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

Sneak peek at four library tech trends!

Do you have a sense of where library technology is heading in the next few years?

Reading in the Digital AgeIt is always an interesting conundrum to consider which emerging tools and technologies to pay attention to, in order to be ready when the time is right to adopt them! A new ALA publication titled,  The Top Technologies Every Librarian Needs to Know (Facet, 2014) is now available. This publication goes into detail about the eight trends that the authors deem worthy of watching.

Editor Kenneth J. Varnum highlights four of the eight trends in his recent blog post at 4 Technology Trends Every Librarian Needs to Know

Hint: The tags for this post offer a sneak peek of the four trends!

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Public, School Media Specialist

How St. Paul got its media specialists back!

signWhat if we saw hundreds of hand-drawn, red lettered signs in neighborhoods that said…Our kids deserve school librarians? St. Paul parents worked hand-in-hand across the St. Paul Federation of Teachers this year as they collectively bargained for a new contract which included getting back the school media specialists who had pretty much disappeared through budget cuts. In fact, each remaining media specialist was left trying to serve about 4,000 students! Read the full, feel-good story, a model to consider in districts where media centers are no longer staffed by licensed media specialists.

Teacher Contract Campaign Puts Student Learning Front and Center

CMLE continues to report on this issue and offer solutions and strategies for affecting positive change in Central Minnesota schools. Share your thoughts or other ideas in comments!

Other recent CMLE posts on this subject:

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Public, School Media Specialist

Referendum Results in Central MN

Yes in May to the Alternative Vote BallotLast week’s election was a chance for 21 Central MN school districts to include a total of 30 levy requests  on the ballot. As you can imagine, the levy requests  were varied, the results were mixed. A total of 16 requests passed (53%), with 14 not passing. Election sources choose to use the word “fail” when levies aren’t approved, but we need to commend schools who ask for what is needed to provide a solid academic experience for students.

CMLE staff have pulled the regional results for your convenience, & organized districts by county: https://cmleinfofeed.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/levy20141.pdf.

See the following links to pore through the statewide levy results

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/l7p4u3w, licensed under CC BY 2.0

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MN Legislative Update

Capital SunsetThe following legislative update was written by Elaine Keefe, library lobbyist for the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) and Information Technology Educators of MN (ITEM).

Received Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 4:35 pm

Statewide Races:  Last night Governor Dayton was re-elected with just over 50% of the vote.  It is the first time since 1994 that a Minnesota governor was elected with more than 50% of the vote.  Attorney General Lori Swanson and State Auditor Rebecca Otto were re-elected and Steve Simon was elected Secretary of State, completing a DFL sweep of the state constitutional offices.

Minnesota House of Representatives:  Republicans picked up 11 seats and won a 72-62 majority in the House.  No Republican incumbents were defeated.  11 DFL incumbents were defeated.  10 of those who were defeated represented Greater Minnesota.  6 of them were in their first term.

The incumbents who were defeated are:

Rep. Roger Erickson (DFL – Baudette)

Rep. Joe Radinovich (DFL – Crosby)

Rep. John Ward (DFL – Baxter)

Rep. Tim Faust (DFL – Hinckley)

Rep. Jay McNamar (DFL – Elbow Lake)

Rep. Zach Dorholt (DFL – St. Cloud)

Rep. Andrew Falk (DFL – Murdock)

Rep. Mary Sawazky (DFL – Willmar)

Rep. Patti Fritz (DFL – Faribault)

Rep. Shannon Savick (DFL – Wells)

Rep. Will Morgan (DFL – Burnsville)

Contact Your House Member:  Now is the ideal time to send a friendly note congratulating your House member on being elected or re-elected.  Offer to be a resource to him or her on any library issues.  You can find contact information for all new and returning House members in a directory posted on the House website: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hinfo/leginfo/elecdir14.pdf

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

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Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

We've Learned

LightbulbJob Openings

The College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University is currently hiring for a Library Technology Support Specialist. For more information or to apply for the position please visit http://bit.ly/10yjsIh and search for the Library Technology Support Specialist. (Closes November 10th)

The School of Education at St. Cloud State University is currently seeking applications for potential adjunct positions for academic year 2014-15 and 2015-16. In particular, they are searching for part-time teaching positions in their Information Media program. To apply visit: http://bit.ly/1pwcnUy

The St. Cloud State University Library is currently seeking to build a pool of applicants for part-time, temporary, adjunct Librarians and Instructional Technologists for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 academic years with responsibilities in various service areas within Learning Resources Services (LRS). LRS includes the Library and InforMedia Services. To apply visit: http://bit.ly/1xcQXvB

Centracare is also looking for a Health Science Library Assistant. “The Health Science Library Assistant provides a variety of library clerical and technical duties of moderate complexity as appropriate to the diverse operations and specialized procedures of the Health Science Library.” Link to the position: http://bit.ly/1u68OmE

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/nwbfuhq, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0