Category Archives: General

General, Resources

Are you making Work-Related resolutions?

We’ve read one of Gretchen Rubin’s books for our book group:

To get started on the new year, she has nine suggestions for helping you to make some resolutions for work!

“The new year is here, and for many of us, that means new year’s resolutions. And many of us make resolutions related to our work lives. ..

For instance, some common work-related resolutions include “I want to broaden my horizons,” “I want to do a better job with record-keeping,” “I want to network,” “I want to find a mentor,” and “I want to expand my skills.”

One key to consistent progress is to make a behavior into a habit. Habits are freeing and energizing, because they save us from the difficult, draining business of making decisions and exercising our self-control.

Habits matter, because research shows that about 40% of everyday life is shaped by habits. If we have habits that work for us, we’re far more likely to be happier, healthier, and more productive.”

(check out her blog for the rest of her ideas!)

Communication, General

Social Media Content Ideas for Libraries (from LITA)

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Are you a library person looking for interesting things to discuss on social media, to connect with your patrons? We all are! Check out this blog entry by Victoria Orzechowski wtih some great ideas for you.

“In my previous blog entry, I introduced the #NoFilter series which will explore some of the challenges and concerns pertaining to social media and its use in the library. For this post, let’s consider a topic that can be simultaneously fun and perplexing: generating quality content for social media! Thoughtful, consistent, and varied content is one of the keys to cultivating a meaningful social media presence for a library i.e., opening up channels of communication with patrons and encouraging enthusiasm for the library’s materials, services, and staff.  Where does one look for social media content ideas? Keeping in mind that the intricacies of each platform necessitate different presentations in content, below are three suggestions for where those in charge of a library’s social media may find some inspiration.”

General, Public, School Media Specialist

Notable Date to Celebrate: January 27th is National Chocolate Cake Day!

You probably already know that at CMLE, we offer a service called “Notable Dates for your Noggin” which feature special holidays and birthdays of authors, as well as publications of well-known books. In an effort to help you get more from this service, we’ve decided to select one “Notable Date” each month to feature. We will include a few fun programming and activity ideas too, all for you to use!

Almost too pretty to eat!

January 27th is National Chocolate Cake Day!

The obvious way to celebrate this day, of course, would be to make/share/eat chocolate cake! Encouraging your patrons or students to try different recipes would be festive (and maybe they would share their cake with you!) And recipes are definitely out there in abundance. Try this one-bowl chocolate cake recipe,  or in case you are feeling adventurous, here is one for quinoa chocolate cake. (Please let us know how this turns out if you try it!)

Not in the mood for cake? Read about it instead! Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake looks adorable, or this one based in New Zealand called Chocolate Cake for Breakfast

 

 

You could also indulge in a different way and try this recipe for a chocolate facial! Sounds easy and yummy!

Finally, who could possibly appreciate Chocolate Cake Day more than Bruce Bugtrotter from Matilda? Celebrate the day by re-reading or watching the book or movie!

CMLE, Communication, General

Book Boxes!

Fun arrives in the mail!

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!