Category Archives: Visits

Visits

Visit to Sartell High School Library

I recently had a chance to make a quick visit to the Sartell High School library! There was more to see and to explore, but this is a quick overview.

Some things are just what you would expect to see in any library.

You can find a Reference desk, where patrons can come ask questions.

 

 


Okay, this is not standard in all libraries – but an excellent feature! I love to see fireplaces (including decorative ones) because it gives such a feeling of a nice, cozy place to sit and enjoy books. Continue reading Visit to Sartell High School Library →

CMLE, Visits

Vacation Library Visit: Evanston Public Library

We all know that visiting libraries is one of the best parts of being on a vacation, right? (It definitely is!) When employees of CMLE HQ travel, of course we visit libraries along the way!

I recently visited the Evanston Public Library, in Evanston, IL. (It’s north of Chicago, and also the home of Northwestern University.) This is a really nice library, with a ton of great programming (we featured them in an early Linking Our Libraries podcast episode).

 

The Book Sale room is nice and prominent! I love to visit libraries – but it’s hard to find books I love, and cannot check out. So I do always enjoy library book sales. As it’s obviously out of the question for me to leave any library without books in my hands, this gives me a way to support the library, and also have fun vacation books!

When you take a left, after coming in the front door, you enter a fantastic Children’s area! You can see the thought and effort that has been put into making this a welcoming and fun place for kids and their adults to visit. I always love to see libraries making this effort to bring people to the library! One of our important functions is to serve as places for all members of the community to gather, to enjoy themselves, and to have fun connecting with others – and it’s clear this space makes that happen!! (Yes, there are also tons of fun books; and yes – it was hard to tear myself away from them too!!)

As you enter the Children’s section, there was a special display set up. Librarian Betsy Bird (you may know her from School Library Journal, or her book podcast, or the books she writes!) made her annual section of 101 Great Books for Kids – and the books were right there to be grabbed by kids!

You can see this tree in the above photos, but it’s worth a closer look. Doesn’t it make you want to curl up and read books?? (I maintained a little dignity, and did NOT crawl into the tree to check it out…but it was a close thing!)

 

 

Continue reading Vacation Library Visit: Evanston Public Library →

CMLE, Visits

Come visit the library at SCSU with CMLE!

Thank you to everyone that voted for a date/time for our CMLE member visit to the library at SCSU! We are looking forward to touring the library on Thursday, January 11th from 3-4pm. We always love seeing the fantastic work that happens in our member libraries, and meeting the library people that are making it happen! Mary recently toured this library and was so impressed that she thought our members should have a chance to visit too!

Since we are a multitype system, we are always working to connect our members with each other. Even if the type of library you work in may be different, many challenges you face may be similar. And something that works for another library might just work for yours too!

So join us! These visits are casual so if you need to arrive a bit late or leave early, no problem. RSVP below, we hope you can make it! 🙂

CMLE, Special, Visits

Visiting the Benton County Historical Society!

 

We really enjoy visiting our member libraries and archives, and had such a great visit to the Benton County Historical Society. The outside of the building is deceptively small, and we had so much fun discovering all the treasures housed inside. The mission of the Benton County Historical Society is to “preserve the past and present history for future generations.” They have tons of resources available at their location for anyone wishing to research family or area history. Thanks to donations, original books and documents, microfilm, plat maps, audio history tapes and lots more, you can explore your family’s or your community’s history!

We were lucky enough to get a tour from museum volunteer Fred, who was full of interesting and surprising information about the Benton County area.

We were able to see the main area where research is done. There’s a computer that has a database where most of the resources are cataloged for easy access. They have microfilm, old newspaper clippings, binders of family history, as well as filing cabinets full of history of the community. Continue reading Visiting the Benton County Historical Society! →

CMLE, Communication, General, Visits

Let’s do a CMLE Group Visit to SCSU’s Library!

We always have fun during group visits to member libraries, and we think a visit to SCSU’s library would be both fun and valuable!

Being able to tour a member library can give you some inspiration and ideas for your own library, and introduce you to other members in the CMLE system. Plus, you will get a chance to meet the new library Dean!

Let’s narrow down some dates to see what will work best for people who want to attend. Right now we are thinking late December, after the semester ends, or early January before everything gets moving too fast. Give us some idea of your preferences, and we can set up a date for a visit.

Please vote! Looking forward to seeing you!

Which is better for you?