Tag Archives: Communication

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

Let's talk! CMLE Google Groups, and more

orville-2
Orville likes to talk about libraries and library issues!

As we travel around to visit and talk with library people all around the system, we ask everyone what we can do to the help them get their work done. Our jobs are to make your jobs easier, and to help us all work together more effectively. And the one thing we consistently hear is that everyone wants to connect more easily and more frequently with their colleagues in other libraries.

As a system, working to connect everyone together, we want that too! So we are working out some strategies for helping you to get connected in a way that works for you.

One strategy is to set up a variety of Google Groups for you to join as you wish. You can post discussions, ask questions, share material, and set up chatting and Hangouts. So far, we have groups set up for all kinds of different organizations, and you can join any of them. We will be adding groups based on topics you might want to discuss on a regular basis (copyright, information literacy, planning, etc.), but Google takes a while before they let us set up more groups.

So we can dive in here and get started with sharing! While we don’t anticipate everyone will contribute huge amounts of discussion (though, of course that is fine too), we want to start having places where you can chat with each other, ask questions, and generally consult with your colleagues outside your library!

Note: although we envision these as being part of the strategy to connect CMLE libraries, if you are a library person outside of our system it is fine to join and discuss your library topics here. We want to build a community of library people! Continue reading Let's talk! CMLE Google Groups, and more →

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, Communication, General, Public, Resources, School Media Specialist, Services, Special, Tech

Do you need some pep? Check out these library advocacy videos!

Videos can be a great way to demonstrate your services, and to advocate for your library!  Check out these library videos, to see what kinds of things other libraries are trying.

Does your library make videos? Would you like to?? At CMLE Headquarters, we want to encourage video creation and sharing, so tell us about your work!

2016 Livonia Public Library Summer Reading Program … Parkour!

“Do you need a book recommendation? Have you ever seen a librarian stunt double? Check out our 2016 Livonia Library Summer Reading video featuring Phoenix Freerunning Academy and our very limber librarians. Jump into action on June 4, 2016 by grabbing a reading log at any of the Livonia Public Libraries! Visit our website for more info: http://livoniapubliclibrary.org. And for the Children’s summer reading log, visit our Children’s Programs page: http://livoniapubliclibrary.org/kids/…. Library Parkour!”

Save the Troy Library “Adventures In Reverse Psychology”

“The city of Troy, Michigan was facing a budget shortfall, and was considering closing the Troy Public Library for lack of funds. Even though the necessary revenues could be raised through a miniscule tax increase, powerful anti-tax groups in the area were organized against it. A vote was scheduled amongst the city’s residents, to shut the library or accept the tax increase, and Leo Burnett Detroit decided to support the library by creating a reverse psychology campaign. Yard signs began appearing that read: “Vote to Close Troy Library on August 2nd – Book Burning Party on August 5th.” No one wants to be a part of a town that burns books, and the outraged citizens of Troy pushed back against the “idiotic book burners” and ultimately supported the tax increase, thus ensuring the library’s survival.”

 

 

A Vision Shared: School Board/District Planning for

School Library Advocacy

 

“This short film provides pointers for creating a school board/district wide vision statement for school libraries and emphasizes the importance of advocating for school libraries.”

Librarians Do Gaga

“Students and faculty from the University of Washington’s Information School get their groove on.”

 

Librarian Rhapsody- Shoalhaven Library Staff

This is the most unusual annual report from a library that I’ve ever seen – but combining telling their community about the things they have been doing over the past year with a strong message advocating for the library is a great touch! (Keep watching to the end for the final couple of sentences!)

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

Check out some fun library apps: Boopsie, Gabbie, and Remind

Technology is even better when it can help you and your library! We are investigating three apps that are supposed to support communication with patrons, promote your library, and connect your services with the community.

boopsieBoopsie for Libraries is probably the most well-known library app, and is useful for all types of libraries, from K-12 to Special Libraries. According to their site, the app has been downloaded 3.4 million times, with 500,000 app users per month. The app enables libraries to provide patrons with constant access to digital and print collections and services. It also features a “Library locator” to help users find a location close to them. The app can connect patrons with their library’s social media and event calendar. Click here for more information on Boopsie.

gabbie-redNext up is Gabbie, which is a two-way texting app with auto-commands. Some of the features are providing patrons with free texts for overdues and reserves, the ability to add an “Ask a Librarian” link to your website or newsletters, and a console to communicate with patrons with visual and audio alerts. For some examples, check out these libraries in Iowa that have taken advantage of the Gabbie app: the Wilton Public Library and the Earlham Public Library. For more information on how to get Gabbie for your library, click here.

remindFinally, Remind is an app that was included in the 2015 AASL Best Apps for Teaching & Learning. It’s a messaging app that allows schools or libraries to communicate with large groups or just an individual. It also allows you to set reminders. To see how it can be helpful for libraries, check out this free webinar from AASL. If you don’t want to watch a whole webinar, the presentation slides are also available.

Do you use any of these apps in your libraries, or do you have other ones that you have found helpful? Share your experience with us!

 

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Do Students Know How to Have a Conversation?

image by Paul Martin Lester
Image by Paul Martin Lester

A recent article, My Students Don’t Know How to Have a Conversation, by The Atlantic raises an interesting topic that seldom gets talked about. With the push for 1:1 in schools and with 98% of adults ages 18-29 owning a cell phone, most young people have lost the art of having a conversation.

Paul Barnwell, who teaches English at a high school in Louisville, KY noticed that his students were struggling with even simple face to face conversations. “Conversational competence might be the single-most overlooked skill we fail to teach students,” he said. “Kids spend hours each day engaging with ideas and one another through screens—but rarely do they have an opportunity to truly hone their interpersonal communication skills.”

In the article he goes on to wonder, “what if we focused on sharpening students’ ability to move back and forth between the digital and real world?” he asks. “The next time you interact with a teenager, try to have a conversation with him or her about a challenging topic. Ask him to explain his views. Push her to go further in her answers.”

Have you seen a deterioration of student conversation skills? How can we address this issue? Is this even an issue or just the way of the future? Let us know what you see in your K-12, public or college libraries!

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

Collaborative Learning Resources

Image by Sean MacEntee. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Sean MacEntee. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

Edudemic posted an article identifying ways to build stronger collaboration among peers. The author,  discusses the benefits to sharing resources and ideas for the purposes of uncovering practical and innovative solutions.  These solutions start with a simple conversation. Noting that it takes more than visually seeing colleagues, suggesting resources to help connect with peers routinely and in meaningful ways. If nothing else, it is a way to measure your work in relation to other libraries. Click here to read Casey-Rowes’ article, 10Web Resources For Becoming A Better Collaborator (September 2013.)

TIP: One of the ideas mentioned in this article is to develop a Personal Learning Network (PLN.) These networks are comprised of a collection of people (contacts) to engage and exchange information with (often online.) Here are some additional PLN resources, archived by Edudemic, for you to consider:

  • A WordPress Widget Perfect for Building Your PLN (link)
  • 3 Ways to Kick Start Your PLN (link)
  • What My PLN Means to Me (link)
  • How to Manage Your PLN Using Twitter (link)
  • 3 Ways to Turn Your PLN Into an Active Network (link)