People usually are vaguely familiar with the idea of subscription boxes – you can sign up to get new beauty products, wine or beer, or even vinyl that is picked out and delivered to you each month. But at CMLE, we were excited to discover that subscription book boxes are becoming very popular!
This article from NPR goes into detail about a few of the subscription services like LitJoy and Owlcrate, even describing the contents of several boxes for the month of December. And each box contains some really cool stuff – all things book-loving people would enjoy. Get a visual sneak peek by following Litjoy, Owlcrate, and Uppercase on Instagram (and while you’re there, follow CMLE too!)
Do you subscribe to a monthly box delivery, book-related or not? We are curious, share with us in the comments!
Does the idea of food and library talk together make you excessively happy??
Us too!!
One of the most frequent requests we have received from members is to have more opportunities to gather and talk informally. Many of you are alone in your libraries, and everyone likes to make connections across the system.
As we close out an interesting 2016, CMLE is moving ahead with our book groups! If you have time over your holiday celebrations, you might check out our latest additions to our book groups. As always, this is a low-key opportunity to read books; so read and join in the comments, read the discussion questions, or just read the book and thing thoughts to yourself and chat with your colleagues about the latest picks. Whatever works best for you is fine! (We are library people; we just like to read!)
It seemed like a good choice for January, when many of us are working on our New Year’s resolutions, and thinking about ways to improve our work lives. Dale Carnegie’s book is a classic, and can help to jump-start all of us in making new relationships.At CMLE Headquarters, building relationships around our system, and across the profession, is our main goal! So let’s all make this a part of our daily work.
Of course, we also have a “for fun” book selection in the Enjoying Books group. This month we are going with The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman.
As always, our book pick has a librarian as the main character. We are moving through different genres each month, and in this literary fiction book you have the chance to look at all kinds of imagery of fire and ice. Have you read any of her other books? It would be interesting to see what kinds of themes and symbolism carry over across her many novels!
Enjoy your holiday! Enjoy your reading! And come back to us in January – ready to do some great library work!!
Many of you are working on coding projects in your libraries; this is your chance to tell other people about the work you are doing! Sharing this kind of information with the larger library community helps you (you look cool!) and it helps others to get ideas and stay informed! You know that technology changes so quickly, it’s hard to keep up. This kind of sharing is a great way to do that.
So we are sharing this call for papers with you. If you want CMLE Headquarters to help you bounce around ideas, or to look at your drafts with you, or whatever else you need – we are here to help!! Continue reading Code4Libraries→
This month we are working through a variety of strategies to help build your reliance to stress, and to manage your workplace stress levels. Your sense of sound is a powerful one; and with some thoughtful strategies, you can use that to help reduce the stress you feel at work.
We have looked at using ambient noise as a strategy for helping you to be more focused and effective at work.Building on that now gives you some tools to specifically feel more relaxed as you listen. Everyone has different preferences, so what makes you feel calm might irritate other people in your office. So use headphones if you need to keep things quiet, but try to build in some time to listen to soothing sounds when things start to build up at work
One tool you might enjoy is the website Noisli. “Noisli is here to make you more focused and boost your productivity. A background noise generator that helps you drown out annoying noises and that lets you create your perfect environment for working and relaxing. You can mix different sounds and create your perfect sound environment tailored to your personal need and taste.” I enjoy mixing in ocean waves, crackling fire, and just a hint of wind. Noisli can be used on your computer, or with an app on your phone. You can also enjoy the changing colors on the background, if you are watching the site. Continue reading Audio stress management tools→
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