Category Archives: Resources

Kari Green Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Kari Green, Media Specialist at Monticello Middle and High Schools.

The Monticello High School library has been sorely neglected for years after the library media specialist position was eliminated. Even though it is a newly remodeled space, the full-time paraprofessional has no library training and is employed under the IT department; checking out books is a courtesy rather than a job requirement. My (nearly) full-time library media specialist position at Monticello Middle School has slowly evolved to meet different needs. Because of this, I am teaching fewer media classes and have more availability to act as a “consultant” to the high school for a couple of hours per week. 

When I began to look at the foundational pieces of the library, I discovered that the library catalog had been completely deleted after the last inventory. There were 1,700 missing books, and utter disarray of policies and procedures.

Once I got a handle on the foundational tasks, I began looking at collection development needs. You can imagine what I found! Huge swaths of essential reading were either lost, missing, or never purchased. 

I turned to my Follett representative and asked for a list of “core” high school purchases – the type of purchases districts make when building a library from scratch. The list that was sent contained $169,000 worth of titles that are not available in the high school library. Wowza!

From this list, I selected the 51 most popular titles. These ranged from essential classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird and the Outsiders to newer titles such as Seraphina and Before the Ever After. My goal was to create a solid foundation to (hopefully) built upon in future years. 

Since the yearly budget is $1,500, the grant from Central Minnesota Library Exchange is a significant boost. With the help of the grant, the collection is moving in the right direction. Monticello Schools is grateful for the support! Thank you!

Cheryl Sorensen at McGregor High School Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Cheryl Sorensen, Media Specialist at McGregor High School. Read more about our Extended Mini Grant Program.

A HUGE thank you to the CMLE for choosing the McGregor High School Library as a recipient for the Extended Mini-Grant Program which allowed me to purchase many books for our library. 

I chose classic stories along with books on Presidents, First Ladies, and important people in the United States.  These books will have an impact on our students through their expanded imagination, growth in knowledge of the leaders of our country, and hopefully, a joy of reading.

Every child deserves the opportunity to learn and grow and books offer that.  
– Cheryl Sorensen, McGregor High School Library

Anna Hazzard Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Anna Hazzard at Liberty Elementary in Big Lake. Find out more about our Extended Mini Grant Program.

First of all, I want to give a huge thank you to the CMLE for accepting my mini grant submission! I am beyond excited and thankful!

   Here at Liberty we are a K-2 elementary school with over 700 students.  Each one of our students has a weekly library time to check out books with their class. My vision as the media assistant at Liberty is to create excitement around books, reading, and the library experience.  Why can’t the library be lively, fun, a little loud (sometimes), AND educational? 

   Every couple of months the Liberty library transforms into a newly decorated, interactive theme! This has been so successful and such an amazing way to create excitement around the different books we have in the library! The students have absolutely loved these various themes and always look forward to what’s next! Some of our past themes have been Rev Up with a Good Book, Camp Out, Once Upon a Time,  Back to School with the Characters We Love, and Snowmen At Night.

   With this mini grant we were able to purchase decorations, books, and activities to create our latest themed experience…Ms. Anna’s Gingerbread Land (as named by one of my students)! Not only will we enjoy these items now but they will also be reused for future events!!!

   When students visit the library every week to check out books they also get to enjoy this interactive gingerbread theme! They are having a blast with the larger than life decorations to take pictures by, themed special events/activities, and of course BOOKS!!!

   The joy that this grant has brought to the students of Liberty is one for the books!  It’s really something you have to see on the faces of the students as they walk into the library!

 It is truly magical!!! Thank you again CMLE!!!!

FREE Resources for teaching Digital Citizenship for Grades 9-12

free resources logo

CMLE encourages good digital citizenship and literacy! One of our fantastic school library members shared that the FREE digital citizenship curriculum provided by Common Sense Education has been very well-received at her school. So we wanted to make sure you know about this resource in case it may be useful to you!

Today we’re looking at the curriculum for grades 9-12. There are so many factors that go into information literacy and digital citizenship. It’s fantastic these skills are being taught with students, as more and more of life is spent online.
If you missed our previous posts for younger students, here are the links for grades 6-8, grades 3-5, or K-2.

Ninth graders learn about online tracking, how to protect not only their own but also the privacy of others online, red flags to watch for when forming online relationships, and more.

Tenth graders investigate active and passive social media use and the feelings produced with both, find strategies for combating hate speech, and more.

Eleventh graders learn about addictive technology design, how to consider their audience when communicating online, the ways clickbait benefits advertisers at the expense of misinformation, and more.

Twelve grade students explore the research on health effects of screen time, how filter bubbles feed us perspectives we already agree with, and more!

From Minitex: Indigenous Representations Newsletter 2021

This is a wonderful collaboration between many Minnesota organizations and universities, focused on sharing Indigenous books and resources for use in your classroom and library. Read the newsletter here!

In this issue, you can find out more about the Indigenous Representations project, celebrate the launch of the Native-focused Heartdrum publishing imprint, read an interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith and Dawn Quigley, and more!

From the newsletter, here is the summary of the Indigenous Representation project:

“Indigenous Representations is a statewide project that began in 2016 and aims to connect Minnesota’s youth with positive and appropriate books by and about Indigenous people with a focus on Dakota and Anishinaabe nations. Beyond the resources shared in this newsletter, educators and librarians are encouraged to think critically about Indigenous representation in other resources and continue to seek out materials that truthfully reflect Indigenous cultures.”

Read the newsletter here!