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General

Google Keep

You’ve probably heard of Evernote, but did you know that Google has a similar product among its suite? It’s Google Keep and PC Mag recently called it “the best free program you’re not using and perhaps never knew existed in the first place.”

Their article, 7 Reasons You Might Actually Want to Use Google Keep, highlights some of the things you can do with Keep. They are:

1. The Android Widget: Always On, Always Live
2. Transcribe Text from Images
3. Keep Is Your Own Personal Stenographer
4. Set Reminders
5. Easily Copy to Google Docs
6. Share and Collaborate With Others
7. Filter Search

Maybe Google Keep is for you, so give it a try and let us know how it goes!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Minnesota Legislative Updates

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). Being its near the end of the legislation season, this post contains 4 separate updates. 

Received Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 10:08 PM

Our latest intelligence indicates that the Senate has offered to accept the House position on Legacy funding for regional public libraries.  This would mean that libraries would receive $4 million over the next two years, as compared to $6 million during the current two-year budget period.  If you have not already done so, please contact the members of the conference committee listed below.  In addition:

Please contact your Senator and ask him or her to urge Senator Cohen to uphold the Senate position on Legacy funding for libraries.  Your senator will likely assume that Senator Cohen will be fighting to uphold the Senate position, but we have strong reason to believe that Senator Cohen has said privately that he prefers the House position.

Please contact your House member and urge him or her to urge Rep. Urdahl to move to the Senate position on Legacy funding for libraries.  The Senate position is still $50,000 per year below current funding, but is substantially better than the House position.

Received Monday, May 11, 2015 at 4:45 PM

Legacy Conference Committee:  This afternoon the Legacy conference committee was appointed.  The ten members of the conference committee will negotiate the differences between the House and Senate Legacy bills over the next few days.

The Senate bill provides $2.95 million per year for regional public libraries.  The House bill provides $1.5 million in FY 16 and $2.5 million in FY 17.

Please contact the conferees  and ask them to support the Senate level of Legacy funding for libraries!

The conferees are listed below with their contact information:

Rep. Dean Urdahl (R – Grove City)
rep.dean.urdahl@house.mn
651-296-4344 or 800-920-5861

Rep. Denny McNamara  (R – Hastings)
rep.denny.mcnamara@house.mn
651-296-3135

Rep. Paul Torkelson (R – Hanska)
rep.paul.torkelson@house.mn
651-296-9303 or 888-727-3891

Rep. Josh Heintzeman (R-Nisswa)
rep.josh.heintzeman@house.mn
651-296-4333

Rep. Phyllis Kahn (DFL – Minneapolis)
rep.phyllis.kahn@house.mn
651-296-4257

Senator Dick Cohen (DFL – St. Paul)
www.senate.mn/senatorcohenemail
651-296-5931

Senator Bev Scalze (DFL – Little Canada)
sen.bev.scalze@senate.mn
651-296-5537

Senator LeRoy Stumpf (DFL – Plummer)
www.senate.mn/senatorstumpfemail
651-296-8660

Senator Katie Sieben (DFL – Newport)
www.senate.mn/senatorsiebenemail
651-297-8060

Senator Michelle Fischbach (R – Paynesville)
sen.michelle.fischbach@senate.mn
651-296-2084

 

Received Friday, May 8, 2015 at 3:42 PM

Education Conference Committee:  The education conference committee met this week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for about 3 hours each day.  The first meeting was spent having staff walk through the House and Senate bills.  The second meeting featured the completion of the staff walk through of the bills, followed by testimony on facilities, Q-comp and testing.  Yesterday’s meeting was devoted to hearing testimony on extended time revenue and early learning scholarships.

The committee will not meet again until Monday.  Thus far the meetings have been quite cordial and low-key.  Partly this reflects the personalities of the chairs, Senator Wiger and Rep. Loon, neither of whom has a penchant for drama.  The other factor is that the tough decision-making won’t get serious until House and Senate leaders and Governor Dayton agree on a budget target for education.   I do not expect that to happen until the middle of next week.

Legacy Bill:  Last night the Senate passed its version of the omnibus Legacy bill by a vote of 44-9.  In his remarks about the bill Senator Cohen acknowledged that two years ago when the Legacy bill was debated on the Senate floor, there was much concern expressed about the low level of funding for libraries, and that he had assured his fellow senators that it would be addressed in the conference committee, and it was.  Senator Cohen then pointed out that this year the Senate Legacy bill provides more funding for libraries than the House bill does – the first time that has ever happened.  It was great to see that the large number of e-mails you sent to your senators two years ago are still having an impact.

 

Received Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 7:55am

The Legislature must adjourn on midnight on Monday, May 18,  just under two weeks from now.  Here is the latest news:

Senate Legacy Bill:  Yesterday the Senate’s omnibus Legacy bill was unveiled and passed out of the Legacy Subcommittee.  The bill appropriates 2.95 million per year for regional public libraries.  This is $50,000 less per year than the current appropriation from Legacy funds, but it is far better than the House Legacy appropriation of $1.5 million in FY 16 and $2.5 million in FY 17.  The Senate bill allocates $300,00 per year for the Minnesota Digital Library, which is the current level of funding.  The House Legacy bill provides $280,000 per year for MDL.  The Senate Legacy bill will be heard in the full Senate Finance Committee later today, where it is expected to be passed and sent to the Senate floor.

Education Conference Committee:  The education conference committee will meet for the first time this afternoon.  Typically the first meeting consists of a walk-through of the side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate bills.  You can find the side-by-side comparison for each article of the education bill here: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/side_by_sides/

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

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/p4m2ool, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
General, Public, School Media Specialist

We’ve Learned

LightbulbTwo Job Postings for School Media Specialists in Dassel-Cokato. Posting expires 6/9/2015

The Great River Regional Library board of trustees has appointed Karen Pundsack as the new Executive Director.

The Great River Regional Library is also looking for a Library Aide for Howard Lake. Application deadline is 5/25/2015.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/nwbfuhq, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MDE: Report highlights need for public preschool options

state_mnThis post’s content comes to us from the Minnesota Department of Education.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 11, 2015
Contact: Josh Collins, 651.582.8205, josh.collins@state.mn.us

New Report Highlights Need for Public Preschool Options in Minnesota

ROSEVILLE – A new report issued today by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) shows that Minnesota ranks last out of the 41 states with pre-K programs for access for 4-year-olds. The report also showed that despite this dismal ranking, the state gets high marks for having set rigorous preschool quality standards. The report comes as Governor Mark Dayton continues his push to expand access to preschool for every 4-year-old, free of charge; and expand eligibility for the state’s early learning scholarship program.

According to the report, only about one percent of the state’s 4-year-olds are currently being served by a public pre-K program. One major factor acting as a barrier to families being able to enroll their children in pre-K is cost. The report noted that Minnesota has the third most expensive child care costs in the nation.

Under Governor Mark Dayton budget proposal, the state would invest $343 million to provide 47,000 children with access to free, all-day pre-K. This investment would not only remove any barrier of cost to families, it would provide every single child in the state with the same early education opportunities. With research documenting how important early education is in laying a strong foundation for success later in life, this investment would be a tremendous step forward in the state’s efforts to close achievement gaps.

Governor Dayton’s budget would strengthen the state’s early education efforts by providing the resources necessary to eliminate the current Head Start waiting list. Head Start is a program that promotes school readiness for low-income children by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional developments, and by providing their families health, educational, nutritional, and other services. Right now, more than 2,400 children are stuck on a waiting list, hoping to get into Head Start programming. Governor Dayton’s budget proposal would eliminate the waiting list and ensure no child is denied a great start in life.

“The transformational investments the Governor is proposing would open up the doors of opportunity for every 4-year-old in the state,” Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said. “We cannot expect to close achievement gaps if we keep shortchanging our kids on the front end. This is an investment in the long-term vitality of our state, and in the unlimited potential of Minnesota’s children.”

This year, free all-day kindergarten was made available to families across Minnesota. Not only did enrollment exceed state projections with 99.6 percent of eligible students enrolling in an all-day kindergarten program, every single public elementary school in the state, with the exception of one charter school, is offering an all-day kindergarten program.

“We have the opportunity to do something incredible for our kids, an investment that would benefit every child, not just a few. This report serves as a reminder of how important this moment is for our state. I look forward to working with Governor Dayton and Legislature to bring all-day pre-K to every child in Minnesota,” Commissioner Cassellius said.

Read the report here.

Public

New Great River Regional Library Executive Director announced

Karen 5x4Congratulations to Karen Pundsack the new Executive Director at Great River Regional library!

Karen is familiar with the GRRL system having worked there since 1999. “I am excited to work with the GRRL staff in this new capacity,” said Pundsack on the Great River website. “I am humbled and grateful to be able to serve our residents in this role.”

The announcement was also in the St. Cloud Times. Read it now.