Tag Archives: CMLE podcast

Communication

Season Two: Bonus Episode on Stress Management

The calm after the storm - Port Lincoln - South Australia (Explored)

Just in time for the holidays, we are here with a bonus episode to our Season Two series. It’s a topic we all need now: Stress Management. Whether you are struggling with finals, trying to wrap up paperwork before the end of the year, or just working to get that darn snow shoveled – we understand! (We’re in Minnesota; we really understand the snow!) So this podcast will help us all to just take a break, to have a moment to relax, and to gather some tools for you to work on your own stress management skills.

Check out our full information page for all the ideas!

We have talked about stress management in prior episodes. So check out our Season One episode 12 Stress in Libraries, and Season Two episode 206 on Conflict Management.

We are talking about this now, because stress happens all the time, from all kinds of reasons; but the combination of end of semester and all the holidays at this time of the year can really make stress worse. Even when you are enjoying your work – it can get stressful! (We love working at CMLE, but vividly remember last December, when we rebuilt our website despite having no website experience. There was a totally dejected trip to Starbucks for revitalizing beverages at one point, just to keep it all moving forward. Things got better after that!)

Stress happens in the workplace. It does not matter how great things are, work is stressful. But we do not have to be passive victims of the stress-fest that happens at the end of the year! Instead, today let’s think about some strategies you can use to reduce the bad effects stress can have on you. (Sorry – we can’t fix everything! Stress will still happen after this episode. But you will be better equipped to handle it.)

Stress is a common problem in many LIS workplaces. It seems disloyal to admit this, to confess that there are parts of our jobs that are less than shiny and happy, that we get stressed and unhappy and burned out. But I will tell you now: stress is part of work. Stress can be hard to discuss. Nobody wants to look weak or incompetent. And nobody wants point out problems that may make them or the organization look bad. It’s okay to acknowledge that you are stressed and unhappy. It’s okay to not want to go to work some days. It’s okay for you to wish you had a job where you could huddle in a backroom without any patrons asking for things, or managers who tell you to do dumb or contradictory things, or all the other things that make your job hard.

It’s okay.

Just acknowledge that you are stressed, that your co-workers are stressed, your staff – everyone.

Think about addressing stress on an individual level, and on an organizational level.

Want to listen to an episode?

  1. 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/.
  2. 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!
Books

Episode 108: Humor

Want to listen to an episode?

  • You can download an app, search for “Books and Beverages Podcast from CMLE” hit subscribe, 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 “Books and Beverages Podcast” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://booksandbeverages.blubrry.net/feed/podcast/.
  • Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Welcome, everyone, to Books and Beverages! This week we are discussing Humor books!

Check out our full information page for recipes, drink pictures, and all the books from this episode.

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we support all types of libraries. This is our book group podcast, where we discuss different genres of books each week, while we all sit in our comfy chairs and drink our beverages. And you are, of course, an important part of this book group. So if you do not already have a nice beverage please go get one, so you can join the experience.

This week our Guest Host is Kelly Groth, from Great River Public Library System!

This genre is a tough one because it’s hard to know what is funny. What makes me roll on the floor laughing may leave you mildly amused. So when we find books many of us think are funny, it’s worth grabbing onto that book! We have several lists of suggestions on our website; so if you need more suggestions, check them out!

This is another genre that overlaps easily in many other areas. You can find humor books in graphic novels. Humor can be fiction or non-fiction; and a lot of books labeled as humor are biographies of funny people. It can be scifi (think John Scalzi), thrillers, history, romance, and even literary fiction. As long as it makes you laugh, you have a winner on your hands!

Books

Episode 107: LGBTQ material

Thanks to our Guest Host: Lydia!

Want to listen to an episode?

  • You can download an app, search for “Books and Beverages Podcast from CMLE” hit subscribe, 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 “Books and Beverages Podcast” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://booksandbeverages.blubrry.net/feed/podcast/.
  • Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Introduction

Welcome, everyone, to Books and Beverages! This week we are discussing LGBTQ books!

Check out our full information page for more links, and all our nice beverages!

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we support all types of libraries. This is our book group podcast, where we discuss different genres of books each week, while we all sit in our comfy chairs and drink our beverages. And you are, of course, an important part of this book group. So if you do not already have a nice beverage please go get one, so you can join the experience.

There are no right” or “wrong” books to read and chat about for our book group – we are just here to explore all kinds of books. All of us will take away at least a title or two that we want to read at the end of our time together!

Who is joining our reading group this week? This week our Guest Host is Lydia from Great River Library System!

We have so many suggestions here! Check out our podcast webpage for all kinds of links to articles and other big lists of books you can read for yourself, or that you can use to suggest books to patrons or other people who are looking for material of all sorts in this genre.

This is a genre that can make people uncomfortable, and there are research studies out there showing that librarians do not always handle questions in this area as well as they could. In our whirlwind look at all types of LGBTQ books, we want to at  least give you an overview, and to talk about the range of possibilities for books.

The website Common Sense Media has some structured suggestions for books parents or libraries might want to share with kids. “From books with main characters who are LGBTQ or still figuring out their gender or sexual orientations to stories of straight kids or teens with gay friends or parents, these books portray many aspects of the LGBTQ experience.” Their age breakdowns are:

  • Recommendations for All ages
  • Preschoolers (2-4)
  • Little Kids (5-7)
  • Big Kids (8-9)
  • Tweens (10-12)
  • Teens (13+)

Goodreads, our trusted friend in book recommendations has many lists of books of interest to all sorts of readers, with different LGBTQ themes. Here are just a few to give you some perspective on available books you might try!

  • Favorite Gay Couples
  • The Best of Gay Romance
  • Best Lesbian Fiction
  • Transgender Friendly Young Children’s Books
  • m/m books you must read
  • The Best Humorous Gay Romances
  • Queer Superheroes!
  • Favorite Bisexual Fiction
  • Best Gay Cops/ Security Guards/P.I.’s
  • LGBT Science Fiction and Fantasy
  • Best Gay Romance With A Character(s) Who Has A Disability
  • Best Gay Mystery
  • Gay/Queer Poetry
  • Best Fantasy Books with Bisexual Main Characters
  • Best Gay Romance with Bookish/Nerdy/Geeky Characters
  • Best LGBT Humor
  • Non-Binary (Genderqueer, Genderfluid, Gender-Unspecified, etc) Fiction and Memoirs
  • Best Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Non-Fiction
  • Graphic Novels Featuring LGBTQ Themes
  • Gay Romance Featuring Chefs or Food

 

Books

Episode 106: Occupational fiction

Want to listen to an episode?

  • You can download an app, search for “Books and Beverages Podcast from CMLE” hit subscribe, 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 “Books and Beverages Podcast” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://booksandbeverages.blubrry.net/feed/podcast/.
  • Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Welcome, everyone, to Books and Beverages! This week we are discussing Occupational Fiction! What is this genre? It is all about people and the jobs they have – with a story unfolding around it.

Get all the info, and our beverages, on our full information page!

We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we support all types of libraries. This is our book group podcast, where we discuss different genres of books each week, while we all sit in our comfy chairs and drink our beverages. And you are, of course, an important part of this book group. So if you do not already have a nice beverage please go get one, so you can join the experience.

There are no right or wrong books to read and chat about for our book group – we are just here to explore all kinds of books. We love books, and want to talk about them – and we want you to share what you are reading. All of us will take away at least a title or two that we want to read at the end of our time together!

Our guest host this week is Maria Burnham, Technology Integration Coach from the Sauk Rapids/Rice High School. She is also a member of our CMLE Board, and was our very first podcast guest on Linking Our Libraries Episode Five: Digitization Projects.

This is a huge category! Books that look at different kinds of jobs people do are always fun to read; you can either dream about a fun job you don’t have, or be thankful you are not in the awful job from the book. Some of the most popular types of books in this genre are law books, medical books, or books about people in the publishing industry (not surprisingly). If you have read a John Grisham book, or enjoyed the medical anthropology of Temperance Brennen, or had a fictional romance with a baseball player, then you too have enjoyed some occupational fiction! To really be occupational fiction, the book needs to really focus on the job, and the main character who is doing that job.

What are a few jobs you might find in fiction? We link to a very long Wikipedia article with a comprehensive list; and here are a few:

CMLE, Services

Episode 215 Library Impact and ROI

Water drop impact on a water-surface - (5)

(Tune in for a bonus episode Dec 7 on handling stress!)

Check our full information page for all our material!

This is our last episode of Season Two! It has been great talking about all these topics this season, and communicating with you. Thanks so much for downloading and listening – it means a lot to us. We are already starting to work on Season Three, which will start early in 2018. And in the meantime, you can go to our website, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, our social media, our online book groups. You can listen to all of our archive of podcast episodes from Seasons One and Two on our website (or your favorite app!). So we are not leaving you; we just have some different communication strategies to connect with you!

This week we are talking about the impact libraries have on their community, and ways to evaluate your Return on Investment (or ROI).

You know libraries are great. We know libraries are great. But, do your patrons know all about it? How about your Board? Your funders?

It is not enough to be able to say, “we are so neat!” and expect people to give you money and support. Instead, you need to be able to show, with specific data, how neat you are. Fortunately, this is amazingly easy to do! Any type of library and information science organization, including libraries of all types, archives, museums, and more, all will make big returns on the investments made in us. We just have to be able to show it, and then to loudly share that information with everyone else!

Want to listen to an episode?

  1. 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/.
  2. 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!