Category Archives: Training

CMLE, Training

Linking Our Libraries Episode 206 Conflict Management

Usually we talk about how wonderful libraries are – and they are! And we talk about cheery, happy, fun things in libraries – and there are tons of them! But today we are talking about a much more uncomfortable topic, but important in libraries: Conflict.

We are all about Minnesota Nice here, and it would be wonderful if everyone was nice, everyone agreed on library issues, and everyone agreed on everything. But we all know that when you work with other people, and when you work with members of the public, things do not always turn out so well. Conflict is inevitable and dealing with it can be hard.

But: like so many things, there is a process you can follow to make conflict situations better! We are going to walk through some ideas here to help reduce conflict situations, and hopefully to make things better. We are not going to fix everything – nothing will. But “better” is a good step in the right direction! Check out our podcast on Stress in the Workplace from Season One to get some good strategies for handling stress that may be a part of conflict.

So everyone take a deep, yoga breath, sit in a nice comfy chair or be engaged in a happy activity, and let’s talk about some skills for reducing conflict in your library.

We have material on our site for this episode; and we also have material on this skill, along with many others, available in our Skills Toolbox section of our site.

Contents on our full information page:
  • Introduction
  • Background
  • Strategies
    • Conflict with patrons
    • Conflict between staff
  • Books We are Reading
  • Conclusion

 

Want to listen to an episode?

  • You can download an app, subscribe to “Linking Our Libraries” and all episodes will appear on your phone – it’s so easy!
    • Apps we like include Pocket Casts, iTunes, and Stitcher.
    • Download any of these, search for “Linking Our Libraries” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://libraries.blubrry.com/feed/podcast/.
  • Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Whatever tool you use, we hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening, and sharing ideas on libraries!

Communication, Tech, Training

CMLE Resources: Get Started Podcasting

We hope that you have been enjoying CMLE’s podcasts: Linking Our Libraries and Reading With Libraries! We have so much fun sharing library training information and exploring different book genres with you. We’ve also learned (and continue to learn!) a ton about the process of putting together a podcast.

So we thought we should share some of that knowledge with you! There are several great library podcasts out there in addition to ours; check out this post that lists a few of them. But what if you want to start your own? We’ve compiled a list with photos and affiliate links to Amazon (if you make any purchases through these, a small portion is donated to CMLE!) to help show you the supplies we use for our podcast. When we were first starting, we wished for a list like this to help take some of the guesswork out of it!

(Note: there are definitely alternative ways to podcast, and your taste or need for equipment may be different than ours. We are not experts but felt the need to share what we have learned!)

  • Download your software. We use Audacity (it’s free!) for recording and editing and winLAME for converting the audio files into mP3 format.
  • You will need a host for your audio files, and we use LibSyn which works nicely with our WordPress website. LibSyn also allows you to embed audio players into your website and social media platforms. 

Decide on your mic, and make sure you purchase any accessories needed! We use a Samson C01 Condenser Microphone and are pleased with how it works. You will also need to order an XLR cable to connect your mic to the phantom power source. Our mixer contains phantom power. Also pictured is our Samson SP01 Condenser Microphone Shockmount.

Below is the way we situate our mics. We updated the mic stands we use and purchased these desktop adjustable models. They are more portable and easier to see over than our old stands. Another component of this picture is the pop filter. We use DragonPad Pop Filters.

Finally, this is the mixer that we use. You may not need one with this many capabilities, but since we want to be able to record from four mics at once, we needed a mixer with space to plug in four mics. Keep in mind that you’ll need a USB cord to connect the mixer to your computer! The mixer we use is the Behringer Xenyx 1204 USB and it contains phantom power which we need to power the mics. We definitely do not know even half of this mixer’s full capabilities but hope to continue learning more!

Please let us know if you have any questions about this process and we will answer them to the best of our ability! We are not podcasting experts but enjoy continuing to learn all the neat capabilities that our equipment can do for us!

And of course, don’t miss our podcasts Linking Our Libraries and Reading With Libraries and our mini podcast, Book Bites!

We love sharing library and book information and connecting with our awesome community. And a GIANT thank you to all our members who have been Guest Hosts on the show! 🙂

CMLE, Communication, Podcast, Training

Linking Our Libraries Episode 205: Staff Development

Personal Training at a Gym - Cable Crossover

This week we are talking about Staff Development, and we have a Guest Host: Elizabeth Proell, from St. Cloud Public Library.

You know that to do any job in a library means you have to keep building and honing your skills. Everything we do changes, develops, and evolves – and this will never stop.  If there ever was a time in libraries where we could just coast along on skills we learned twenty years ago, those days are long gone! Technology, automation, and streamlining of all organizations and workers means that we are constantly looking for better, faster, cheaper ways to do all the work we do every day. And what that really means for all of us is that we have to not only keep up with things happening around us – but we need to be out there ahead of our patrons so we are ready to help them build their skills! It’s not just embarrassing to not be able to answer a question on email or web design or VR technology – it is bad practice.

We know it is a challenge!! Your budget is stretched to the max already, your time is also filled as full as you can get it. So we are here to help you! CMLE’s website is filled with information and links to all kinds of great places to go to help you build your skills.

  • We maintain a Continuing Education calendar.
  • We share all kinds of places to take classes, either for free or at a reduced cost – and we offer up to $300 in scholarship money to offset the cost of any training you can identify!
  • We are building webinars and in-person training sessions for you, to work though any time.
  • We are also available to come to your library (or archive, or history center, or other organization) and talk with you about some training ideas, or to do some training based on your individual library’s needs.
  • We have material on our site for this episode; and we also have material all kinds of useful library-related skills, available in our Skills Toolbox section of our site.

 

Want to listen to an episode?

  • You can download an app, subscribe to “Linking Our Libraries” and all episodes will appear on your phone – it’s so easy!
    • Apps we like include Pocket Casts, iTunes, and Stitcher.
    • Download any of these, search for “Linking Our Libraries” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://libraries.blubrry.com/feed/podcast/.
  • Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Whatever tool you use, we hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening, and sharing ideas on libraries!

Want to talk with us about this topic? Do you, your staff, or your organization need training in this topic? Want to write a policy, or develop a program?  We are here for you!
Click here to get started!
Tech, Training

Vets Who Code

Libraries offer great resources to their veteran patrons, so when we saw the work this nonprofit is doing in regards to serving veterans, we thought we should share!

Vets Who Code was created by veteran and programmer Jerome Hardaway. The organization’s goal is to help veterans become programmers and also to challenge some stigmas out there about veterans and the workforce.

From their website:

“Launched in 2014, Vets Who Code is a non-profit dedicated to filling the nations technical skills gap with America’s best. We achieve this by using technology to connect and train veterans remotely in web development in order to close the digital talent gap and ease career transition for military veterans and to give military spouses skills to provide stability as they move to support their families. We believe that those who serve in uniform can be the digital economy’s most productive and innovative assets. Vets Who Code prepares them to enter the civilian work force with tangible skills for new careers.”

Check out this podcast interview with Hardaway, where they discuss some of the challenges he has faced, such as “reentering civilian life at the height of the Great Recession, how Vets Who Code was born, the specific assets vets bring to programming and the tech world, and how they overcome the challenges and stereotypes they face.”

CMLE, Conference, Materials, Resources, Training

American Libraries Association Annual Conference: Chicago June 2017

ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition, Chicago, June 22-27, 2017. Transforming our libraries, ourselves.

At CMLE we always encourage people to attend conferences. It’s a great way to keep up on interesting developments in the profession, to find people who do what you do professionally, and to enjoy yourself with a bunch of other library people! You can learn things, meet people, and make all kinds of connections in a way that takes longer and is harder to do online.

Note: The Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference, and the ITEM Annual Conference are both coming up in October!! We have scholarship money for you, to help defray the cost! These are just great opportunities for you, no matter what you do in a library; so consider attending! You can always contact us here at CMLE to ask questions about conferences, to talk about ideas you have, or just to get tips on attending.

Below is a quick recap of my trip to the ALA Annual Conference. This is such a huge conference that any individual look at it is just overwhelming with the amount of possible things to do, people to meet, and information to absorb! Browse around the website for yourself, to find all kinds of info; and check on social media to follow the #ALALeftBehind hashtag. If you are in a library or archive or museum or history center, or even if you just like books – this is YOUR conference!!

It is held this week  every year – please check it out for yourself in future years! There is also a Midwinter conference every year in late January, where the focus is on vendor exhibits and meetings with committees. Check out the meeting locations for the next ten years, so you can start making plans to attend now! (There are several coming up in Chicago over the next few years; this is ALA’s home, and being so close to us is a real bonus!)

There were more than 700 vendors at this conference, and you can see them all here. Hundreds of authors were there; you can see them all here. Over 2,000 sessions were held, on every topic you can imagine (and some that will boggle your mind!); you can browse all of them here. Whether or not you were able to attend a session, if something seems really important to you, or valuable to your work, or you just get excited about the topic, you can contact the presenter directly (do some Googling!)  and ask for information or slides or any handouts. Most presenters are happy to share their information – that is why they are at the conference. And as a frequent conference presenter myself, I can say that it feels great when people are interested in your work!

We will have all kinds of material available here at CMLE HQ; so feel free to come look through it all! Yes, I also picked up a lot of giveaways for you guys! We will be distributing out Advance Reader Copies (ACRs) of books not yet published, all kinds of pins to show library pride, posters, and other assorted items! (I have a plastic sandwich holder for some lucky person!) We will get some of this up on our website, so you know what we have available; but don’t hesitate to stop by and just browse! We have two large flat-rate post office boxes full of stuff, plus my backpack jammed full of things, plus a Trader Joe’s canvas bag stuffed with material we want to share with you. Make our distribution work easier by coming over to browse for yourself!

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