Category Archives: Public

Academic, Communication, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Special, Training

See some Censorship? Say something!

It can be tough to know what to do if your library has a potential censorship situation. But you are not alone!! The ALA is here for all libraries, whether or not you are a member. Being part of a profession means you have resources and support – a good thing when problems happen!

From the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom:

The Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) introduced upgraded tools that make censorship easier to report and easier to track. We’ve rolled out a simpler form to document censorship and hate crime and a web page exclusively for challenge support.

Report Censorship

Continue reading See some Censorship? Say something! →

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

Let’s talk about grants!

Grants mean Money!!

Money is fun to have, it gives you materials you need to distribute, and brings programs to your library. Money lets you do all the things that you want to do for your community.

So don’t be shy about asking for more money!! It’s a great tool you can use to turn into better materials and better service! Don’t your patrons deserve great stuff? Of course they do! So you need to grab some grant money and provide it!

This month we will be looking at Grant Writing and all kinds of resources you might use to find, write, and administer grants.

I’ll tell you the main secret right now: It’s not hard.

Whew! There we go, the big secret is out! Continue reading Let’s talk about grants! →

Guest Blogger, Public

ARSL Annual Conference: A CMLE Scholarship

Reflection on 2016 ASRL Conference
Kirsten Vaughan
Chisago Lakes Area Librarian
East Central Regional Library

This fall I attended the annual conference for the America Rural and Small Library in October. It was a fantastic conference, and I recommend it to any small library that struggles with “doing it all” with limited staff and time.

A session that stands out to me is the first I attended, which was “Top Tips for Patron Technology Training,” which was led by Crystal Schimpf and Cindy Fisher. I chose this particular workshop because I struggle with finding a balance with my patrons. At times I cannot keep up with the technology my patrons want help with, other times I am too familiar with the technology which results in my explaining the tech quickly.

Here are the three tips Crystal and Cindy provided that I found the most helpful:

1) Self-Identify as a Technology Trainer—this means you should be intentional about seeking out opportunities to interact with technology on a regular basis. This way you add to your knowledge base just a little at a time rather than all at once.

2) Take Slow Deep Breaths– when a patron asks you an overwhelming tech question, or you don’t have the time to assist the person step-by-step. Slow breathing will help you stay calm and keep your explanation of the tech at a reasonable speed.

3) Focus on Quality, not Quantity- When it comes to one-on-One training it is OK to find the “teachable moment” which is the one thing the patron needs and concentrate on that. Sure the patron will not have all the information, but they will have gained one piece of information they did not have before whereas if you provide the patron will all the information, they may retain none of that training.

Academic, CMLE, Communication, Public, School Media Specialist, Services, Special

Let’s get together and talk libraries!

https://pixabay.com/en/personal-people-talk-discussion-9441/

Do you like to talk about libraries?

Do you like to hang out with library people?

Does the idea of food and library talk together make you excessively happy??

Us too!!

One of the most frequent requests we have received from members is to have more opportunities to gather and talk informally. Many of you are alone in your libraries, and everyone likes to make connections across the system.

So we are setting up regular monthly gatherings for anyone in a CMLE library to meet, eat, and chat! Continue reading Let’s get together and talk libraries! →