Tag Archives: Conversation

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

MNLFI Update!

CMLE staff have been involved both on the Steering Committee and in the Futurists groups of the Minnesota Library Futures Initiative (MNLFI) over the past few years.  Please note this communication from the Futurists for those who may want to book a workshop.

Book your workshop with the Minnesota Library Futures Initiative (MNLFI) today! If your organization is interested in an MNLFI workshop, please fill out the workshop request form on our website mnlfi2025.org by June 1. Requests must be received by June 1 to be considered, though the workshops themselves may be held throughout the summer of 2013. Over the past year, members of MNLFI have visited libraries of all types throughout the state of Minnesota facilitating workshops exploring the future of libraries. Workshops can be very broad in scope or can be customized to help your organization with a specific need. Visit the Workshops page for more information.

Feedback from workshops has been positive, pointing to the increased engagement and enthusiasm for the future of libraries among participants.

Examples of previous workshops:

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  • Managers from Dakota County Library considered how future directions will change hiring and training practices.
  • MLIS students at St. Catherine University developed ideas about the future of the “participatory library” as part of a Library 2.0 class.
  • Staff from Carver County Library explored a variety of the Scenarios developed by MNLFI in preparation for a strategic planning discussion.
  • Staff from the MnDOT Library considered how they can foster partnerships to meet the reference needs of the future.
  • See more on the Shared Visions page.

The Minnesota Library Futures Initiative was developed to spark conversation about the future of libraries in Minnesota. The MNLFI Steering Committee selected 24 participants from all types of libraries through an open application process. The MNLFI Futurists gathered to research and discuss factors likely to impact the future of libraries and possible ways libraries might respond to those opportunities and challenges. What we discovered is that being engaged in the conversation about the future is more empowering and energizing than reading about it and everyone has something to contribute.

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

National Day to Unplug is March 1st!

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Some rights reserved by photosteve101
Some rights reserved by photosteve101

You may want to start to condition yourself for a day to power down and see if there are benefits for you and your family in pulling the plug on your electronics. What I really like about this blog post are the 15 activities to try on, before, and after the big day.

As the doctor says, enjoy and give these unplugged tidbits a try! The Huff Post Tech, Feb.17, 2013

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Connect, Converse, Engage!

We want to hear from you! And, we want to make it easier for you to engage with one another as well! We all have something to offer, and although many of our CMLE members come from different library types, we all really do have a lot in common! Let’s learn from each other. Let’s talk. Let’s get this 12-county region of library staff communicating, sharing, and learning from one another!

“How?” you ask?

Well, as you may have noticed, here at CMLE, we have been hard at work rethinking and retooling to better facilitate conversation and sharing across the region. We have a new Facebook page which we’ve connected with our Twitter account and blog, and we’re sending out the “CMLE Weekly Review” via email to all our members.

Our new Facebook page is located at http://www.facebook.com/CentralMinnesotaLibrariesExchange We hope you’ll “like” CMLE on the Facebook page itself — or, on the upper right side of this page, you’ll notice that you can click the “Like” button for the CMLE Facebook account. We will use the Facebook page to connect with those that have “liked” us in an informal yet useful way. We also hope that you will use the comment area on the CMLE Facebook page to talk with other library personnel!

The CMLE Twitter account handle is @CMLEMN! Here, you’ll see updates, reminders, useful links, etc… from CMLE on a regular basis. “Follow” us on Twitter and we’ll be sure to “follow” you right back! That’s the name of the game, and we know you’re sharing useful stuff on Twitter, too! Like Facebook, this is an informal space that we’re hoping to keep fresh, light, energizing, and most of all — helpful!

Additionally, don’t forget you can comment on our blog posts as well in the “Leave a Reply” box!

We know your time is valuable, and hope that these new social media options will make it easier for you to connect with CMLE and other libraries around the region. Please remember that Patricia and Kate are always interested in hearing directly from you, too! Send an email, give us a ring, talk with us face-to-face at an event or conference… whatever is comfortable for you! Hope to hear from you soon!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Minnesota Library Futures Initiative Update and Announcement

The message below is from the Minnesota Library Futures Initiative…

What will your library look like in 2025?

Looking to the future, the challenges facing libraries may seem daunting, but libraries have always evolved to meet the needs of their communities.

The Minnesota Library Futures Initiative was developed to spark conversation about the future of libraries in Minnesota. The MNLFI Steering Committee selected 24 participants from all types of libraries through an open application process. MNLFI Futurists gathered to research and discuss factors likely to impact the future of libraries and possible ways libraries might respond to those opportunities and challenges. What we discovered is that being engaged in the conversation about the future is more empowering and energizing than reading about it and everyone has something to contribute.

The Minnesota Library Futurists would like to help your library or organization facilitate a conversation about the future of library services. We invite you to consider planning an MNLFI Workshop for your library or organization.

What is an MNLFI Workshop?

Gather your staff, organization or community for a workshop led by representatives from the Minnesota Library Futures Initiative. MNLFI members trained in Technology of Participation (ToP) methods will facilitate a conversation at your location based around your intended outcomes. We will help you to develop a workshop which will ensure your entire staff will be engaged in discussing the future and empowered to meet its possibilities and challenges.

Want to lead your own discussion?

The MNLFI Toolkit is a set of resources intended to support local conversations and personal exploration about the future of libraries without facilitation from the MNLFI group. The Toolkit includes demographic information, suggested readings on the future of libraries and MNLFI 2025 Scenarios which describe potential aspects of the library environment of 2025.

Visit our Website

On the new MNLFI website you’ll find more information on MNLFI, our workshops and the MNLFI Toolkit. You can keep up to date with our latest events or fill out a request form if you’d like to schedule an MNLFI workshop for your library or organization.

Join the Conversation

As we facilitate workshops throughout the state, we’ll post outcomes on the Shared Visions page where you can discover and discuss ideas developed by our workshop participants. We invite you to add your own vision of the library in 2025 to the conversation.

We Look Toward the Future

The MNLFI Futurists were given the charge to “envision the library of 2025”. We have been inspired and empowered through our own conversations about the future of libraries and we look forward to sharing that enthusiasm with your library as we envision the future of Minnesota libraries together.