This would be a great resource for our school library members to share with all of your students! It’s so nice to have a Minnesota author for this, reading a popular book – especially as EVERYONE can get access to an e-copy!!
“Thanks to Minitex — a division of the University of Minnesota Libraries — anyone who doesn’t already own the book or is unable to access a physical copy, can use it for the next eight weeks via Minitex’ Ebooks Minnesota platform.
A book conversation with DiCamillo and Lisa Von Drasek
In honor of DiCamillo, we offer this 2014 conversation between the author and Lisa Von Drasek, Curator of the U of M Libraries’ Children’s Literature Research Collections (CLRC). DiCamillo has donated her drafts and works to the Kerlan Collection, one of several collections that make up the CLRC at the University of Minnesota.
About One Book | One Minnesota
During the months of April and May, Minnesotans are invited to read the book, and will have access to author videos, reading guides, and virtual book club discussions. All Minnesotans will be invited to participate in a statewide virtual discussion with the author in May. Additional books are expected to be announced soon.
About Ebooks Minnesota
Ebooks Minnesota is an online ebook collection for all Minnesotans. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects for readers of all ages, and features content from our state’s independent publishers, including some of our best literature and nonfiction. Ebooks Minnesota is a joint project of Minitex — a division of the University of Minnesota Libraries with funding through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education — and the Minnesota Department of Education, State Library Services. The collection was made possible in part by funding from the Minnesota Department of Education through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.”
We pick a new genre each week to chat about and hopefully provide you with some insight into what may be an unfamiliar genre!
This week we’re excited to explore a very popular genre: High Fantasy! We are so pleased to welcome new Guest Host Eric from the Great River Regional Public Library!
Each week we like to connect the theme of our books with our beverages.
Today we have drinks from the blog The
Sword and Torch Inn. They warn: “The drinking feats mentioned in this list
are not recommended in real life unless you happen to be an Orc barbarian or a
half dragon.” We are sipping slowly and taking our chances!
We have been chatting with members about the work they are doing during this time of pandemic. And, not surprising: it is a LOT of different things!
We are sharing a few stories here from different libraries. I’ve removed the names and schools from these reports; but if you see something you want to ask about, I will put you in touch with the library staffers who are doing the work!
And we really want to keep gathering information on library work! We want to record you chatting with us about your library experience. Let’s take about ten minutes or so, and do a Zoom chat. You can email us at admin @ cmle . org.
And also just email in reports about your library. The more information we can share across all our libraries, the better informed we will all be on what to do next.
We will also be sending out a survey to our school library members, so be looking for that!
“I have been working a lot to support teachers that are making the transition to teaching online. Helping them learn how to navigate Google Classroom, Flipgrid and other sources. I have been one of the key go-to people in my building. I’m also not working on creating a Tech Toolbox for our youngest students (5th grade), to help them with technology they are still learning. I’ve been both tech support and integration support.
On top of that I’ve been trying to still find ways to promote literature and reading. I’m gathering resources, sharing with teachers and running my own Google Classroom and Google Site to share with as many students as I can.
Lastly – on the first day of distance learning – I was the contact given to parents for any issues that arose. I helped the parents I could help and filtered the rest to the people that could help them. My admin then used all that to help decide what needed to be changed or taught etc in our distance learning. Of course I was only one part of those decisions, but I helped give information to help with those decisions.”
” Created a “virtual library” that is full of resources for students/families to utilize to gain access to books, activities (I added your link), and other literacy-related things.
I do three school news broadcasts a week to keep our students, staff, and community connections strong. My broadcast certainly has a social-emotional focus.
We do a weekly photo contest, a weekly Flipgrid sharing opportunity, messages from our administration, a social-emotional video/meditation piece, digital Rock Star nominations for student recognition, and a weekly Tech Tip. Students are collaborating with me, too.
Right now I am planning a digital talent show.
I do a couple of book clubs through Google Meet.
I answer questions in regards to book recommendations and resources from students and staff.
I have Google Meets and keep connected with my advisory group.”
“We have turned off any automatic emails that told parents books were overdue. We actually had teachers check out books for their students so when families came to pick up belongings, they’d have books to read. With that said, we aren’t sure how or when we’ll be able to collect books.
We are currently trying to inventory, but with so many books off the shelves, we aren’t getting an accurate inventory.
We are sharing lots of ebook options with families and teachers, but would love to be able to get paper books into kids’ hands, we just aren’t sure how to do that or if that’s a smart idea (in terms of books lost, budgets, etc.–we obviously know it’s always smart to give kids books). “
“*working with district tech to provide Chromebooks to students,
*increasing the number of digital books available through Sora for middle school and high school students*sharing online resources (i.e. TrueFlix, PebbleGo) with staff at various buildings
*wrapping up Maud Hart Lovelace and Star of the North programs at elementary schools and middle school
*creating Resources from the Media Center webpages at the elementary schools
*communicating with Media Center paraprofessionals and admin about Media Center happenings and resources
*providing items for principals’ weekly newsletters (this week I will be promoting the new book club, One Book One Minnesota)
*working with paraprofessionals on updating/cleaning up items in Follett
*drafting up a plan for curbside pickup if the closure continues beyond May 4
“I have had both positive and negative experiences during distance learning. A good thing about distance learning is I have been forced to finally spend some quality time promoting our digital collection and resources to staff and students. I do this regularly with our databases, but I am now curating ebook reading lists for students and highlighting ebooks that teachers can use in their distance lessons. I have also spent more time working on social media outreach to students in addition to using our school platforms to promote our digital collection.
A negative impact of distance learning has been the closure of our print collection for student checkout. Based on the usage statistics I can see for our digital collection, not many students are engaging with our ebooks. I am sad that students are not reading as much as they were when buildings were open. Our print collections are so important. They provide access to reading material for every student in our building–no internet, device, or public library card needed. Our print collections eliminate barriers to reading for so many students.”
“Writing – articles for the local area Chamber of Commerce magazine, Facebook posts for our Museum page, editing articles for the SHM newsletter.
Metadata cleanup on digital images recently added to our collection.
Creating new biographical and subject files for the Research Center.
Still helping patrons over email. Patron requests include: historic image search, a request for a copy of a plat map, creating family history charts, help identifying a photo, and genealogy research.”
Each week we assemble a collection – a bouquet, if you will – of books you can read for yourself, or use to build into a display in your library. As always, the books we link to have info from Amazon.com. If you click a link and then buy anything at all from Amazon, we get a small percent of their profits from your sale. Yay!!! Thanks!!! We really appreciate the assistance! 💕😊
We may not be following maps to hidden treasure anytime soon, but we can at least read about it! This week, enjoy books that feature maps!
Henry’s Map by David Elliot “Henry is a very particular sort of pig. “A place for everything and everything in its place,” he always says. But when he looks out his window he is troubled. The farm is a mess! Henry is worried that nobody will be able to find anything in this mess. So he draws a map showing all the animals exactly where they belong. And Henry embarks on a journey through the farm, his friends tagging along as he creates his map: sheep in the woolshed, chickens in the coop, the horse in the stable. After the map is complete, Henry uses it to bring himself back home, where he is relieved to know that he is exactly where he belongs. A place for everything and everything in its place, indeed.”
My Map Book by Sara Fanelli “In each spread of this bold and humorous picture book, children can examine their place in the world around them through detailed and engaging maps that are drawn from a child’s perspective. Twelve beautifully illustrated maps, such as Map of My Day and Map of My Family, will fascinate children, teaching about both mapping and telling one’s story.”
Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton “In the ancient river kingdom, touch is a battlefield, bodies the instruments of war. Seventeen-year-old Mia Rose has pledged her life to hunting Gwyrach: women who can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood. Not women. Demons. The same demons who killed her mother without a single scratch. But when Mia’s father suddenly announces her marriage to the prince, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Only after the wedding goes disastrously wrong does she discover she has dark, forbidden magic—the very magic she has sworn to destroy.”
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer “Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope. Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s pulled into a magical world.”
The Map As Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography by Katherine Harmon “Maps can be simple tools, comfortable in their familiar form. Or they can lead to different destinations: places turned upside down or inside out, territories riddled with marks understood only by their maker, realms connected more to the interior mind than to the exterior world. These are the places of artists’ maps, that happy combination of information and illusion that flourishes in basement studios and downtown galleries alike. It is little surprise that, in an era of globalized politics, culture, and ecology, contemporary artists are drawn to maps to express their visions. Using paint, salt, souvenir tea towels, or their own bodies, map artists explore a world free of geographical constraints.”
The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson “From Steven Johnson, the dynamic thinker routinely compared to James Gleick, Dava Sobel, and Malcolm Gladwell, The Ghost Map is a riveting page-turner about a real-life historical hero, Dr. John Snow. It’s the summer of 1854, and London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure—garbage removal, clean water, sewers—necessary to support its rapidly expanding population, the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure. As the cholera outbreak takes hold, a physician and a local curate are spurred to action—and ultimately solve the most pressing medical riddle of their time. In a triumph of multidisciplinary thinking, Johnson illuminates the intertwined histories and inter-connectedness of the spread of disease, contagion theory, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, offering both a riveting history and a powerful explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.”
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
In this week’s discussion, we are exploring the Blue Mounds State Park. It was established in 1937.
Prickly pear cactus blooms here in June and July. Enjoy a book with cactus plants, or other blooming plants.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all – including a nice book – Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
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