Category Archives: Books

Books, Programs

Spotlight Program: Innovative Book Displays!

At CMLE, we so enjoy all our different types of libraries, archives, and other members! Seeing all the work you are doing is so inspiring; and we want to return the favor by helping you to find some of the great programming going on around the profession.

Each week we will share an interesting program we find. It may inspire you to do exactly the same thing; or to try something related; or just to try out some different programming ideas. (Check out our podcast episode on Library Programming; you can tune in here! Or, of course, subscribe or stream to enjoy any of the episodes!)

This week we are thinking about  great book displays! You can sign into Pinterest and see all kinds of great pictures to give you some other fun ideas to try in your library or archive.

I just love this photo from the Lacey Timberland Library! As a librarian, of course I have very low tolerance for banning books – especially for completely ridiculous reasons. This sign brings into the light some of these calls, so people can see them and think about the importance of freely accessible books and information. If you browse around Pinterest for other photos from this library, you will find all kinds of great displays!

Want more inspiration? Angie collected a bunch of great resources for you! Book displays are fun, because there is no “bad” way to do it. You just want materials to get into the hands of someone who wants to enjoy it – try something today, and see what happens!

You know that putting together book displays takes time and creativity. Some days, you are just not feeling it! When that happens, it’s handy to have some guidelines to help stimulate good ideas. Here is an article you can use to make your displays fun, useful, and to get those materials flying off the shelves: Twenty Rules for Better Book Displays by Susan Brown.

You want to use displays to help you fulfill your basic mission: Connecting your materials to your community.

We would absolutely love to see your displays! If you have a really small one, if you have a massive one, if your display is somewhere in between those – take a picture and send it to us! We want to feature some of our members in an upcoming article, so help us out.

Books

Book Suggestions: Girls Made of Snow and Glass

We love to read books, and to talk about books. Check out our entire series here! Need more book chatting and suggestions in your life? Listen to our Books and Beverages podcast!

I love retellings of fairy tales, so when I heard about this book being marketed as a “feminist fantasy reimagining of Snow White” of course I was interested!

So far I’m really enjoying the book (hurrying to finish so I avoid an overdue fine!) and the setting of a chilly castle trapped in the season of winter fits perfectly with our Minnesota weather. The two main characters are strong and determined to discover their own identities despite lots of obstacles, some of them magic-related. There’s definitely a sense of something ominous coming and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
“Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.”

 

 

 

Books

Book Suggestion Series: A Curious Beginning

We love to read books, and to talk about books. Check out our entire series here! Need more book chatting and suggestions in your life? Listen to our Books and Beverages podcast!

I’m kicking myself over this book.

I bought a copy of this book nearly two years ago, when it was on sale at Audible.com. It sounded good (British historical fiction is one of my genres!), but I had a bunch of books on my To Be Read (TBR) pile, and it got shuffled down the list until I kind of forgot about it.

But then I was going through my Audible library to find a good book, and this was just sitting there – unread. I downloaded it, started it, and was immediately hooked! As soon as I finished it, I went to the site and used a full credit to buy the next one – because I so wanted to know what happened next!

Don’t make my mistake! If smart, independent women who kick ass, and who find equally smart, independent men to work with to solve mysteries in 1887 London is your thing – grab this! (If you are a butterfly collector, or a fan of science – that’s only going to help.)

A Curious Beginning (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) “London, 1887. As the city prepares to celebrate Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, Veronica Speedwell is marking a milestone of her own. After burying her spinster aunt, the orphaned Veronica is free to resume her world travels in pursuit of scientific inquiry—and the occasional romantic dalliance. As familiar with hunting butterflies as she is fending off admirers, Veronica wields her butterfly net and a sharpened hatpin with equal aplomb, and with her last connection to England now gone, she intends to embark upon the journey of a lifetime.

But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron with ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker—a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant, wary partners in search of the villainous truth. “

Books, Programs

Spotlight Program: Classic Colorado Ski Descents

At CMLE, we so enjoy all our different types of libraries, archives, and other members! Seeing all the work you are doing is so inspiring; and we want to return the favor by helping you to find some of the great programming going on around the profession.

Each week we will share an interesting program we find. It may inspire you to do exactly the same thing; or to try something related; or just to try out some different programming ideas. (Check out our podcast episode on Library Programming; you can tune in here! Or, of course, subscribe or stream to enjoy any of the episodes!)

Freestyle skiing jump2

Last week we looked at a summer program, dreaming about warm weather; this week we embrace the winter with an author talk about downhill skiing!

Minnesota is filled with all kinds of great outdoor activities, and people who love to be outside in the winter – consider bringing one of them to your library to have a good time for everyone!

“LONGMONT, Colo. – You might say that Jon Kedrowski, PhD., has an affinity for mountains. He has summited all 55 of Colorado’s Fourteeners, 20 Cascade volcanoes, including Mount Rainier, and, of course, Mount Everest. But Dr. Kedrowski doesn’t just climb mountains; he skis them, too. His latest book, Classic Colorado Ski Descents, recounts Dr. Kedrowski’s achievement as the first person – according to the Denver Post – to climb and ski each of Colorado’s 14,000’ peaks in one winter and spring ski season.  In his upcoming return to the Longmont Public Library on Wednesday, December 13, from 7 to 8 pm, he’ll share those experiences, stories, and lessons learned with Longmont readers.

Dr. Kedrowski’s new guidebook, Classic Colorado Ski Descents, showcases 70 ski options on Fourteeners and Thirteeners, as well as easily accessible mountain passes and locales, with routes that range from peaks with gentle terrain, to tree glades, endless powder, ridgelines, steep faces, and couloirs. In addition to discussing preparation, gear selection, planning and weather/snowpack for skiing in the backcountry, Dr. Kedrowski will summarize the best of the 300 different ski routes and ski descents showcased in his book. Each peak description includes skiable vertical, elevation gain, and roundtrip mileage, as well as easy-to-follow directions to the trailhead.

Born and raised in Vail, Dr. Kedrowski cut his teeth early on some big mountains, which prepared him for some of the more extreme outcomes of his adventures.  In 2012, Dr. Kedrowski summited Mount Everest on May 26, just six days after one of the deadliest days in Everest history, when four climbers died near the summit.  Dr. Kedrowski’s summit was featured on the DatelineNBC documentary, “Into the Death Zone,” which won a 2014 Edward R. Murrow Award. Later, in April 2015, he was at the Everest basecamp again when the Nepal earthquake struck, causing avalanches on the mountain and injuring nearly 100 people.  Dr. Kedrowski was not injured and was able to help with recovery efforts as well as gather data for the USGS about the earthquake.

Join Dr. Kedrowski at the Library as he shares stories from his adventures skiing Colorado’s classic backcountry terrain and some of his favorites from his new guidebook published by the Colorado Mountain Club Press/Mountaineers Books. The goal is to send each aspiring ski mountaineer in the audience home with new backcountry skiing objectives and stoke for a new season approaching!”

Books

Episode 108: Humor

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Welcome, everyone, to Books and Beverages! This week we are discussing Humor books!

Check out our full information page for recipes, drink pictures, and all the books from this episode.

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we support all types of libraries. This is our book group podcast, where we discuss different genres of books each week, while we all sit in our comfy chairs and drink our beverages. And you are, of course, an important part of this book group. So if you do not already have a nice beverage please go get one, so you can join the experience.

This week our Guest Host is Kelly Groth, from Great River Public Library System!

This genre is a tough one because it’s hard to know what is funny. What makes me roll on the floor laughing may leave you mildly amused. So when we find books many of us think are funny, it’s worth grabbing onto that book! We have several lists of suggestions on our website; so if you need more suggestions, check them out!

This is another genre that overlaps easily in many other areas. You can find humor books in graphic novels. Humor can be fiction or non-fiction; and a lot of books labeled as humor are biographies of funny people. It can be scifi (think John Scalzi), thrillers, history, romance, and even literary fiction. As long as it makes you laugh, you have a winner on your hands!