Category Archives: Special

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

Giving and receiving: Performance Appraisals (Hiring Series #2)

performance-appraisals
It’s a conversation!

Everyone dreads this. It’s hard, as an employee, to have your performance judged – even when the result is good news. And it’s hard, as a manager, to have to come up with insightful things to say about everyone’s work without constantly repeating yourself.

So is it still valuable to go through the process? For most people: yes!

Ideally, a performance appraisal is not a time to talk about problems – though those should be addressed. When there are performance issues during the year, those can be addressed in the moment and dealt with at the time. They should not build up to wait for the annual review. Instead it is a time for people to reflect on their past performance,  and to think about what they want to do over the next year. It is an opportunity to take time out of a hectic schedule, or one that has a lot of repetition from day-to-day and week-to-week, and to see, think, and do some self-evaluation.

Continue reading Giving and receiving: Performance Appraisals (Hiring Series #2) →

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, Public, Special, Tech

Looking forward to November: Advocacy! (Training provided!)

advocacy
Tell people how great libraries are!

In November, our Monthly Topic will be Advocacy!!

This is such an important skill for everyone in your library to master. We all need to advocate for ourselves in the workplace, for our libraries, and for the profession. During November we will collect and share information on each of these aspects of advocacy, to help build your skills and your comfort level with it.

At the heart: Advocacy is fun!! We get to tell people how great our libraries are, all the wonderful things we provide to our communities, and how valuable we are!! It can be tempting to just assume people know about this – but we want to really be sure they understand, so we need to tell them. This is our chance to brag!

CMLE will offer an in-person training session at our Headquarters (570 First Street SE, St Cloud, MN 56304). This will happen Nov 15.

  • First session: noon to 1:30:
  • Second session: 4:30 to 6:00
  • Webinar will be provided online for future viewing

You are invited to attend either in-person session (they are identical). Feel free to bring your food! We will provide beverages.

Sign up at our Eventbrite site here!

When you leave this session you will have some basic skills and ideas:

  • identification of your library’s elected representatives
  • a draft email to send to each of them
  • a set of talking points about your library’s value
  • an elevator speech to share your accomplishments
  • details on library service nationally, for easy sharing

Any questions? Send Mary an email.

Would you like a training session brought to your library? Send Mary an email on that too!

 

 

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, Resources, Special

400-year-old Bible in college basement

1599-geneva-bible
Geneva Bible from 1599

This amazing story of discovery is proof that you never know what you may find when you are at the library!

At the Lewis & Clark College’s Aubrey R. Watzek Library in Portland, a rare piece of history was hiding, just waiting to be unearthed and appreciated. According to this article from The Oregonian, it was history major Sam Bussan that discovered the Geneva Bible from 1599 that was printed in London by none other than Queen Elizabeth I’s printer.

The article also includes an interview with Hannah Crummé, head of special collections and college archivist at the Aubrey R. Watzek Library. She explains the significance of the Bible in relation to religion and literature accessibility at the time it was printed: “Elizabeth I pitted her Protestant nation against the Catholic powers in Europe, particularly Spain,” Crummé said. “She allowed her subjects to study the Bible in their native English, making not just religion but the written word newly accessible to the majority of people.”

Want to see more of the discovered Bible? Watch this video from MSN for a closer look at the Bible itself, which features detailed drawings and music notations.

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

Strategies to Simplify: Tip 5: Get it done!

“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: Implement best practices in completing your work.

Now that you’ve got your Master List of to-dos in one, easily accessible place, you can start knocking items off the list, right? Take a moment and consider these ideas from Work Simply about how to most efficiently complete your tasks, based on your Productivity Style.

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

mussels-756488_1920
Work Simply

Find your Productivity Style for some personalized tips and tools for carrying out your tasks:

Prioritizer: Put similar tasks together in order to get more accomplished. You may like BaseCamp, a project management tool that integrates with e-mail and allows you to track tasks by project, upload files, and view calendars.

Planner: Determine in advance how much time and effort to devote to a task – and stick to it! Try Tom’s Planner, which uses Gantt chart software and allows collaboration.

Arranger: Protect yourself from the interruptions of e-mails and phone calls to keep your train of thought on track. You may find Collabtive useful, which allows groups to work together on projects and features instant messaging, time tracking, and file management.

Visualizer: Avoid the downward spiral of procrastination, and complete the quick or easy tasks first. Try LiquidPlanner, a Web-based program that helps teams collaborate by prioritizing tasks, making estimates, and managing resources and expectations.

Previous tips in this series

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

Writing a Great Library Job Ad (Hiring Series #1)

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Your secret weapon to bring in the best library employees!

hiring
Ads bring people to your library!

Everyone has seen job ads. You probably have your current job because you followed one back to your employer.

What do you think of when you think job ad?

  • tedious list of requirements (you don’t even meet some of them)
  • no salary given
  • clipped sentences, acronyms that sound like a bad dating app
  • sounds just like every other ad you read

Too often, this is just what library ads are: a dull, colorless list of requirements assembled without a lot of thought about (or knowledge of) a job. People apply, sure. But are they interested in your library? Are they inspired by your job? Or do they just want a job, any job, and yours is no worse than others??

Job ads can be a way to really show off the best in your organization. Instead of that dull list of stuff that people may or may not ever actually do, this is an opportunity to sell your library as a good place to work. (If it’s not a good place to work, that is a different issue; and one you may want to address before hiring anyone else!)

Continue reading Writing a Great Library Job Ad (Hiring Series #1) →