Category Archives: General

Academic, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Special

Chilling Effects of Book Challenges (Banned Book Week Series #5)

As we wrap up our look at assorted Freedom to Read topics, let’s talk about the chilling effect that can happen to collection development in the face of book challenges.

This is the unspoken side of book challenges: the increased reluctance on the part of a librarian to push the boundaries of what may be deemed acceptable when buying books. That balance between assembling a good and balanced collection and avoiding potential challenges can be difficult to master. It can be very tempting to just avoid buying the latest challenged book, or to develop a collection of books that may be challenged, when a librarian wants to avoid controversy.

Everyone needs to think about the basics of their library’s collection development, and think consciously about overcoming a reluctance to work through a challenge process. Look back to our Banned Book Week Series entry #3, and work through some of the processes given to write up a good policy for your library to incorporate to respond to challenges in a professional way. Having that policy in place, and ready to be shared with Boards, patrons, and other concerned stakeholders, gives some security in engaging in a discussion on controversial materials.

School Library Journal published an article on a study of school librarians: SLJ: Self Censorship Survey. Although this article is now a few years old, there is no reason to believe things are different; and the information presented gives a new dimension to thinking about collection development of potentially controversial materials.

Data from SLJ Survey

As you build a collection, and include materials that may be controversial for any number of reasons, think carefully before excluding items on that basis. Although the potential conflict of a challenge is not pleasant for the librarian or patron, the discussion can be valuable and the process can help to educate everyone involved on Freedom to Read policies and ideas. These are the bedrock of our profession, so do not give them up lightly!

General, Special

Preservation in a nuclear bunker

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Packard Campus

When you think of archives, you may picture dusty boxes or dark closets filled with preserved documents or other media. You maybe don’t think of 90 miles of shelves in climate controlled and “radiation hardened” vaults!

However, that is exactly where the Library of Congress is storing its Audio/Visual collection in Culpeper, Virginia. The storage facility is actually a former nuclear bunker that was built during the Cold War to protect huge amounts of money as well as up to 500 Federal employees. This article from the blog Architect of the Capital details the original goal of the bunker structure, pictures and illustrations of the site, and also the end goal of the Library of Congress to eventually digitize their film and video collection.

Watch this video from the Library of Congress that describes the Packard Campus and the process that the digital files go through to record and preserve them at the facility (it includes robotics!):

 

Academic, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Special

Strategies to Simplify: Tip 3: Time tactics

“Work simply. Live fully.”  This week CMLE focuses on the following work productivity tip from Work Simply, Carson Tate’s popular book.  At CMLE, we’ve boiled down Tate’s wealth of knowledge from Work Simply to a few key points; please see the book for more detail and resources. At the bottom, see links to earlier tips in the series! Let’s all be our best selves….

This week’s activity: Time is valuable, so choose time investment tactics that work best for you.

In her book Work Simply, Carson Tate argues that “Time is more valuable than money. You need to start treating it that way.” In order to do that, we need to begin “thinking about time as a commodity, and in particular as an infinitely valuable, nonrenewable resource.”

Recently, you discovered your Productivity Style with a simple assessment.

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Work Simply

Find your Productivity Style for some personalized time tactics:

Prioritizer: You excel at using time efficiently. Try this: Begin your day with your highest priority project or task.

Planner: You are able to minimize the risk of mistakes by adhering to best practices or past procedures. Try this: Plan for extra time each week to allow for unanticipated issues or opportunities

Arranger: You are skilled at encouraging teamwork in order to get the most done. Try this: To help keep your focus, turn off your e-mail notifications.

Visualizer: You can productively handle multiple tasks and projects at once. Try this: Ask yourself, “What is the best use of my time right now?”

Previous tips in this series

General, Public, School Media Specialist, Services

Bubbles + Storytime = Fun!

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Try bubbles as a storytime prop!

If you are a children’s librarian, or even just a parent that has taken your child to storytime, you know how fun and important that time can be! In this article from the ALSC blog, librarian April Lee describes her use of introducing bubbles into her storytime adventures.

Lee shares how she was initially apprehensive about using bubbles as a prop during her storytime, but then discovered that a bubble machine solved most of her worries, and the experience was very positive. She writes that the bubbles “Give children a fun sensory experience and a chance to play together at the beginning of storytime – as opposed to just the end – along with breaking down the initial shyness among the group.” You can even find her original bubble-related song lyrics on her blog! 

Another example of bubbles and storytime can be found in this post on the Library Village blog, which describes several different types of bubble machines and even links to some bubble songs on YouTube. For more things bubble-related, including recipes and activities, check out this link to Pinterest.

Have you used bubbles in your library or media center, during storytime or a different activity? Share your experience in the comments!

Academic, CMLE, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Read with CMLE – Book group materials available to borrow!

Attention, book-loving CMLE members! (We hope that is most of you!)

You may have read our earlier post introducing CMLE’s two new book groups on Goodreads. One of our groups is aimed at professional development for librarians, and the books that we will be reading will hopefully be useful to you in your place of work. Our second book group is more about reading for fun, and the books we read will be a little more light-hearted!

life-changing-magic-of-tidying-up curiosity_cover_250For the month of October, our book for the group CMLE Librarian Professionals is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Our book for the group CMLE Librarians Enjoying Books is Curiosity Thrilled the Cat by Sofie Kelly.

Do you want to read with us, but need to borrow a copy of either book? CMLE has two copies of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and one copy of Curiosity Thrilled the Cat that are available to borrow! 

Email Angie and let her know if you are interested. Looking forward to reading together!