A quick update on the CMLE travel bug progress! We have dropped another travel bug – this one in Quarry Park near St Cloud.
This TB is called “Libraries Rock” and is hidden in a very nice cache just off a trail in the park. You can go out there, and hunt for the Cable Merger cache, find this travel bug, blow bubbles with it if you wish, and then take it to its next location – preferably near a library!
We are always looking for tools to share information, to connect with library people, and to just enjoy it all! We hope you will get involved in caching and finding – or placing – caches and travel bugs, in your library or elsewhere. Go enjoy yourself, and find some caches!
Banned Books Week has come and gone – and we are looking forward to next year! But the issue of censorship regarding the books that young people are able to read continue all year long. This great article from boingboing.net shares that, “Some of the most frequently challenged books are the very books that young readers say are especially important and meaningful to them.”
Adults tend to worry about kids being exposed to ideas or beliefs that differ from their own. They also worry about allowing young people access to books that feature content such as sexuality, racial and ethnicity issues, violence, drugs, body image, and more. However, as the article claims, this controversial content can actually help kids and young people learn, empathize, and grow.
The authors of the article contacted eight writers including Lois Lowry, Chris Crutcher, and Rainbow Rowell to see if they would be willing to share messages they have received from young readers detailing the positive effects that have come from reading their often challenged books.
Read the article to see all of the responses, but some repeating themes are that young people feel less isolated, feel more connected to friends or family that may be facing challenges, are able to find the strength to remove themselves from harmful situations, and to begin to find a sense of self-acceptance.
While well-meaning (hopefully) adults may challenge books that feature tough issues like self-harm, abuse, and addiction, the young people that read these books are generally all too aware of these same issues already. Reading these books can help them not only work through and make sense of the issues, but show that they aren’t the only ones dealing with them.
Thank you to everyone who participated in our needs assessment survey! The winners of the $25 Amazon gift cards have been notified.
As with all surveys, we wanted to learn more about the needs of our community. In our case, our community is our member libraries; and our need is figuring out what you guys need so we can better serve you. In any organization with a new director, it is valuable to spend this time asking around about things people want so we can keep building on successful partnerships from the past, as well as helping with the new needs a rapidly-changing profession like ours creates. Combining the information we learned here with the information learned in visiting our member libraries gives us a better picture of the things we can do to help support our libraries!
This will be a quick overview of the highlights of the results from the information received. We will be working on this for a while, and using this information to build services and materials we can offer to you. In any sort of partnership, things will keep changing and the work we do today will change too. We will be sending out another needs assessment survey in about a year and a half, to see where we are then, and what other kinds of things we can be doing.
The results here are not necessarily representative of all members, but they are giving us a basis to start thinking about things. People who are really interested in statistical testing and analysis should contact me, because I love to talk about that stuff! But this is designed as an overview, a place to start, and to have other information filled in from visits, discussions, and other sources around the system. So it may not be perfect, but every plan needs a starting point!
We know December is still several weeks away, but it is such a busy time of year, we wanted to let you know about this event so you can mark your calendars now!
We decided to make the Monthly Topic for December Stress Management. This is because the end of the year can be a stressful time in libraries. There is so much going on, and everyone else is busy and stressed so they are not helping to calm things down!
But this is not just a seasonal issue. Mary’s research into stress in libraries has shown there is a LOT of stress happening in libraries all over the place – probably including yours! Library people have been embarrassed to admit being stressed at work, even though we have plenty of stressors – but it has not been discussed often enough.
So in this seminar we will look at some common stressors in libraries, and identify some strategies for addressing them. And we will work through some skills for personal relaxation, to help us survive the end of the year chaos, then take our new skills of stress management into the new year!
We will offer this seminar twice in-person on Tuesday, December 6: from noon to 1:30, and again from 4:30 to 6:00. You are invited to attend either in-person session (they are identical). Feel free to bring your food! We will provide beverages. Web material will be available for members unable to attend.
CMLE Elementary School Libraries in a Title 1 school:
Here is some potentially interesting information from Overdrive.com on eBook donations! Below is a press release they have issued. You may be receiving this directly from them; but to be sure no one is overlooked, we are copying it here for you. There is an application to fill out (linked below). If you have questions, you can contact Overdrive; if you need some assistance with the form, or want to talk about ideas contact us at CMLE Headquarters and we can help! (We are available to assist with any grant applications!)
See if this is right for you and your school. We will share other offers and grant opportunities periodically on this site; and we put all the grants we find on our Grants and Awards calendar. Check it every so often to see if there are opportunities for you to get money and/or awards! CMLE Headquarters is always available to help you with the applications, or to help you think through the process of applying.
Here are the FAQs for the program:
Who can apply for this program?
Any adult who works in a Title 1 (or Title 1 eligible) school can apply. You must apply for each school individually.
What happens after I submit my application?
OverDrive will review your application and contact you if your school is selected to receive one year of free K5 Quickstart access.
What grade levels is this intended for?
The K5 Quickstart program is intended for schools serving students in Grades K through 8.
