Category Archives: Check this out:

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

MNLib Legislative Update: Call to Action!

**This legislative update was originally received in two emails written by Elaine Keefe, lobbyist for MLA/MEMO, slight modifications by Patricia Post** (Received on Sunday, May 12th at 11:57 p.m. & Monday, May 13th at 9:55 a.m.)

It’s crunch time.  The Legislature must adjourn on May 20 — one week from Monday!

Budget Deal:  Sunday the Governor and legislative leaders announced that they have agreed on a budget deal. The deal includes significant increases for E-12 education ($475 million) and higher education ($250 million) and a smaller cut in health & human services than legislators had proposed (a $50 million cut rather than $150 million). The school funding shift will be repaid. To pay for all of this and cover the $627 million deficit, income taxes will be increased on couples with taxable income of $250,000 and on individuals with taxable income of $150,000. Sales taxes will be expanded to some business services but not to consumer services or clothing. The cigarette tax will be increased. Details will be worked out by the various budget conference committees.

E-12 Education:  The conference committee met for the first time on Thursday (9th).  They adopted several identical provisions, including two items important to MLA/MEMO.

  1. The change in terminology from “grant” to “aid” for RLBSS and Multi-type funding
  2. Clarification that total operating capital funds can be used for computer hardware, software and annual licensing fees

Higher Education:  The conference committee will meet for the first time on Monday (13th). The funding increase for Minitex/MnINK that is included in the Senate higher ed bill but not in the House bill has a better chance now that the agreed-upon target ($250 million) is closer to the Senate target ($260 million) than the House target ($150 million).  Our Senate author, Senator Kent Eken (DFL – Twin Valley) is on the conference committee and told me he intends to fight hard for the increase included in the Senate bill.  If you haven’t yet contacted the conferees to urge them to support the increase in the Senate bill, please do so.

Legacy:  The House Legacy bill passed on the floor on Friday. The Senate Legacy bill was unveiled in the Senate Legacy Subcommittee on Thursday.  It includes $300,000 per year for the Minnesota Digital Library (the amount requested) and $1 million per year for regional public libraries.  This is a huge reduction from the $3 million per year currently allocated to regional public libraries.  Senator Dick Cohen, chair of both the Senate Finance Committee and the Legacy Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee, has historically opposed Legacy funding for libraries. His position has been that only those who advocated for the constitutional amendment should share in the funds generated.  Other recipients can be viewed as interlopers, including libraries.  Senator Cohen’s goal has been that 50% of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund is to be allocated to the State Arts Board.  Currently about 43% is allocated to the State Arts Board.  The Senate bill includes a provision requiring that in the future 50% of the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund shall be allocated to the State Arts Board.  The initial version of the Senate Legacy bill distributed the funds to regional public libraries under the RLBSS formula, as has been done the past two biennia.  I subsequently spoke with Senator Cohen and he agreed to amend the bill to change the formula in accordance with the MLAMEMO platform and to require that the funds be distributed in 10 equal payments.  That amendment was adopted on Friday and the bill was passed out of the subcomittee. It will be heard in the full Senate Finance Committee on Monday, May 13.

A number of you have contacted me this morning to ask what you can do to respond to the disappointing amount of funding for regional public libraries in the Senate Legacy bill.

  • Please contact your senators to express concern about this reduction.  Ask them to raise the issue with Senator Cohen. 
  • We are not going to change Senator Cohen’s mind.  However, if it’s clear that his Senate colleagues are unhappy about the level of funding for libraries it will be more likely that the Senate conferees will agree to the House appropriation when the bill gets to conference committee.
  • When the conference committee is named later this week, I will send out their contact information and ask you to contact them.

Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
office 651-293-0229
fax 651-293-1709
cell 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist

2013: Where Have the Media Specialists Gone?

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Some rights reserved by Taber Andrew
Some rights reserved by Taber Andrew

This is the third year I have been pulling the Minnesota Department of Education data and studying the slow decline of school library media specialists in our twelve county region. I have no answers for fixing this problem, but sharing the data is my attempt to engage people in helping me think of solutions. If there is inadequate media specialist staffing in high schools, are students going to be prepared with the skills they need to be successful in college? Will middle schoolers be prepared to do high school work, and when students have no library program at school, are they simply going to the public library for assistance? Are the public libraries funded or staffed to absorb this work on a large scale? Everyone is stretched for resources, so we all need to do our part. So, without further ado, here is data for Aitkin, Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright counties. Please use the comment field in this post as needed.

  • 53 individual schools (28 percent) in Central MN have no licensed media specialist (compared to 48 last year)
  • 25 schools (47 percent) percent of the 53 schools are middle, secondary or high schools
  • 28 elementary schools have no media specialist, yet we are hell bent on demonstrating reading proficiency by 3rd grade!
  • Fourteen of our school districts have no media specialist in any school in the district at all (compared to nine last year)
  • The great news is that 32 percent of our schools have a full time media specialist. Let’s applaud those school administrators for understanding the value of maintaining a professionally staffed media center.

CMLE will use this data in its advocacy work, in targeting its programming, and in working statewide to bring attention to this growing problem. We all need to think about how we can change this trend so that all students have the benefit of a well-maintained, relevant, and properly staffed school media center.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Retirements or Staffing Changes?

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Some rights reserved by ferasdelaing

This is the time of year we ask for your help in identifying retirements or staffing changes that will happen at the end of this academic year. Unfortunately, if we are not made aware of these changes, we often  have no way of telling that we need to make contact with  new recruits in the Fall. Sometimes locations simply fall off of our radar as a result of these communication breakdowns.  Needless to say, we also want to  give recognition to  proud retirees too! They have worked hard and deserve some recognition before the end of the year. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide about changes in your setting or in other settings. Once you give us the tip, we are happy to track down the details! Send email to cmle@stcloudstate.edu and use subject line Staffing Changes.

P.S. We would be happy to shine the light on other staff accomplishments too, so don’t be shy about sharing those too. Did someone get promoted or receive a special award?  Use the same email address, use subject line Staff Accomplishments. We will compile and share through our communication streams soon.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, Special

HSLM Workshop and Annual Meeting 2013

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Jonathan Koffel, Clinical Information Librarian at the UMN Bio-Medical Library, will be presenting a workshop on Evidence Based Practice: A Refresher for Librarians, Friday, May 31st, 2013.

The goal of the session is to help librarians solidify and expand their own evidence based practice skills. It will cover 1) Why evidence based practice is important, 2) How to interpret core statistical measures and figures and 3) How to critically appraise cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, and systematic reviews. Attendees will have the chance to work in small groups to critically appraise example articles and practice what they have learned.

Registration: This event is co-sponsored by Health Sciences Libraries of Minnesota (HSLM) and Metropolitan State University’s Library and Information Service. Free to members or $25 to join! Click here for more information or including registration.

  •  The HSLM Annual Meeting will be held in the afternoon. Beverages, a light continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

Location: Metropolitan State University Library & Learning Center Ecolab Room (Library 302), St. Paul Campus, 645 East Seventh Street St. Paul, MN 55106

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Quick Question Polls are Happening!

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Some rights reserved by
psychicdevelopmentgroup

Recently, CMLE posed three quick question polls to better inform programming and to assist in providing better networking opportunities in the region. All library staff in Aitkin, Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright counties in Minnesota received an email containing the link to the 2-3 question polls, as they are the people CMLE is funded to serve. The polls have  different goals, but they all have a few things in common. One very quick poll per week, requiring only two to three minutes to complete,  within one week. In May,  if participants include their name while completing the poll, they are entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card. The polls we have done so far include:

  • Summer Engagement and How You Use CMLE Communication Streams
  • One-to-One Initiative Plans in Central Minnesota
  • Your Professional Development Needs

We highly encourage all staff in Central Minnesota libraries to participate in the polls, as we will be making decisions on programming based in large part on data from the polls. Please make your voice heard, get your needs met, and get your name in the drawing too!  There is no fee to be a CMLE member, and almost all of our services are available at no charge. If you work in a library or media center in any of the mentioned counties, consider yourself a CMLE member!