Category Archives: Public

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

Library therapy dogs help kids with reading

office dogs
Good listeners!

The stereotypical animal that is often associated with libraries (and librarians!) is the cat. And here at CMLE, we definitely love cats. But dogs can be even more helpful when it comes to libraries, and reading in general, especially when it comes to teaching literacy to kids.

This adorable Tweet sparked our curiosity. Just how much do dogs help kids with their reading skills? We also wondered where else in our area might dogs be interacting with kids, students, books, and libraries?

First, we discovered just how helpful dogs can be when it comes to assisting kids with their reading skills. This article from Public Libraries Online shares research done that states, “Children who read to dogs improved their own reading skills in comparison to children who did not read to dogs, based on the results of the Oral Text Reading for Comprehension Test” and even “reported a greater enjoyment of reading than children who did not read to dogs.” When kids are able to practice their reading skills out loud to a patient, non-judgmental listener (like a dog!) their reading improves, and just as importantly, their love of reading grows!

The organization Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) Minnesota works with “registered therapy animals who volunteer with their handler as a team, going to schools, libraries, and many other settings as reading companions for children” in order to help kids with their literacy and communication skills. Their site explains ways you can help the organization, and even how to become a READ team with your dog!

For real-life inspiration, we found a few instances of dogs and kids enjoying reading together. This article from MN Women’s Press tells the story of Lesa Hobright-Turner and her READ dog, Murphy, and their impact on a little girl with ADHD. The Hibbing Daily Tribune featured this article about kids reading with dogs at Keewatin Elementary school. The Rochester Public Library has the program “Sit, Stay, Read” that takes place the fourth Monday of the month from September – November. Finally, the Two Harbor’s Public Library has a program “Read to a Dog” that takes place on Fridays, featuring Lucy the dog: lucy-reading-dog

We’re sure there are more programs out there, and would love to hear about them! Do you know of, or participate in, any activity that features animals helping kids with their reading? Let us know!

 

 

 

 

 

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

Strategies to Simplify: Tip 4: The Master To-Do List

“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: Consolidate your to-do lists into one Master Task List

To get all your to-dos in one place, first you need to perform a “brain dump,” in which you think about everything you need to get done, both at work and in your personal life. In Work Simply, Carson Tate describes this process as “Turning your brain upside down and emptying its contents.”  Then, if you have noticed that your list contains more projects than simple tasks, work to create attainable next steps that aren’t so overwhelming. Finally, keep this list in one place for easy and constant reference.

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

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Work Simply

Find your Productivity Style for some personalized tools to manage your Master List:

Prioritizer: Try using ruled or lined paper. Some apps that may be useful to you include iDoneThis, which sends out e-mail reminders asking what tasks you have completed.

Planner: You may like using calendars, or Outlook’s task manager. Also try out Wunderlist, an app that allows you to keep all your to-dos in one place, and includes due dates and reminders.

Arranger: Try using Stickies, or the app Carrot, which takes a to-do list to the next level – earn points for completing tasks and get praised (or scolded!) for how many tasks you complete.

Visualizer: Whiteboards or unlined notebooks may work well for you, or try Personal Brain, a mind-mapping tool that works on both PCs and Macs, which links ideas, documents, and sites based on the way you think.

Previous tips in this series

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

Visiting CMLE Libraries! College of St. Benedict

clemens-library
Clemens Library

This week I visited the College of St. Benedict’s Clemens Library. Thanks to Director Kathleen Parker for inviting me over and touring me around the library so I could see all their wonderful things, and meet some of the library staff!

sarah-gewirtz-and-info-lit-book
It’s Sarah! And a book!

Everyone take a moment to wave at Sarah Gewirtz, as she shows us the latest book group reading for the library: “What if I Say the Wrong Thing? 26 Habits for Culturally Effective People” by Vernā Myers. I had not seen this book before this visit; but I think it will be added to the CMLE Librarian Professionals reading group in an upcoming month, as everyone works to reach out to community members. Sarah has also facilitated some Information Literacy work across CMLE academic and high school libraries; and we definitely want to repeat that program! We all have more things in common than might be immediately apparent; and Info Literacy is a core need for all libraries in serving their communities. Continue reading Visiting CMLE Libraries! College of St. Benedict →

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

Introducing October's Monthly Topic: Hiring!

You Must Be Daddy's Little Pumpkin I Can Tell by the Way You Roll
Learn with CMLE!

At CMLE, we want to provide material for continuing education for our members. We have a variety of strategies for this, including the material we and our Guest Bloggers provide here.

To add to this, we are beginning a Monthly Topic. Each month we will provide a broad topic that will be relevant to our members. Within that topic will be several different topics, and we will provide information in a variety of formats.

This will include monthly training programs offered in a variety of formats to make it accessible for members. Our plans are to offer monthly in-person sessions for members to have a chance to get together and talk about the topic, and the issues it raises in their libraries. We also plan to have this session (or a similar one) offered as a live webinar for members who want to attend but cannot leave their libraries, and to record that session so members can watch it later on their own schedules. Continue reading Introducing October's Monthly Topic: Hiring! →

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!