Tag Archives: CMLE Update

Academic, CMLE, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Read with CMLE – Book group materials available to borrow!

Attention, book-loving CMLE members! (We hope that is most of you!)

You may have read our earlier post introducing CMLE’s two new book groups on Goodreads. One of our groups is aimed at professional development for librarians, and the books that we will be reading will hopefully be useful to you in your place of work. Our second book group is more about reading for fun, and the books we read will be a little more light-hearted!

life-changing-magic-of-tidying-up curiosity_cover_250For the month of October, our book for the group CMLE Librarian Professionals is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Our book for the group CMLE Librarians Enjoying Books is Curiosity Thrilled the Cat by Sofie Kelly.

Do you want to read with us, but need to borrow a copy of either book? CMLE has two copies of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and one copy of Curiosity Thrilled the Cat that are available to borrow! 

Email Angie and let her know if you are interested. Looking forward to reading together!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

CMLE Board President's Message

Editor’s note: This is a message from CMLE Board President, Maria Burnham, (Media Specialist @ Sauk Rapids Rice High School) that was given during the Board meeting that took place on Tuesday, May 17th. The purpose of this letter is to provide encouragement and support during this time of transition.

Screen shot 2012-12-19 at 12.03.08 PMHello everyone! And happy spring!

First of all, I want to take a moment to congratulate and thank Patricia Post for all of her work as she transitions into retired life. She has worked tirelessly to keep our CMLE ship afloat these last 14 years, and she has served our librarian community well. She provides quality programming and blogs, as well as assisting the Executive Director Search Committee team with any questions we may have in trying to find the best candidate possible as her replacement. Patricia’s shoes are big ones to fill, but I have faith and confidence that whomever we find will continue to move our organization forward. Also, I’d like to thank Angie for joining the CMLE team. She has proven to be a good fit for CMLE, and I’ve been very impressed with her blog posts and her positive energy. And finally, I’d like to thank the members of the Executive Director Search Committee team for the extra time and talent they are donating in order to find the best candidate possible to take over the helm of CMLE. Karen, Seal, Char, Joanne and Patricia (as ex-officio), THANK YOU, for all you have done!

CMLE is an organization that makes a real difference in the lives of librarians. I have received nothing but support from CMLE in scholarships to attend conferences (including TeenLitCon, which was a wonderful opportunity for my students to meet YA authors). Also, recently I was able to attend the Supervor Nuts and Bolts workshop, a wonderful professional development opportunity in learning about the supervisory part of my job, an integral part of my daily duties but one in which I’ve received little-to-no training. These examples show how I felt support from CMLE. And my story is just one of many. CMLE’s work is important work and it can affect many.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/l6sc8te, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Reluctant Reader Post Event Wrap-up

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On December 6th, CMLE hosted the Reaching Reluctant Readers Event with author-librarian Patrick Jones, in St. Cloud, MN.  The purpose of this event was to continue to support literacy within the CMLE region by providing additional insight as to why some youth are reluctant to read, along with potential tips and tricks to engage patrons/users. Thirty people registered for this event, and attendees included librarians, media specialists and paras, college professors, principals, reading teachers, and even some college students. The passion and buzz in the room was contagious; the goal was simple. We all wanted tips and best practices about how  to encourage the joy and wonder of reading!

Patrick  is considered a state-wide expert on teen reluctant readers. He presented from the perspectives of a librarian  and as an author and offered fantastic suggestions that attendees could easily implement immediately.  Jones identified why some youth elect not to read (aliteracy) even if reading was modeled by reader example(s.)  He suggested that the act of reading can be perceived as a barrier to engaging with other youth. Some view reading as an anti-social, solitary and a sedentary act that poorly competes with today’s electronics. As an author, he talked about the physical appearance of books that tend to capture a reluctant reader’s attention; including larger fonts, extensive open space on each page and eye-catching covers. Jones also referred to the best writing style for this type of reader as straightforward, minimal characters and action packed. His concluding thought was to remind us that people who don’t read well sometimes actually fear books, which can feel foreign to us as avid readers. Jones reminded us that the main thing we need to do is to use strategies to reduce the fear!

As a take-away from this event, CMLE asked attendees  about their personal reading experience and discussed favorite reluctant reader books during a round table rally. Topping the list were Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series) by Jeff Kinney, Speak by Laurie H. Anderson and American Born Chinese by Gene Yang.

If you attended this event, what  was your favorite takeaway or “aha moment” ? Please share in the  comments field!