Are you feeling a bit discouraged, negative, or hopeless in your work? It happens to the best of us from time to time, so don’t be too hard on yourself, but also take action! If you have adopted a passive “whatever” attitude, take action now. Stephen Abram’s blog post on this subject is exactly what we all need to refocus and revisit our passion. You’ve heard the saying, “teach like your hair is on fire?” Librarians are teachers, coaches, advisors, mentors…the list goes on! Can you even imagine how we could change the world if we approached our work with the passion we had when we started our careers? You are in for a treat…read Stephen’s blog post at http://tinyurl.com/b224qdj and engage in librarianship again like your hair is on fire!
Tag Archives: Food for Thought
Library Journal’s List of America’s Star Libraries – Six Minnesota Libraries Named!
Six Minnesota public libraries have been named to Library Journal’s list of America’s Star Libraries for 2012. The designated libraries include:
Minnesota:
Hennepin County Library
Grand Marais Public Library
Jessie F. Hallett Memorial Library, Crosby
East Grand Forks Campbell Library
Ely Public Library
Edgerton Public Library
For more information see: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/11/managing-libraries/lj-index/class-of-2012/americas-star-libraries-2012-top-rated-libraries/
Central MN Referendum Success!
Yesterday’s election was a chance for forty school districts in the state to put an operating referendum on the ballot. Statewide, 37 referendum questions passed, with 18 fails. According to MPR News, about half of the districts are asking voters to continue levies that are already in place, the other half are asking voters for an increase. Last year, 130 districts came to voters with levies. This fall, it appears that school districts are avoiding asking voters during busy election years for fear their pleas for taxpayer help will be lost amid the rest of the campaign activity.
The variety in levy requests statewide is surprising. The districts in Barnum, Milaca, McGregor and Peqout Lakes are asking for $1 per student. Meanwhile the Red Lake Falls, Fosston, Red Wing and Clearbrook-Gonvick districts are asking for more than $1,000 per student per year. The Hendricks Public School District levy is $2,000 per student.
We are happy to report that schools in Central Minnesota did pretty well with their operating referendums, with only the Royalton district failing. The following schools may be celebrating a bit today due to passed referendums, and we offer hearty congratulations!
Becker, Delano, Elk River, McGregor, Milaca, Paynesville, Rocori, Sauk Rapids Rice,
To see the statewide details of the levies, go to http://tinyurl.com/aakn2ko
AASL Filtering Report is Now Available
According to results of a survey conducted by the American Association of School Libraries (AASL), the filtering of legitimate, educational websites and academically useful social networking tools continues to be an issue in most schools across the country. An executive summary of the supplemental questions on filtering are included as a part of AASL’s longitudinal survey, School Libraries Count! Read the four-page summary report on the AASL website and consider taking a look at the banned websites part of the site too. Banned Websites Awareness Day seeks to promote an awareness of how overly restrictive filtering affects student learning at the very time that schools are encouraging the learning of 21st Century Learning Skills! 
The Professional Development “Unconference”
Have you been hearing about a new (technically a few years old) way of doing conferences called the unconference? Admittedly, they are informal events, sometimes on a Saturday, and the success of them is based largely on who attends, who has knowledge of proposed topics, and the willingness of attendees to not only listen and learn, but contribute too. The popularity of Edcamps, a type of professional development for educators, originated from social media connections. Get an insider’s view of what makes these events tick, and what kind of usability we could consider here in Central Minnesota. Go to the full article on SmartBlog on Education, 10/30/2012.