All posts by Sheri

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Update from State Library Services 2/29/16

mde logo

TO: Minnesota Libraries
FROM: State Library Services
DATE: February 22, 2016
SUBJECT: Updates from State Library Services

Learn How Your Library Can Feed Hungry Minds and Bodies This Summer–Webinar This Wednesday

Fewer than 15 percent of Minnesota kids who benefit from the free or reduced-price school lunch program have access to summer and afterschool food programs. Limited access to free food programs, particularly during the summer, leaves many children hungry. Public libraries can help make sure kids have access to nutritious food when school is not in session. Begin planning your summer 2016 participation by attending an informational webinar on February 24, 2016 at 11 a.m. Jenny Butcher, USDA Summer Food Service Program Coordinator at MDE, will share how you can get involved. There is no need to pre-register. Please join the WebEx meeting online (meeting number 594 625 833) or call in at 1-888-742-5095 (conference code 874 403 3672). Please contact Jen Verbrugge (651-582-8356) with questions or to request a reasonable accommodation to participate in this event. Note: MDE requires a two-week advance notice in order to provide the requested accommodation and requires a 48-hour notice in order to cancel a requested accommodation.

Everybody Get Supercharged–Learn How at This Week’s Webinar

Minnesota’s Supercharged Storytimes website is now archived and open for all Minnesota library staff to explore throughMarch 31, 2016. To learn more about this unique training resource, join our 30-minute introductory webinar on February 26, 2016 at 1:30 p.m. Jackie Blagsvedt will highlight for you the best of Minnesota’s Supercharged Storytimes online community. You may also join the webinar by phone at 1-888-742-5095 with conference code 132 628 9594. Please contact Jackie Blagsvedt (651-582-8805) with questions.

Experience the Creativity of Minnesota’s Kid Filmmakers

Please join us this weekend in celebrating Minnesota’s finest kid filmmakers! 90-Second Newbery Film Festival founder and middle grade author James Kennedy has chosen his favorite entries from Minnesota, and will share them at the second annual Minnesota screening on Saturday, February 27, 2016, in Pohlad Hall from 3-4:30 p.m. at Hennepin County Library – Minneapolis Central. Co-hosts of the event will be James Kennedy and Kelly Barnhill (Minneapolis author of The Witch’s Boy). On-site book sales will be provided by Addendum Books. Make your free reservation to attend the screening today.

The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is an annual nationwide video contest in which kid filmmakers make movies that creatively tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in ninety seconds or less. Making a film is a fun, creative and multi-faceted educational exercise that builds 21st century skills. Kids—with some help from an adult—cooperatively write, storyboard, produce, direct, costume, act, frame and edit their films. We are thrilled that 89 films were submitted by students from Minnesota this year. For more details about the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival, please contact Jen Verbrugge (651-582-8356).

Register Today for the Libraries Serving Youth Meetup

Be part of this annual opportunity for school librarians and public librarians to meet, network and share ideas in a casual setting. Join your colleagues at MDE in Roseville on Saturday, April 16, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Get creative ideas, connect with like-minded professionals about issues important to you, and learn about diversity in children’s literature from author Cathy Camper–the author of the critically-acclaimed and fan-favorite graphic novel, Lowriders in Space. At the Meetup, you’ll also get a sneak-peek at the sequel, Lowriders to the Center of the Earth, scheduled to hit bookstore and library shelves on July 5, 2016. Space is limited so register today! For more information, please contact Jen Verbrugge (651-582-8356).

Save the Date: Better Together – Strengthening Adult Learning Communities – Libraries, Adult Education and Workforce Regional Meetings

Mark your calendar and plan to join colleagues from adult education, libraries and workforce development for a full-day learning opportunity. The workshops are designed to increase our collective capacity to work together to improve adult literacy and workforce outcomes for Minnesotans.

At each session, you’ll hear promising practices for collaboration across organizations, learn about free resources that promote digital literacy and workforce skills, and have a chance to work with your local counterparts to develop a collaborative project.

April 29, 2016 – Roseville at Minnesota Department of Education
May 9, 2016 – Mankato at Country Inn and Suites
May 16, 2016 – Grand Rapids at Saw Mill Inn

For more information or to be included on a mailing list for future announcements, please contact Emily Kissane (651-582-8508).

Now Open for Business: The Public Library Report Survey 

We greatly appreciate the time and expertise library directors and filers put toward the completion of the annual public library report. All twelve regional library systems and 141 public libraries complete the survey, which is required by law. (That’s one sure way to get a 100% response rate!) It’s that time of year again, and the 2015 online survey is open now until April 1, 2016. Please contact Joe Manion (651-582-8640) with questions about the survey.

State Library Services has kept Minnesota public library annual reports published since 1899. Over the past hundred years the reports have demonstrated tremendous growth as well as persistent values.

Minnesota Public Libraries Then and Now

 

School Media Specialist

3D Printing Education Modules for Middle Schools and High Schools

stratasys_logoDo you work in a setting where teachers are asking how to integrate 3D printers into their curriculum in a meaningful way?  We have seen plenty of demo widgets created with these printers, but a recent article from Business Wire tells the story of how Big Lake Middle School and John Paul II Catholic Secondary School have made international news with implementation in their classrooms.

Stratasys is a 3D printing and manufacturing solutions company that has created project-based learning and teaching modules for middle school and high school classrooms. They will be releasing seven new modules by the end of the school year.

“These modules are a great guide for instructors, helping them to integrate 3D printing into their teaching strategy, and they’re also vital to the students, helping empower them to revolutionize their understanding of the design and making process and maximize their potential at such an early stage,” according to Michael Santolupo from John Paul II Catholic Secondary School.

Click here to read more and get a link to 3D printer education modules too!

Stratasys' Logo courtesy of: www.stratasys.com

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Need a product manual?

Information Sign 1This is a fantastic site to bookmark!  Have you lost a manual for something in your house or workplace? No worries! This website has 1,400,000+ products and 1,917,314 pdf manuals. All easily accessible for free and does not require signing up.  You can download the manual or read it online whichever you prefer.

If you have searched the internet for a manual oftentimes you can end up on a scam website that requires you to give your credit card info to get the manual.  ManualsLib.com is a safe resource to find nearly any manual ever made!  From blenders to iPhones to table saws to automobiles – this place has it all! What a great site! I searched the word drill and over 1800 manuals came up.  That is a lot of reading!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/n7b9xua, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

50 Irish Sayings

IrishSt. Patrick’s day is just around the corner!  Here are a handful of catchy and insightful Irish sayings to help spread some good luck around! Click here for more.

  • May you always have a clean shirt, a clear conscience, and enough coins in your pocket to buy a pint!
  • You must take the little potato with the big potato.
  • May you have food and raiment, a soft pillow for your head. May you be forty years in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead.
  • May the roof above you never fall in, and those gathered beneath it never fall out.
  • May you live to be 100 years, with one extra year to repent.
Image credit: https://unsplash.com/ (Irene Dávila), licensed under CC0 1.0

 

General, Public, School Media Specialist

New Learning Express content for SAT Prep

Learning Express Library LogoAre you helping students prepare for SATs? Looking for practice tests and test preparation tutorials? These are just a few examples of new content that will be added to LearningExpress Library™ in the first quarter of 2016.

Here are a few highlights, but read the full post to see all updates:

  • Test Prep for the New 2016 SAT Test
  • Sixteen (16) practice tests
  • Five (5) test preparation tutorials will be added to the College Preparation College
  • New Career Center resources
  • New eBooks added: Medical Assistant Flash Review,MCAT®: Power Practice, and new editions of EMT Flash Review, Firefighter Exam, and College Placement Math Success in 20 Minutes a Day.