Get all the information about this year’s award ceremony on their home page! “Winners for 2023 will be announced Tuesday, May 2 in a live Ceremony at the Ordway.”

“About the Minnesota Book Awards

The Minnesota Book Awards is a year-long program that connects readers and writers throughout Minnesota with the stories of our neighbors.

The process begins in the fall with book submissions and continues through winter with two rounds of judging. Winners are announced at the annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony each spring. Woven throughout the season are various activities and events that promote the authors and connect the world of Minnesota books – writers, artists, illustrators, publishers, editors, and more – to readers throughout the state.

• 6:00 p.m. – Preface Meet the finalists and mingle with your fellow book lovers. Enjoy book sales and signing and a cash bar.  

• 7:30 p.m. – Awards Ceremony Awards are presented to winners in nine categories and to the recipient of the Kay Sexton award, with special guests. The Ceremony will include ASL interpretation and live captioning

• .9:00 p.m. – Epilogue Celebrate with friends, buy featured books, and grab a treat when you leave.Learn more about the finalists and their books here. 

You can find all of the finalists here!

• Children’s Literature, sponsored by Bernadette Janisch
• General Nonfiction, sponsored by The Duchess Harris Collection
• Genre Fiction, sponsored by Macalester College
• Memoir & Creative Nonfiction, sponsored by Bradshaw Celebration of Life Centers
• Middle Grade Literature, sponsored by Education Minnesota
• Emilie Buchwald Award for Minnesota Nonfiction, sponsored by Annette and John Whaley
• Novel & Short Story, sponsored by Jeff Janisch
• Poetry, sponsored by Wellington Management, Inc.
• Young Adult Literature, sponsored by Expedition Credit Union

It’s a tough time for libraries, and people in customer service. And while we don’t want to veer into any toxic positivity, it is good to spend a little time focused on building your happiness level. We are not going to solve people’s serious mental issues here. But bringing some happiness skills to your week can be helpful to everyone!

Mondays can be a little hard, even when things are going fine. Use this small injection of a happiness skill to your week. We are here to support you, and to help you to be a little happier in the library.

We have talked about individual happiness strategies here, and they are important. This week we are looking at the idea of happiness across an entire workplace.

Check out this excerpt from the article Workplace Happiness: Is It Possible?

“Happy workplaces enhance employees’ outcomes. When the vibe is friendly, work no longer feels like a burden, but a place where to feel valued. Below are some reasons why having a happy workplace is important for any company:

1. Business Success: A happy workplace is one where employees support each other and are open about their vulnerabilities – a key component of business success. Mistakes are not being hidden and failures are often seen as opportunities. Both business and employees benefit from a happy workspace.

2. Motivation: More energy and optimism can be seen when employees enjoy their work. Individuals feel driven to perform their daily tasks and are open to receiving feedback. Happy employees are more likely to see feedback as an opportunity for growth and development. 

3. Health Improves: Happiness also boosts people’s immune systems. Therefore, happy employees mean it’ll be less likely that people will call in due to sickness. Fewer call-ins mean greater productivity and stronger financial gains. 

4. Creativity Upsurges: People become even more creative when they are feeling happy. They will want to innovate, explore new initiatives, make their voices be heard, and give their best. It’s very unlikely that something original can arise from an unhappy mental state. 

5. Teamwork: Employees will start engaging with each other more as a team if the workplace encourages happiness. A happy workplace always denotes healthier communication. Employees will interact on a better level amongst themselves and also with customers. This is an even more important feature for salespeople.

6. Learning From Mistakes: Hiding mistakes often involves losing time, money, energy, and other resources. Workplace happiness is key to avoid this pitfall. Happy employees are more likely to praise each other, give feedback, and learn from the mistakes made. Unhappy employees, on the other hand, may see feedback as criticism and might end up frustrated.  “

CMLE can be part of your support network; we are here for you, and support you in your library work. Take a nice deep breath in, and whoosh it out; it’s going to be okay today.

Libraries are wonderful places for an amazing array of services to happen Sure, we have books – we’re known for that. But our real business is in information. And we know that it’s valuable to bring in other people to provide expert information when our patrons need that access. So many people need access to mental health services, but do not have a way to get that help. Now, in a few Chicago area public libraries, they will have that chance.

Check out this article excerpt, and read the whole thing here.

“The city’s health department is now offering mental health services in some Chicago libraries.

The program is part of the Department of Public Health’s work to expand its mental health work in all of Chicago’s 77 community areas, according to a news release. The agency’s mental health clinicians will be able to serve people 13 and older regardless of their ability to pay, insurance or immigration status.

For now, the program is limited to four libraries.

• 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays at the Mount Greenwood branch, 11010 S. Kedzie Ave.
• 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays at the Beverly branch, 1962 W. 95th St.
• 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays at the Blackstone branch, 4904 S. Lake Park Ave.
• Noon-8 p.m. Tuesdays at the Edgewater branch, 6000 N. Broadway

The health department picked those branches because they’re in areas where there are not many no-barrier mental health providers, according to its news release.

Residents who want to be connected to services at those branches can speak to a librarian there or call the health department’s mental health resources line at 312-747-1020.”

Thank you for joining us again on our book group and Reader’s advisory podcast! 

We are here to talk about books and share library ideas!

This season we are exploring all new ideas for books and book suggestions, so you can expand your reading horizons, and share more information with your library community. We are looking at prompts from the 2023 PopSugar reading challenge this season. You can read along with their challenge, linked in our show notes, or just enjoy some different books. 

This week our books all have a color in the title! Sometimes the colors are relevant to the storyline, and sometimes they are just fun things to enjoy. Feel free to wear your favorite colored items while we all enjoy this week’s books.

Check out our show notes page for links to our beverages, our resources, and the books we share today.

Libraries are always opposed to book banning. And the increasing number of pathetic little people who are so triumphant over their ability to have a tantrum in public over the mission of libraries to have books available to all people is just beyond sad.

It’s great to see libraries working with their community members to resist these few noisy little minds – to support what most people actually want: the freedom to read what we want, when we want it. Check out this article excerpt below, and you can read the whole article here.

“In the face of an alarming rise in book bans across the country, the San Francisco Public Library is taking matters into its own hands—by hosting its first-ever Freedom To Learn Summit led by the literary organization PEN America, which strives to protect free expression. 

The March 25 summit, created specifically for high school students, includes thematic workshops and activities aimed to equip teens with skills to combat book-banning and educational censorship. 

“Young people should have access to a broad array of materials,” said Naomi Jelks, racial equity manager at the SFPL. “Most of the books that are challenged deal with Black and LGBTQ+ life, and that’s no coincidence.” 

Curriculum—and school environments—have become a battleground in the ongoing culture wars, most recently with Florida’s ban on an AP African American Studies course, which led to intense backlash. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been at the forefront of the censorship movement in the Sunshine State, championing 2022’s Stop W.O.K.E law, which forbids everything from the 1619 Project to the teaching of “critical race theory,” which is not actually taught in most K-12 schools but has become a code word for any teachings about racial injustice in the U.S.

Yet Florida is not the only state to increasingly rely on bans to muzzle freedom of speech. Eighteen states have passed laws restricting the teaching of race-related education, as the subject of critical race theory—an academic theory once limited mostly to university classrooms—became a flashpoint.”

Read the whole article here!