Category Archives: Communication

Communication, Podcast

Resources from CMLE for Stress Management Month

April is Stress Awareness Month. We know working in libraries is generally a very rewarding profession, but it definitely can be stressful, too. We have several resources at CMLE that you can explore to work on managing your stress this month, and all year long.

You can also check out this page from the National Alliance on Mental Illness to learn how stress affects you and also get some ideas for ways to reduce your stress.

We have several podcast episodes you can listen to that are full of advice for handling stress while working in a library.

Our Training Tips series includes the article “Stress in the Library Workplace” and provides even more links to resources that can help you manage library stress. (Yes, therapy dogs are included!)

Take a look at all our Stress Management posts to get strategies for reducing your stress at work, including suggestions for audio and meditation tools.

And if all else fails, just look at CMLE Office Dog Lady Grey demonstrating her favorite relaxation technique: napping!

Communication

Library Journal names their Movers and Shakers for 2019!

The Movers and Shakers 2019 award from Library Journal is a big deal! We are so proud of CMLE supporter and long-distance member Violet Fox, who is honored in the Advocates category for her outstanding advocacy work in the cataloging field.

From the article:
“She credits her approach to her experiences in the zine librarian and #critlib communities. “We need help from [others] so we can build a classification that’s as just and equitable as possible,” says Fox.”

Also in the Advocates category is Minnesotan librarian Carol Jackson from the Ramsey County Library for her excellent programming work.

Learn about the recipients of the Movers and Shakers 2019 in this excerpt below and check out the full article here!
“They give patrons the intellectual, emotional, and technological tools to become their best selves. They provide solutions to move the needle on critical issues such as literacy and health, race, social justice, and gender bias.

They do this and more with powerful professional and personal commitment. They help kids become readers and give them agency to lead on inclusivity, diversity, and international understanding, work with the unhoused and those with criminal records while upholding their dignity, and change the way their libraries interact with students and faculty and the way students and faculty innovate and collaborate.”

Communication, Materials

Accessibility for All: Training Librarians and Auditing Materials for Accessibility Issues

Accessible-pdf-word-cloud-640x480

We are passing on this training opportunity, because accessibility of library resources are important for every library to work through as you provide great things for your community members. CMLE members: we will give scholarships for you to attend this online webinar, or other training that will be helpful to your work.

Accessibility for All: Training Librarians and Auditing Materials for Accessibility Issues

Description:
In order to serve all patrons, libraries must create and distribute accessible materials. Accessibility enables us to serve all library patrons through ADA compliance. Library services and materials are shifting to increasingly more patrons requiring online services and resources. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach that calls for multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement that can be applied to creating online materials.

In this webinar, a public service Online Learning Librarian and technical service’s Assistant Dean of Collection Management librarian from a mid-sized, public university will team up to present on training librarians on creating and purchasing accessible material, as well as tips and tricks for auditing e-resources for accessibility issues. The librarians will cover:

Definitions of ADA compliance and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Free tools to check materials for accessibility
Case studies of collaborating across the university on accessibility
Future directions of performing accessibility audits on library e-resources

The librarians will engage the audience through various active learning techniques, such as polling. There will be time built into the presentation for questions and answers. These librarians will provide a link to this presentation, which includes templates for working with vendors and more.

4/4/2019 2:00 PM
– 3:00 PM EST		Accessibility for All: Training Librarians and Auditing Materials for Accessibility Issues Live Online$50.00 / $75.00


Instructors:

Beth Bernhardt is the Assistant Dean for Collection Management and Technical Services at UNC Greensboro. Beth has worked for over twenty years in the fields of electronic resources and collection development. Beth is also the Program Director for the Charleston Conference.

Sam Harlow

CMLE, Communication, Programs

Dates for CMLE Camping Adventure!

Assorted camping gear

Did you read our article last week announcing our first ever CMLE group camping trip? We know it’s early, but we’ve already started to look forward to fun summer activities! Chatting with our members and making connections is definitely fun, and we thought it would be extra exciting to host a member event at Lake Maria State Park.

Thank you to the members that indicated the dates that would work best for you! We have made reservations for Friday, June 28th and Saturday, June 29th at the Group Camping site. It’s probably not the most beautiful in the park – but we will have plenty of room for everyone to pitch a tent and enjoy some outdoor time! And there will be lots of beautiful things for everyone to enjoy.

We will have hiking, book and library discussion topics, and s’mores! Feel free to just come for the day on Saturday, or bring your gear and camp out! Keep in mind if you do choose to camp there is a $5 fee per car unless you have a State Parks pass.

We will have plenty of time to work out all the details, to give everyone the best chance to have fun at this member event!! We anticipate this will be a nice group of library-related people, and that we will get a chance to meet some new people and have some less-typical library fun!

Check out our previous article for more of the details, and look out for more information as summer approaches! It’s going to come eventually, right?

CMLE, Communication

We support Niko!

Japanese Red Cross Nagoya Daini hospital

We told you last week about a fundraiser for a member of our library community: Niko! His dad, Neil Vig, works at Great River public library system. Niko and his family are battling his leukemia, and could use your help!

You can attend the fundraiser, and all the info is in our article. If you want to just make a donation, you can contact Mark Kolbinger:  mkolbinger@isd726.org.

And we have had requests for a link to provide donations. Here is the GoFundMe account Niko’s family set up. Feel free to donate even a couple of dollars if you have them, to help offset some of the horrendous costs that big illnesses cause for families.

Library people are strong by working together. This is a great opportunity for you to be part of a community.