Welcome to the 2016 Learning Zone Minecraft Oceans Competition!
The goal is to build the best model of the Sentinel-3 or Jason-3 ocean-monitoring satellites, or get creative and design your own satellite and/or ocean monitoring system with buoys, automatic robots etc.
For the first category, we will provide you with 3D views of the Sentinel-3 and Jason-3 satellites, for you to recreate in Minecraft. Build one, two or both, the choice is yours!
For the second category, the sky is literally the limit! Go crazy thinking up an interesting design for your ocean monitoring satellite.
Show us what it can do and why and you can even design your own ocean monitoring system using the image of the Global Ocean Observing System as your inspiration.
In response to member requests, CMLE is going to set up a regular monthly gathering. This will be an opportunity for members from all types of libraries and from across the system to get together casually, to chat, to have lunch or dinner, and to just get a chance to talk to each other in person. (And if you want to talk about non-library things, that’s fine too! This is your chance to just hang out with library colleagues; so discuss whatever you want!)
Click to tell us what time (lunch/dinner) and day (Monday – Friday) would work best for you. Right now Wednesday dinner time is leading the voting, so be sure to chime in if that is not a good day/time for you! We anticipate these will happen monthly, and will create a schedule for the first six months of 2017 to share with you.
While you can not know your schedule in detail for the next six months, we ask that you make some predictions about days and times that you think you would be most likely to be able to join colleagues for an hour or two. We will move the location around, so people from across the system can all have a chance at a shorter drive!
Pick your day and time. And if you have suggestions on some public places to meet – think coffee, food, possibly adult beverages, and space for us to spread out – leave them below, or email them to us at admin@cmle.org!
Contact: Anne Holland, 720-974-5876
Community Engagement Manager
aholland@spacescience.org
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Provides Public Libraries 1.26 Million Solar Viewing Glasses for the 2017 Solar Eclipse
BOULDER, Colo.–December 16, 2016– The Space Science Institute (SSI) was awarded a grant from the Moore Foundation that will provide 1.26 million solar viewing glasses and other resources for 1,500 public libraries across the nation. They will serve as centers for eclipse education and viewing for their communities. The libraries will be selected through a registration process managed by the STAR Library Education Network (STAR_Net) and its NASA@ My Library project. The project team includes staff at SSI’s National Center for Interactive Learning. The Project Director is Dr. Paul Dusenbery (Director of NCIL). Andrew Fraknoi (Chair of the Astronomy Department, Foothill College), Dennis Schatz (Senior Advisor, Pacific Science Center), and Douglas Duncan (Director of the University of Colorado’s Fiske Planetarium) are co-directors. Continue reading Get glasses for the Great American Eclipse!→
Calling All Kid Filmmakers! The deadline to submit films for the 2016-2017 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is January 7, 2017. Make sure you complete and send those films in! The third annual Minnesota screening of the best local entries is on Saturday, February 25, 2017, 3-4:30 p.m., at Hennepin County Library – Minneapolis Central. Mark your calendars and make your free reservation for the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. Co-hosts of the event will be James Kennedy (90-Second Newbery founder and middle grade author of The Order of Odd-Fish) and Kelly Barnhill (Minneapolis author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon). Please download and print a promotional poster to help spread the word about this popular event. For more details, please contact Jen Verbrugge(651-582-8356).
Tax Season Is Rapidly Approaching – Order Outreach Materials Today Your library probably receives at least a few questions about taxes during the tax season. State Library Services is working again with Prepare + Prosper’s statewide outreach campaign, Claim it!, and the Department of Revenue to provide your library with free resources and an informational webinar.
Order outreach materials from Prepare + Prosper for your library to help individuals find out if they qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and to help them locate a free tax preparation site. Place your 2017 Claim it! order today to receive these free materials in time for tax season.
Animals can be great antidote to workplace stress!
Watching fish swim, patting a kitty, walking with a dog – it can all help to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and diminish the symptoms of anxiety. Ahhhh….what could be nicer?
If your library has a fish tank, or a resident cat, or a therapy dog who visits and wouldn’t mind taking a break from listening to kids read so she can listen to librarians talk about their day – you are set! If you don’t have one at hand, there are plenty of other ways to watch some relaxing fish. Many aquariums have live cams, where you can enjoy watching some fish swimming all over the world!
