Tag Archives: Guest Blogger

Check it Out:

Kasey Kohler Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Kasey Kohler, media specialist at Vandenberge Middle School. Read more about our Extended Mini Grant Program. This program is only available during the FY21 school year.

Vandenberge Middle School sends their sincere thanks to CMLE for their generosity in supporting a grant for updating our makerspace. It has been a fun journey of picking out materials based on student surveys and beginning to distribute them. 

Every step of the way we have had student input in decision making and we wanted to have the reveal be special.  In order to draw up the excitement before revealing all of the new materials we closed the makerspace and gave it a well deserved makeover. It definitely drew interest from our students as they tried to be patient. We have created three zones in our makerspace; play, create, and innovate. 

Creative projects have been the most popular and this is the area which we purchased most of our new supplies. Origami paper stars and the button makers have been two of the most sought after supplies. It is wonderful to see how our students represent themselves and showcase their talents to the world. Every day there are new students coming into the library asking about projects they have seen others create. 

The Sphero Minis have been gaining attention as well in our innovation zone.  Students are using materials we have had (such as the Keva Planks) and creating obstacles for each other. Although we enjoy seeing them expanding their knowledge and problem solving, most of the time we see students simply having fun and we love it. 

Without the help of CMLE, giving these opportunities to our students would have been more difficult. Their button artwork has inspired us, their duct tape fashion has made us smile, and their willingness to try new things and create connections to what they are learning in the classroom is the best. 

Thank you for your contribution. This update in our makerspace is coming at a time where students are just getting back to being able to do things together and we are overjoyed to be able to give them the chance to collaborate in a safe environment.

Check it Out:, Guest Blogger

Brenda Przybilla Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Brenda Przybilla, Library Specialist at Mary of Lourdes School in Little Falls, MN. Read more about our Extended Mini Grant Program. This program is only available during the FY21 school year.

Mary of Lourdes School would like to thank you for the grant money that we received to upgrade our library system.

We were able to purchase two new scanners that we use for checking out materials to students and teachers. This has made it possible for multiple people to scan the items and has helped us be more productive. It is also a valuable tool to use in scanning new materials into our on-line library system.

In many cases this eliminates the need to hand enter information such as title, author and subjects into our library system.

We were also able to purchase label protectors that are used routinely as we add materials to our library.

Once again thank you for your support of our library, it is greatly appreciated!

CMLE, Guest Blogger

Ellie Radaj Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Ellie Radaj, Library Media Specialist at Pinewood Elementary in Monticello, MN. Read more about our Extended Mini Grant Program or fill out one of our applications. This program is only available during the FY21 school year.

Pinewood Elementary says a big THANK YOU! to the CMLE for their Mini-Grant program.

When schools shut down in March of 2020, our library, like everyone else, was a bit unprepared.  Our large elementary school was caught with almost 2,000 library books checked out to students and staff. 

Over the course of the spring and fall, our library staff took concerted efforts to regain as many books as possible, but we knew for certain that we did not want students or their families to be burdened by paying for lost books during such a time of chaos and uncertainty.  Instead, in October we wrote off the remaining 80 unreturned books as a loss.  

Unfortunately, nearly half of those unreturned books were from our most popular topics and series – Minecraft, Pokemon, Marvel, Wimpy Kid, Dog Man, Raina Telegemeier – and while they were a small portion of our total collection, the loss hit hard, and the students noticed many of their favorite books missing.  

This spring, we reached out to CMLE to inquire about the Mini-Grant, and received funding to replace many of these popular books!  We were able to purchase over 60 brand new books for our collection from Barnes and Noble using their educator discount, and the students noticed as soon as they started to hit the shelves! 

As we processed the books a few at a time, the excitement was palpable. These are the books that make our students love the library, that spark their attention and pull them into reading.  We love being able to provide students with books that fuel their passions and open the door for life-long readers.

Our students say a huge THANK YOU!

Check it Out:, CMLE, Guest Blogger

Karen Gfroerer Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Karen Gfroerer K-5 Media Specialist at Prairie View Elementary Middle School in Otsego, MN. Read more about our Extended Mini Grant Program or fill out one of our applications. This program is only available during the FY21 school year.

*Note: scroll to the bottom to watch a fantastic video Karen put together to show her students the new books!!

To the Central MN Libraries Exchange,

I want to start off by saying THANK YOU! I received my nonfiction book order today and it was so much fun unpacking the books. With every book I pulled out, I knew exactly the group of students that was going to go crazy for them and that made me so anxious to get pictures and put together a video for them showcasing the books.

As stated in my grant application, the target for my purchase was balancing out a need for gaps in our nonfiction section, particularly for the younger readers. All of the books I purchased do just that while also being high interest. Knowing this I feel certain that all of the books will have a high circulation rate.

As we prepare for students to return to school in two weeks, we have had to rethink how we operate our library. Since I have to go to the classrooms for their media time it will prohibit students from browsing shelves.  However, I have come up with a way for them to still get books THEY want. I have created a request slip where the students in K-2 can circle pictures of topics they like to read about and then our media assistant and I will pull their choices and deliver their orders to them, just as they would utilize a grab-n-go at a public library. The 3rd-5th graders will use our Destiny Discover catalog to put choices on hold. One of the nice features of Destiny Discover is it highlights new books at the top, with pictures of the covers too!  Navigating our book checkout this way leaves me pretty confident that there will be no lull in circulation. 

This grant gave me such hope this year when nearly all funding sources for purchasing new books were giving poor returns or none at all. The students at my school truly love choosing library books and I know they will be very excited to access the ones purchased from this grant opportunity.

Check it Out:, Guest Blogger

CMLE Guest Post: Join Me in Building Inclusive Collections

Guest Post by Jenny Hill, Ed.D. St. Cloud State University

I was recently reading a book about library media centers where the question was posed: When you walk into a media center, who does space the belong to, the media specialist, or the students (Wools & Coatney, 2018)? 

This is a convicting question and that makes me stop and think.  Media specialists may be the program administrators, but space needs to belong to the kids!  

That leads me to another question: who are our students?

As demographics continue to shift in our schools, I find that the 1990 work of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, often referred to as “the mother of multicultural literature,” still rings true today.  In her classic essay, Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors, Dr. Bishop outlines the need for kids to have access to books that reflect who they are; mirrors; provide perspective into another’s world: windows; and provide a way for students to enter into another’s context: sliding glass doors.

Twitter seems to be echoing this idea in 2020 with hashtags such as #WeNeedDiverseBooks  #DiverseReads and #OwnVoices.

We all want to develop inclusive collections, but how can this be accomplished?

School Library Journal is hosting a series of webinars this fall called Equity in Action: Building Diverse Collections.  There are three parts being held virtually on Tuesday, October 20th, Tuesday, October 27th, and Tuesday, November 10th which include topics such as:

  • What is a diverse and inclusive collection?
  • Collection Management Strategies to Enact Change at Your Library
  • Equity Work Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
  • Conducting a Diversity Audit of Your Collections
  • Stereotypes, Tropes, and Cultural Appropriation: A Collection Development Deep Dive

Registration costs about $300 and self-paced options online are available if you cannot attend the live sessions.  More registration information can be found here.

If you do decide to attend, I would love to connect with you throughout the process and beyond to see if we can work together to implement some of the strategies presented so you can build a more inclusive collection in your schools. E-mail me at: jchill@stcloudstate.edu

References:

Reading Rockets. (2020).  A video interview with Rudine Sims Bishop, Ph. D.  https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/experts/rudine-sims-bishop

Woolls, B. & Coatney, S. (2018).  The school library media manager. 6th ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.