Each 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! Share what inspired you in the comments.
Other things to celebrate in August:
State Library Services presents the webinar Bring an Author to Your School! on Fri, Aug 3 from 10-11 am.
Learn about a variety of cost-effective and creative ways to arrange author visits, including the SLS’s Authors in Schools program.
Presenters Leah Larson and Jen Verbrugge from SLS will be joined by Wanda Erickson, a school & public librarian in Upsala. Erickson will share her expertise gained from years of arranging author visits for both her school & public library.
Click here to register by Aug 2.
Contact Leah at 651-582-8604 or leah.larson@state.mn.us with any questions or for more information.
.jpg)
It’s summer time! It’s hot outside!
Nobody really feels like working hard – we get this. This is time to do things a little differently, and to have time to kick back and enjoy your work.
CMLE wants to help you to keep your library skills sharp over the summer!
Each week we are establishing a discussion session, where we gather to talk about a different topic relevant to the work we are all doing in libraries. These are casual, lunchtime sessions. You can drop in and out on your own schedule. Bring your lunch, bring a beverage (stop by Target as you come visit us – they are just next door!), and be prepared for some pleasant chatting with colleagues about different library issues.
We have some dates and topics suggested below. But anything relevant to libraries – and that’s a veeeerrrrrryyyy wide definition! – is fine to bring to share and discuss.
We will meet at CMLE HQ: 570 1st Street SE, St Cloud, MN 56304. Come in the front door, and around to our office area. We are setting the official times for this as 11:30 to 1; but we will probably be happy to see you any time!
Do you need some incentive to keep reading over the summer?? Check out this press release from the New York Public Library! They are teaming up with HBO to encourage reading!
“The New York Public Library is joining forces with HBO on #ReadingIsLit, a national campaign to celebrate the written word, the power of storytelling and encourage people to read, talk about, and enjoy all things literary.
The campaign will feature writers, performers, and creators from popular HBO programs sharing what they’re reading, what stories inspire them, and what books they recommend. Through videos, interviews, social media interactions and more, they’ll also encourage members of the public to visit their local libraries and sign up for library cards.
Participants in the online component — which will take place across HBO and New York Public Library social media channels — include Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, and Shailene Woodley from “Big Little Lies;” Thandie Newton from “Westworld;” Mark Duplass, creator of “Room 104;” and Damon Lindelof, co-creator of “The Leftovers.”
The New York Public Library will also share a host of information at nypl.org/readingislit and hbo.com/readingislit, including book recommendations from its team of expert librarians, information about applying for library cards, videos, and more.
Offline, the Library will offer special book displays at its 88 neighborhood branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, featuring titles that have been adapted into HBO television shows and movies — such as the Song of Ice and Fire series (which became “Game of Thrones”), “Sharp Objects,” and “Fahrenheit 451” — as well as “read-alikes” chosen by librarians that should appeal to fans of HBO shows.
As part of the campaign, HBO will also donate a “bookshelf” of featured titles to 25 select libraries across the country.
“Being storytellers, everything we do at HBO begins with the written word. We have brought to life many phenomenal books over the years on the network, including current projects Fahrenheit 451, Big Little Lies, Sharp Objects and our biggest series ever Game of Thrones so the timing of this partnership with the New York Public Library couldn’t be better,” said Richard Plepler, Chairman & CEO, HBO. “NYPL is a wonderful institution and to play a role in getting more readers in those doors is a great win.”
“Great stories — no matter how they’re told — hold an almost magical power, captivating audiences and sparking incredible passion and creativity,” said New York Public Library president Anthony W. Marx. “This partnership with HBO is an amazing opportunity to encourage people who love and appreciate wonderful stories in all forms to drop by a library and find their next adventure on one of our shelves.”
#ReadingIsLit is the latest partnership in a longstanding relationship between The New York Public Library and HBO, including HBO’s long-time sponsorship of the Library’s Summer Reading program to keep kids and teens engaged with books and learning while away from school on break. “
At CMLE, we so enjoy all our different types of libraries, archives, and other members! Seeing all the work you are doing is so inspiring; and we want to return the favor by helping you to find some of the great programming going on around the profession.
Each week we will share an interesting program we find. It may inspire you to do exactly the same thing; or to try something related; or just to try out some different programming ideas.
This extremely-cool-sounding program is shared by Jenn Carson, MSLIS, CYT, CCYT Library Director of LP Fisher Public Library, Woodstock, N.B., Canada. Find this, and more great programs, on the Programming Librarian blog!
“The L.P. Fisher Public Library is well-known in our community (Woodstock, N.B., Canada) for our board game programs, like Connect Four Tournaments, Family Game Nights or our (competitive!) Chess Club. As a strong promoter of physical literacy, I’m always thinking of ways to incorporate more movement into our programs (beyond fine motor skills, of course!). So I came up with a life-size version of Battleship we could play with our whole bodies, inspired by a version my eldest son played in gym class.
I tried this first at the local Jiu Jitsu gym where I help lead the kids’ training sessions. It was a hit, so I knew it would work at the library. We ran the program over the March break and had more than 15 people show up. This is a nice low-cost program; the only thing you really need is a ball and some existing tables from your library.
You’re going to need a large room (a gym is ideal!) or a large lawn of grass away from traffic. The room or lawn needs to be divided in the middle by a barrier. The barrier needs to be tall enough to create an obstacle the participants can’t see over — but not so high they can’t throw a ball over it.
Indoors, I’ve used folding tables or crash mats (both turned on their sides). Outdoors you could string up a volleyball or badminton net close to the ground (though you’d need to find a way to make it not transparent). A large horizontal banner or length of stretchy fabric would also work, as long as you had a way to secure it on either end.
Then you need to find a ball (or if you want to play like these brave humans, many balls) that won’t hurt when it lands on someone.
Thin, squishy plastic is the best. A balloon is too lightweight, a soccer or basketball is too heavy. I used a giant bouncing ball about three feet in diameter — the kind that kids can sit on and bounce around. A dodgeball or beach ball would also work.
Remember, the smaller the ball, the harder the game is going to be and the longer it will take (depending on how many “ships” you have). Depending on the space, the equipment you have available, and the time you have to prepare, you can make this as simple or as complicated as you’d like.
Divide your group into two teams, one team on each side of the barrier. Everyone lies on the ground, arms planted to their sides, just like the ships in the game. The only time they are permitted to move is when it is their turn to throw the ball.
You will act as referee and ball-chaser and will remain standing. The teams take turns throwing the ball across the barrier and trying to hit a “ship” (person) on the other side. Here’s the challenge — they have to throw the ball from their position on the floor. This is really hard work — it takes a whole lot of strong tummy muscles and concentration to throw that ball with any accuracy! No doubt, this will create a lot of giggling as the ball will fly off in many unintended directions, since throwing from a horizontal position uses the vestibular system and our sense of proprioception. Sometimes a player will think they are throwing a ball over the barrier only to find they have thrown it straight up in the air and now it is landing on their own face!
I usually allow the youngest of players to throw from a seated position so they don’t get discouraged. Also, feel free to modify or adapt the rules for players with disabilities.
Your job as referee is to declare any hits, make sure the “ships” aren’t moving to get away from the ball, and to run after the ball and bring it back into play when it goes out of bounds. A hit “ship” must leave the play area and wait off to the side. (They can also be recruited to help catch runaway balls.) The first team to blow all the other team’s “ships” out of the water wins.
Your patrons will have lots of fun playing this game; I recommend it for ages 6 and up. If you have enough room, invite whole families to join in. It would also be great for teens, or even adults as a fun activity during a professional development day!
Play as many games as you have time for. After our game finished we set up the tables and brought out the tabletop board game version of Battleship (we have many copies and versions, including Star Wars) and the kids had fun for another 45 minutes. If you don’t have the physical games but have access to a computer lab, there are many free online versions of the game including this one geared toward younger kids and this one for older kids or adults. The digital version is a great option for patrons on the autism spectrum (or introverts!) who may feel too uncomfortable playing one-on-one in person.
No matter how you to choose to play the game — have fun!”