Tag Archives: CMLE

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Training Opportunity: Affordable Care Act

This post was written by the State Library Services (9/20/13, 11:15 am)

Preparing for the Affordable Care Act

In a new partnership with the Minnesota Department of Commerce, State Library Services is pleased to announce Affordable Care Act training sessions for library staff. The Department of Commerce recognizes the central role that libraries play in helping to connect Minnesotans to essential information, and wants to make sure that all Minnesotans understand their rights and options under the Affordable Care Act. State Library Services’ goal is to ensure that library staff are prepared to help library patrons navigate the new healthcare insurance landscape.

Designed as train-the-trainer sessions, the training will be offered via conference calls and include ample time for questions and answers. The training will help prepare library staff to work with patrons who are shopping for health insurance through MNsure or the private market. Alyssa Von Ruden who is a Health Policy Advisor at the Minnesota Department of Commerce will lead the sessions. Alyssa is an expert in the Affordable Care Act as it relates to insurance change in Minnesota.

Sessions will be held on Thursday, September 26 (10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.) and Monday, September 30 (3p.m. – 4p.m.). To participate, call 1-888-742-5095; when prompted, enter the Conference Code: 787 494 7876. To support library staff over the longer term, State Library Services will be scheduling monthly conference calls with the Department of Commerce that will give library staff a chance to get up-to-date information to address emerging issues.

Upcoming sessions will be announced through State Library Services’ listserv. If you have questions about this training opportunity or would like to to sign up for State Library Services’ listserv please contact Jennifer Nelson at 651-582-8791 or Jennifer.r.nelson@state.mn.us.

MN Dept. of Commerce. Retrieved from the web.
Retrieved from the website.
MDE Logo. Retrieved from MDE website.
Retrieved from MDE website.
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

ALA Conference: CMLE Scholarship Recipient

The following post was submitted by CMLE scholarship recipient David Wuolu, Collection Development Librarian, Clemens Library & Alcuin Library, College of St. Benedict’s/St. John’s University.

David Wuolu,
David Wuolu, Collection Development Librarian

Thanks to the CMLE scholarship, I was able to recently attend the 2013 American Library Association annual conference in Chicago, IL.  In fulfillment of my obligations for this funding, I am submitting this essay.

What were your favorite takeaways or new things learned?

I was hoping to learn more about best practices with ebooks for academic libraries.  There were several poster sessions which dealt with ebooks, and demand-driven acquisition experiences, and I was able to visit with the librarians who had implemented these programs.  I also attended the Collection Development of Academic Libraries meeting which included two vendors (JSTOR and EBL) and a librarian who shared their thoughts on the next significant ebook development, which included issues important to ebook suppliers such as preservation policy, discoverability, harnessing big data, evolution of lending models, as well as the ongoing issues important to librarians such as ILL, multi-user access, and DRM-free ebooks.   Interestingly, JSTOR indicated a little wiggle room on fair use, which is a change from their earlier stance on this topic.

Another session I attended was the Digital Preservation Interest Group.    Aside from learning how complicated digital preservation is, and how some institutions working with preservation of digital content, I did take away a model that has been developed by the Library of Congress, NDSA program, which is called the NDSA levels of preservation, a simple 1-page guide used to describe digital preservation (http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndsa/activities/levels.html).

As a result of attending this event, can you identify and explain a few things you can use/apply to your work or practice?

I learned more about ebooks, and more about digital preservation, both of which can be applied to my work.  The future is becoming increasingly digital, and increasingly clearer to me as a result of attending this meeting.  Still, there were a few interesting comments in the collection development meeting about an increase in print usage coinciding with ebooks, so I don’t think we’re done with print quite yet.

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

How to Keep Libraries Relevant

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Image by MLibrary. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by MLibrary. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.

A recent post on the Education Week blog caught my eye, and captured the true dilemma many librarians and media specialists face as they ponder the future of libraries. The post is most specific to K-12, yet there are parallels for other library types too. Author Matthew Lynch proposes that to keep up with student needs, school libraries need to embrace a blend of traditional and contemporary philosophical needs (then takes the time to list them out). It is not hard to understand that remote access to the school catalog is a huge deal to students, yet so many schools in our region do not provide such access. In some districts, individual schools cannot even see each other’s catalogs. Why is that? Is it only a money thing, or do some believe our power remains in forcing people to  physically visit the library or in asking the  media person to do a search for them? Students want instant, remote access  to school catalogs for  books and other objects too. The post concluded with a rousing conclusion about Libraries of the Future and our own Minnesota school media leader Doug Johnson provided a great quote in this section.  Johnson says “that all libraries have three primary responsibilities in the coming decade: providing high touch environments in a high tech world; offering virtual services; and standing ground as uber information hubs.”  If decision makers are willing to break out of the traditional rut, school libraries (all libraries) will remain relevant and viable. Take five minutes to read the complete post, including  quotes from other thought leaders on this subject!

Patricia Post, Director
Central MN Libraries Exchange (CMLE)
A Minnesota Multitype Library System
St. Cloud State University, Miller Center 130-D
720 4th Ave. So.
St. Cloud, MN  56301-4498

Phone: 320-308-4779  Fax: 320-308-5131
E-mail: papost@stcloudstate.edu

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

Up for a Literary Adventure?

Image by Olfiika. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by Olfiika. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.

Just for fun, picture yourself sitting in the living room at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, walking the halls of William Faulkner’s Rowan Oak in Oxford, Missouri or maybe staying in Truman Capote’s apartment in Brooklyn, NY.  If you are fan of both literature and travel, then Flavorwire’s post on 50 Places Every Literary Fans Should Visit (July 2013) is for you.

Tip: If you are looking for something a little closer to home, consider F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthplace in St. Paul, MN.

Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Reader’s Advisory Webinar

On October 8th, at 1 pm (central time), WebJunction will host a free webinar, Serving Readers: Beyond the Basics.

Images retrieved from WebJunction website.
Images retrieved from WebJunction website.

If you have incorporated reader’s advisory best practices for serving patrons, this webinar will discuss ways to enhance traditional techniques with new resources. It will be facilitated David Wright and Andrea Gough, representing the Seattle Public Library. Click here for additional information.