school up to $25,000 in funding to be used toward the purchase of tablets and 3M Screen Protectors. To apply for the grant, visit 3M Screen Protector’s Facebook page. 3M will donate $1 to Digital Wish for every eligible person who “likes” the page and another $1 for every person who shares 3M Screens for School’s message on his or her Facebook page. Interested parties can also submit a 200- to 500-word essay explaining (1) why the school needs the award for new tablets and how the new tablets would change the school for the better; (2) if the school is awarded the new tablets, how learning would be enhanced for students and teaching enhanced for educators; and (3) what other creative fundraising, if any, the school has undertaken in an effort to bring new technologies into the classroom. Only one entry is permitted per person, but multiple entries—including submissions from teachers and school administrators—can be made on behalf of one school.
Deadline: September 12, 2012
Click Here for More Information

Public, School Media Specialist

Explore the Magical World of Harry Potter

1 Comment
Author J. K. Rowling launched the Harry Potter Reading Book Club for young readers in July. The website, sponsored by Rowling’s US publisher, Scholastic, is intended as a resource to help teachers and parents encourage children to read. The site includes a guide for everything about the boy wizard, an overview of the series of Harry Potter and information about the author. New activities will be added to the site every month.
Click Here to Visit Harry Potter Reading Club Website
Click Here to Visit Harry Potter Website
Click Here to Visit J. K. Rowling’s Website

Plus: J. K. Rowling will appear in a live global webcast on October 11, 2012, from Edinburgh, Scotland, in which she will speak with her fans about the magical world of Harry Potter. Scholastic describes the webcast as a “live virtual author visit to classrooms.”
Click Here for More Information About Global Webcast