Tag Archives: Conference

Check this out:, General, School Media Specialist

The First Ever MEMO Unconference

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Participant’s hands had a death grip on steaming mugs of coffee as we assembled for the Joyce Valenza keynote, which kicked off the Saturday Unconference day for the 2013 MEMO Conference. Valenza was amazing as always, and I have reams of notes from her presentation; mostly new tools. Links will be forthcoming.

About one third of the attendees had attended an unconference before, which surprised me. The content of an unconference is based solely on the immediate interest of those in the room .  The rules were: NO power points, rule of two feet (leave a session if it does not suit your immediate need), everyone has a voice, everyone is an expert, and have fun! Then, pads of sticky notes were placed on the tables and we were asked to consider topics to put on the slips of paper to then transfer to a large grid at the front of the room. We were asked  to consider: What can I teach about, what do I want to learn about, or,  I want to discuss or collaborate with others on this topic. The suggested topics  sorted themselves out quickly and numbers were placed on tables to correspond to the numbered topics.

10-8-2013 2-05-05 PM

It was really hard to choose where to go, but then I remembered the “two feet” rule, so the stress was instantly gone! In round two, I chose the e-folio table, but most of us were there hoping for an expert or someone to lead the conversation. When no one took on either role, without guilt, I got up and ambled on over to student PLN’s which was better.

But the highlight for me was truly during the first round, I picked Being Influential. I was delighted and surprised to see that Stephen Abram, our Friday luncheon keynote speaker was prepared to lead the conversation. Stephen has many claims to fame and I have followed him online for years.  He is the author of Stephen’s Lighthouse blog, is a library trend watcher, fundraiser,  innovator, thought provoker, and has held several executive leadership positions in the library field; big names like Gale, SirsiDynix, Thomson, and ProQuest. Bonus! So, I and seven other professionals could sit around a table and listen to Stephen’s thoughts on the subject,  and shoot him questions about how to apply his suggestions to local situations. It was well worth my while, I took detailed notes,  and will share the details of that little round table discussion next week, so stay tuned!

If you were also at the MEMO Unconference, what did you think? Is this an event model that you would like to try in our Central Minnesota region among colleagues? CMLE listens to its member libraries/media center staff,  so if you have an opinion, make your voice heard!

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

Sinclair Lewis Writer’s Conference

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

On Saturday, October 12th the Sinclair Lewis Foundation of Sauk Centre will be hosting the 2013 Writer’s Conference. This full day conference will feature keynote speaker Jim Klobuchar; poet Joyce Sutphen; story teller Anthony Bukoski; along with author and literary agent Kim Connor.

Registration costs will cover attendance at the keynote address, a catered lunch and the reception held at the historic Palmer House in Sauk Centre, MN.

Register online before October 9th.

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.

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

2013 Fall MEMO Conference

Image by MEMO. Conference Logo 2013.
Image by MEMO. Conference Logo 2013.

Information in this post was provided by Laurie Conzemius, MEMO.

The MEMO Fall Conference, It’s About the Learning, is being held on Oct 3-5 at St. Cloud’s River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Each year attendees comment that the sessions at this conference, more than any other they attend, support their work in schools and provide the tools and training they need to do their job.

  • As teacher librarians we share a love of books and authors. For those of you able to attend, Thursday evening will feature a new special event, Journey of a Young Adult Book: From Writer to Reader. Dr.Heidi Hammond from St. Catherine University will moderate a discussion with young adult authors Carrie Mesrobian and Mary Losure, along with Carolrhoda Lab’s educational director Andrew Karre and Red Sofa Literary agent Dawn Fredrickson. Mary Casanova, featured Minnesota author, will delight us with a Saturday luncheon keynote address.
  • Both Joyce Valenza and Stephen Abram, recognizable names for those working in school libraries, focus on integrating technology in all aspects of education.
  • Keynote speaker Steve Hargadon, host of the Future of Education interview series and creator of the Classroom 2.0 social network, also has a strong connection to school libraries. Their keynote sessions are certain to inspire you, and Joyce and Minnesota’s own Doug Johnson will be hosting a “unconference” format for our Saturday breakout sessions. This format allows attendees to tailor the conference sessions to their own needs, and will be certain to provide you with a wealth of knowledge and a list of connections for your professional learning network.
  • Several Minnesota authors will be on hand throughout much of the conference to share their stories, offer autographed copies of the books, and provide information about their interest in school visits and other communication with students and libraries.
  • Breakout sessions of interest to K-6 library media specialists include iRead at the eLibrary; Minnesota Youth Reading Awards; Literary Rotations with a Technology Twist; Books for Teaching the MN Native American Standards; 2013 Mackin BookTalk Live!; Information Literacy: The Transition; Be Essential – and Convince Others that You Are; Younger American’s Reading and Library Habits Report; and much more!
  • Breakout sessions of interest to secondary media specialists include: YouTube (Your Channel/Your Resources); iRead at the eLibrary; Research Collaboration Librarian & Teacher; Research Projects and EasyBib; Supporting the New MN 6-8 Social Studies Standards; Online Information Literacy – Creating Effective Search Strategies; How Twitter Changed my Professional Life; Books for Teaching the MN Native American Standards; Teaching and Learning with Graphic Organizers; 2013 Mackin BookTalk Live!; Information Literacy: The Transition; Be Essential – and Convince Others that You Are; Tech Tools for Reading & Writing in content Areas; Younger American’s Reading and Library Habits Report; and many more!

Register online at: bit.ly/2013memo

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

MDE: Innovative Learning Time Conference!

Clockman! Photo by Sean MacEntee and retrieved from Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons license.
Clockman! Photo by Sean MacEntee Retrieved from Flickr used under Creative Commons license

*Information in this post was submitted by Nancy Walton, State Librarian, Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).

The Minnesota Department of Education and St. Olaf College invite educators, out-of-school time professionals, and all other interested community members to the 2013 It’s About Time! Innovative Learning Time Conference.  This conference will be held 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, June 21, 2013, at St. Olaf College Buntrock Commons.  The conference aims to help communities collaborate to create richer, more effective learning environments both inside the school day and through out-of-school and summer learning opportunities.  Keynote presentations will include:

  • Dr. Rose Chu, Interim Dean, School of Urban Education, Metropolitan State University, St. Paul, on more, deeper learning during the school day;
  • Bob Seidel, Senior Policy Director of the National Summer Learning Association, on stronger, connected learning during out-of-school time;
  • Dr. Eric Jolly, President of the Science Museum of Minnesota, on whatever it takes  to close learning gaps; and
  • Father Tim Manatt, S.J., President of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Minneapolis, on innovation in college and career partnerships from high school through college graduation.

Breakout sessions and small group discussions will provide participants the opportunity to focus on their particular interests in greater depth.

Registration and payment deadline is Friday, June 14. Cost is $45.  Register online at: http://wp.stolaf.edu/conferences/

Please contact Cindy S. Jackson cindy.s.jackson@state.mn.us with your questions.