Category Archives: CMLE

CMLE, Conference, Guest Blogger

CMLE Scholarship: Annual Minitex Interlibrary Loan Conference

Reflection on 26th Annual Minitex Interlibrary Loan Conference
Mary Ramacher
Access Department – ILL
SCSU Library

As a result of attending this event, can you identify and explain a few things you can use/apply to your work or practice?

Several of the things I took away from the Keynote speaker were:

  • That the library needs to not just be welcoming to employees but that it should look welcoming when you first enter the building
  • To say “yes, and” to show that you understand what someone is saying instead of “no, but” when we can’t do exactly what the patron is asking.
  • An analysis of personality styles.

Our library had a very ‘sterile’ atmosphere when you first enter the building and a few years ago we put in an electric fireplace and some comfortable seating in the front. It is one of the busiest areas of the library now, which proves the idea of being welcoming. I am looking forward to trying the more positive approach of using ‘yes and’ as opposed to ‘no but’ when helping my patrons. The personality types analysis will be very helpful too when dealing with difficult personalities.

The session on statistics by the Minitex Director was very interesting too. Our library web page will need some work so that its format adjusts to any type of device for ease of use.  She also talked about 18-24 year olds reporting ‘digital fatigue’ so our idea that students want everything electronically will need to be reevaluated.

We were also informed of some improvements to WorldShare that I will be using immediately upon returning to work in Interlibrary Loan.

Mary Ramacher

320-308-2085

Access Department – ILL

SCSU Library

CMLE, General

It’s going to be a busy summer!

At CMLE, we are always thinking about ways that we can better assist our member libraries. That means we are often brainstorming new ideas and projects! Since this can sometimes get overwhelming, we decided to create a Summer Project List! Ours looks like this:

It’s full of ideas regarding our podcast, website, member social events, plus miscellaneous chores that never seem to get done. Summer is a great time to check those items off the to-do list!
To make the whole list less intimidating, we are breaking down each month with the accompanying items. June looks like this:

We really enjoy our work connecting our member libraries, and hope all of your summers are productive as well! Feel free to stop by and visit, we’ll be happy to talk libraries or put you to work on a project 🙂

 

 

 

Advocacy, CMLE, Programs

Our Postcard Party Recap!

On Thursday, May 25 we had our first Postcard Party in the Park! (It was really TWO parties, as we hosted a lunchtime event, and another one in the evening.) It was great to see so many library people, and we collected a lot of postcards to mail to our legislators and other stakeholders. And we had a lovely day out by the river at Munsinger Clemens Gardens, with sunshine, flowers, and a surprisingly large number of rabbits dashing around. So it was a complete success!!

The story of Munsinger Clemens Gardens is a love story, as you can see in this statue of Bill and Virginia Clemens – admiring the rose garden she loved. This was the perfect setting for us to chat with our library people and to share some good library facts with stakeholders. We love libraries, and want to see them thrive!

We set up our sign, to direct traffic back to the tables where we were setting up. There are so many great things to do in this garden, we wanted to be sure our library people could find us.

We got a table all set up and ready for action before our library advocates stopped by! We brought postcards we created with library facts printed in different designs, addresses for all our state and federal legislators, some facts about libraries and their value to the community, and sample text to get everyone started in working out what to say. (It’s nice to use a postcard; you can just give a couple of facts and be done!) Not in this picture: there were also mini-cupcakes, cookies, and some healthier snack options. We know that advocacy can be hard work, so we wanted to be sure everyone was sufficiently fueled for the day ahead!

We had a steady stream of visitors to fill out postcards – and to enjoy chatting about libraries! CMLE and ECRL Board member Wendy Kafka even recruited a friend to come and do some advocacy work for libraries! It was so fun to have this chance to chat about libraries, and all the great things libraries do. All of us who work in the library field know that we provide so much value to our communities; and it is fun to have this chance to advocate and talk about our values to stakeholders who are not familiar with all our work. (Yes, a few people who were just happily visiting the gardens also got to hear about the value of libraries! They seemed pleased.)

Thanks to everyone who turned out for our first event! We had a great time, we collected a lot of postcards to mail to stakeholders, and we had such fun chatting with people about libraries!! This is the best kind of advocacy work: when we have fun, we share ideas, and we help all kinds of people to  learn more about the work we do and the incredible value we provide!

We will definitely be hosting more of these postcard parties, and want to move around our twelve-county CMLE area. Do you have a fun place we could meet to write out postcards?? We want to go there!! Email us with your suggestion, or fill out the form below, and we will get things set up!

One small advocacy fact you can use when you talk to people outside the field about our value:
For every $1 invested in Minnesota public libraries, an average of $4.2 in value is returned to the community.
That’s a pretty amazing Return on Investment (ROI)!

CMLE, Communication, Research

We really need you – for ten minutes!

The survey closes Monday,
so get in on this NOW!!!

Multilingual

We need your help! We are looking for information and experience from library people all across Minnesota – and that means you!

Below is the information about this survey; if you choose to take it, this will be given to you again on the first page.

Please take a few minutes to fill this out; and then please share it with absolutely everyone in your library, and any other library person in the state of Minnesota!

Two people will be randomly selected to each win a $30 gift card from Amazon, and everyone will be able to receive the results we find.

Thank you, in advance, for your help !!

 

Minnesota residents speak more than one hundred languages at home.

Libraries of all types are working to serve their community members, including people speaking all of these languages. Serving Emerging Bilingual community members can present some challenges to the traditional library services you are already providing, as well as bringing in new strategies and ideas for providing service to your community.

Who are Emerging Bilingual community members? They may, or may not, already be using your library. They speak languages other than English as their first language, and are learning English or speaking it fluently as a second language (or third, or fourth!).

We want to know how it is going for you! We are interested in the things that are great – successes you have had, good resources you have found, community groups you have connected with. And we want to know where you see opportunities for improvement – resources, funding, training, time, and anything else that is an obstacle to your library providing outstanding service to everyone, regardless of language. Continue reading We really need you – for ten minutes! →

CMLE, Special, Visits

A visit to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Library!

It is always fun to visit all of our member libraries; but special libraries (those focused in on specialized collections and audiences) are a special kind of fun because they tend to be organized a little differently and to have different materials than most other libraries. Hazelden was no exception! Barb Weiner showed me around the library, and graciously sat with me while I asked a million questions and we chatted about libraries.

 

You can see the special touches in this library, presenting the library as a valuable resource as well as a welcoming place to visit.  I just love this book-themed curtain separating out the work space from the public space – it’s adorable! And says that this is a nice place to visit – always an important message when encouraging people to use your library!

 

Continue reading A visit to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Library! →