Category Archives: CMLE

Books in the Spotlight: Astronomy

Sometimes CMLE will highlight several books that have some factor in common. We hope they will give you ideas for your collection, or influence an activity, lesson plan, or display!

Since last weekend was Earth Day, and Astronomy Day is just around the corner on April 29th, we thought it would be fun to highlight a few books and activities that focus on planets, moons, stars, and space!

  • Read all about constellations:
    Once Upon a Starry Night by Jacqueline Mitton, illustrated by Christina Balit
    “Take an illuminating ride through the starry night sky, and learn how the heavens pay tribute to the gods of Greek and Roman mythology. Once Upon a Starry Night explains the ten ancient figures whose legends are written large across the universe. Every page shines with Christina Balit’s vibrant art, studded with shiny stars, and provides the perfect backdrop to Jacqueline Mitton’s poetic text.”

Be inspired by the book to make some marshmallow constellations!

Continue reading Books in the Spotlight: Astronomy

Join Us: Postcard Party in the Park!

Clemens Gardens

Are you ready for spring and beautiful flowers?

Do you love talking about libraries?

Us too!!

We are hosting a Postcard Party in the Park, and you are invited! (You, your family, friends, neighbors, polite strangers you met on the street – it’s a very inclusive invitation!)

CMLE HQ will provide postcards and addresses; you can write out quick notes to your stakeholders to tell them about libraries; and we will mail them. Quick and easy advocacy in action!

Thursday,  May 18 from 11:00 to 1:00 we will be sitting at tables behind the Gift Shop at the Munsinger Clemens Gardens. Bring your lunch; we will provide snacks, postcards, pens, and addresses for your legislators. Beverages are available for purchase at the Gift Shop, and water fountains are nearby.

After our poll on the best day for this event, we have added a second time. We will also be there from 4:30 to 6:30 that afternoon. Stop by on your way home from work, or bring a sack dinner and enjoy the beautiful gardens, and the river! Snacks and postcards will again be available to everyone who attends. Continue reading Join Us: Postcard Party in the Park!

Thursday is CMLE Library Snapshot Day!

Coll. Marcè CL - Polaroid land camera Mod 95 1948

You already know that here at CMLE Headquarters, we love nothing more than gushing about the work our libraries do. Now we want to have some visuals we can use to show off libraries!

And thus: Our first CMLE Library Snapshot Day!

Thursday, take photos in your library of the things you have, the programs you provide, materials on the shelves, staffers hard at work (ask their permission first, please!) – whatever goes into making your library a wonderful resource. No need to do anything special; we want to see a typical day in the life of our libraries.

This is part of a national program, where people in libraries across the country take photos to show off their libraries. We do not all do this on the same day; but the results can be exciting to view as a big group, and can be powerful tools in showing stakeholders the range and diversity of the work we do in libraries!

From ALA: “Holding a library snapshot day is a simple way to prove that libraries provide invaluable services to our communities.” We agree that all our libraries  across CMLE – school, academic, public, and special – are providing invaluable services, and we want to show it!

You can email photos to us; or if you have social media and want to share photos there, just tag them with #CMLEPhotos. We will collect photos, and add them to our website.

What if you miss it on Thursday? We will still be happy to take your photos from this week and display them!

We are looking forward to seeing the great work you are doing!

Rescheduled: Sign up for our next CMLE Group Library Visit!

This group visit has been rescheduled to Tuesday, May 9th at 2PM! We hope you can join us!!

It has been great to visit our member libraries, with groups of CMLE members (and fans! all are welcome) – and we will keep up this program!! We are working on visiting all types of libraries, as we are a multitype system. We have much more in common in services and programs and materials, than the small differences in the focus of our different libraries.

Our next visit will be to the Buffalo High School. We will tour this library on Tuesday, May 9th at 2:00. As always, we understand if people are coming from work and other obligations; so feel free to come a little late or depart early.

We will have two cars leaving from CMLE Headquarters, and you are welcome to ride with us if you would like to do that. There is plenty of parking here, where you can leave your car.

You may remember that CMLE has already had one visit to this library – and it was a lot of fun!

We would love to see all of you there, and will have a report back for anyone who is not able to make it. If there is interest, we may go have a late lunch/snack/chatting time after this visit. It’s always good to have a chance to see each other in person, and we should take advantage of it!

It’s not in the library, but it is a cool welcome to the building!
Are joining us for our Buffalo High School visit?(required)

Would you like to go out afterward for snacking and talking?

 

 

 

 

Looking for some professional development opportunities?

It’s so important to learn new things in our library careers, or to attend conferences and interact with other library people doing similar work! If you’ve been feeling the need to network or to update some of your professional skills, make sure to keep your eyes on CMLE’s Continuing Education calendar!

The calendar is located on our Continuing Education page, which features a Google calendar that is updated daily with new learning opportunities. We include a variety of events like webinars, online courses, in-person conferences, workshops, and yes, even free opportunities!

The page also has links to organizations like Library Juice, TIES, and the AASL’s eAcademy that offer their own training and development opportunities.

And don’t forget CMLE offers scholarships! Apply for one today!