Category Archives: General

Notable Dates for your Noggin: April 2016

Calendar BannerEach month we’ll bring you a compiled list of fun national holidays, birthdays of authors, and publication dates of favorite books.  You can use these for your own personal use or for some library inspiration!

April is National Poetry Month and School Library Month and National Library Week (April 10-16, 2016). Other things to celebrate in April. . .

April
 2  Hans Christian Andersen’s Birthday (1805)
 4  National School Librarian Day
 Maya Angelou’s Birthday (1928)
 5  Carrie (Stephen King) published in 1974
 10  Encourage a Young Writer Day
 The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) published in 1925
 12  National Grilled Cheese Day
 Beverly Cleary’s Birthday (1916)
 National Library Workers Day
 13  Scrabble Day
 Bookmobile Day
 15  Rubber Eraser Day
 21  Charlotte Bronte’s Birthday (1816)
 Barbara Park’s Birthday (1947)
 26  William Shakespeare’s Birthday [estimated] (1564)
 27  Tell a Story Day
 28  Harper Lee’s Birthday (1926)
 Great Poetry Reading Day

Did we miss anything?  Let us know if we did!

For our calendar of library events, including conferences and library days, check out our Events/Initiatives page.

And for more Notable Dates for Your Noggin, check out our Notable Dates page.

CMLE Weekly Review 3/17/2016

CMLE Updates: State & Regional News
– April is School Library Month! Time to start planning…More
– MnLINK updates you should know about More
– Registration is open for CMLE hosted Supervisor Nuts & Bolts Workshop More
– State Library Updates 3/9/16 More

Upcoming Events and Registration Information
– “Multitype powered” library professional development calendar More
– Free national online library events to build your skill sets  More

Tech Bits and Ideas
– New Raspberry Pi 3 has been released More
– Free FRBR book More

Resources You Can Use
– AASL Recommended App: Remind More
– Writers to watch this spring… More
– School library award of $5,000 for humanities programmingMore

Food For Thought
– In rural MN, the public library can be the only available high-speed Internet access  More
– Meet the nominated Librarian of Congress More

Just For Fun
– Yeah, I work at the public library, giggle, snort! More

In rural Minnesota, libraries can be only source for high speed internet access

MN broadband coverageIn too many places, libraries are the only reliable high speed access point. And no other place is this more apparent than in rural Minnesota. Taking a look at the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development’s website, we see map after map where broadband coverage is lacking.

Fox 9 in Princeton recently talked about this issue and even spoke to East Central Regional Library Director Barbara Misselt. “It’s not uncommon to see cars pulled up when the library is closed,” she said, “people using their devices from their car.” The need is there but as Fox 9 points out, it seems cost is the factor keeping companies out. There is hope, Governor Dayton is asking for more funds to expand broadband and the task force is working hard too. Let’s hope a change to broadband availability happens soon so that rural Minnesota is on equal footing with the rest of the state.

Read the article or watch the Fox 9 video now.