Category Archives: General

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CMLE Winners at the ITEM Conference!

It is always good to get professional awards. And when they come from your peers, they are even more special! At this year’s Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota (ITEM) conference in Minneapolis, CMLE was proud to have not one but TWO winners!!

item-award-winners
From the left: Willie L. Jett II, Angie Kalthoff, Maria Burnham, and Erich Martens

Angie Kalthoff, @mrskalthoff,is a Technology Integrationist in St Cloud School District 742. She won the award for Technology Support  She was joined by her very proud Superintendent Willie L. Jett II. Right after the ITEM conference ended, she continued her advocacy for libraries and technology work by leading sessions at the Code.org workshop at the North Dakota Association of Technology Leaders conference in Minot!

Our own CMLE Board President Maria Burnham, @MariaBurnham4 ,Technology Integrationist at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School, won the award for Library Media Specialist of the Year. She was joined by her equally proud Principal Erich Martens.

Both Angie and Maria have been very active in the library community of central Minnesota; as well as both reaching out to work with their peers. I can tell you that the applause for both women was thundering, as the conference attendees recognized the work they have done to improve service and technology for their communities. It was great to see, and to be a part of, the celebration of the achievements of so many interesting library people.

Take a moment to applaud their achievements! It is great to work in a community with high-achieving people; we all benefit from their example, and we can all work out new strategies to keep our skills sharp and our library services aimed helping our patrons!!

Check this out:, General, Resources, School Media Specialist, Tech

ITEM Conference recap

The Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota (ITEM) Fall Conference was held in Minneapolis, October 13 – 15, 2016. “The theme this year is Innovate-Integrate-Motivate, and we’d like to help our attendees connect and collaborate with our exhibitors to create a partnership that will benefit students and enhance learning in our schools.”

This was a fun conference, because there were many interesting learning opportunities available, and also many opportunities for participants to network and spend time together. The full schedule is available here; look through it to see the complete range of possibilities and programs, and to identify some of the people who are doing things similar to the things you like in the profession! Continue reading ITEM Conference recap →

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Wanna read books with CMLE?

books
Reading is FUN-damental at CMLE!

Are you reading our October book group selections?

At CMLE Headquarters, we are big fans of books and reading -and as we are in a system filled with library people we know our members likewise are readers! So each month we will read a fiction book with a library theme attached, and a nonfiction book with some applicability to making our work lives better.

What are we reading for November?? That is up to you!

We have a poll up on our Goodreads page for you to select your choice for the next book. The poll will be open through October 26, giving us a couple of weeks to still read our October book and to think about November.

Remember: these are very low-key book groups! We all just want to read books, and have a place to talk about ideas if we feel like sharing. As library people we spend so much time working with books, it can be hard to remember to take time to enjoy them. CMLE is here to help with that!

So read, enjoy, post discussions if you wish – and just have a good time with books!

Check this out:, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Services, Special

Libraries lending musical instruments

A photo by Roberta Sorge. unsplash.com/photos/PN_c3RKCVlA
Make some music with your library!

The days of libraries only checking out books have long passed. Libraries serve so many vital functions in their communities, and are open to learning from their patrons what types of services and programs would be most valuable. This has led to libraries checking out neck ties to job searchers (check out CMLE’s post on the subject) and now, to the Vancouver Public Library opening their Sun Life Financial Musical Instrument Lending Library.

This article from Public Libraries Online describes some of the instruments available (they are mainly stringed instruments and hand drums) like acoustic guitars, ukuleles, and bongos. The library hopes to gain more instruments to share with the public during their instrument drive.

The way it works is that a person can borrow one instrument at a time for 21 days, and if no one else has made a request for the instrument, they are able to renew their instrument up to two times. However, that opportunity won’t come for awhile – the article shares how only three days after the Vancouver Public Library launched the Instrument Lending Library, every instrument was checked out, with a wait list of up to 70 patrons for some instruments! Hopefully the instrument drive is successful and the library will be able to acquire more instruments to share with the public.

Looking for more libraries that offer musical instruments? Take a look at the Toronto Public Library, Forbes Library in MA, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the Ann Arbor District Library which loans out a variety of music-related tools.

 

 

 

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, Resources, Special

400-year-old Bible in college basement

1599-geneva-bible
Geneva Bible from 1599

This amazing story of discovery is proof that you never know what you may find when you are at the library!

At the Lewis & Clark College’s Aubrey R. Watzek Library in Portland, a rare piece of history was hiding, just waiting to be unearthed and appreciated. According to this article from The Oregonian, it was history major Sam Bussan that discovered the Geneva Bible from 1599 that was printed in London by none other than Queen Elizabeth I’s printer.

The article also includes an interview with Hannah Crummé, head of special collections and college archivist at the Aubrey R. Watzek Library. She explains the significance of the Bible in relation to religion and literature accessibility at the time it was printed: “Elizabeth I pitted her Protestant nation against the Catholic powers in Europe, particularly Spain,” Crummé said. “She allowed her subjects to study the Bible in their native English, making not just religion but the written word newly accessible to the majority of people.”

Want to see more of the discovered Bible? Watch this video from MSN for a closer look at the Bible itself, which features detailed drawings and music notations.