Come to our training event on Tuesday, Nov. 5th and learn how to use the headset devices!
Training will be held from 9-3 at our location: 570 1st St. SE St. Cloud MN 56304. We are inside the cmERDC building and have a large classroom to use.
We’ll have two sessions but feel free to stay for both of them in order to really get a feel for using the headsets. The first session will be from 9am-12pm and the second from 1pm-3pm. CMLE will provide lunch from 12-1pm. (And if you’re here in the morning and have a book you’re reading that you’d like to tell us about, we will happily record a quick Book Bites podcast episode with you!)
If you can’t make it to the training, you can definitely still reserve the headsets for use at your school (provided you are a CMLE member school library) and you should still Apply Here!
At this training session, you will learn how to operate the devices, find lessons that line up with your curriculum, send the VR/AR content to the devices, and use the headsets effectively in your library, media center, or classroom.
Visit our page to find out more information about the VR kit loan program, including instructions and links to additional materials.
And if you apply ahead of time, you can definitely pick up your VR headset kit at this training event! You’ll get to keep the kit (each kit has 8 headsets) until schools close for winter break.
Please RSVP below if you plan to come to this training. Email any questions to vr@cmle.org 🙂
This program is funded in part with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education using federal funding, CFDA 45.310 – Library Services and Technology Act, Grants to States Program (LS-00-19-0024-19). We would love you to send your thanks to @US_IMLS and with @MnDeptEd for providing this great program we can share with our members!
Thanks to an LSTA grant from the MN Department of Education, the State Library Services, with money from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), CMLE has purchased VR kits.
Each kit contains 8 sturdy headsets. You are able to check out one or two kits for 4 weeks. When you receive a kit, you will also gain educator access to an online Portal that contains hundreds of curriculum-aligned lesson plans that incorporates the VR/AR technology.
We are pretty excited about this for our members. Remember, you can apply right here! Right now this is just a program available for CMLE member school libraries.
Do you work in a school library? Do you work in a rural library? Listen up!!
We know our members all across our twelve counties are doing fantastic work in their libraries. Now think about how many more awesome things you could be doing if you had more money!! IMLS can potentially help you with their new grant program. They are accepting applications now through Feb. 25th 2019.
Find more information below and if you want to apply, please remember that CMLE is absolutely here to help you with the process!
This new funding opportunity is designed specifically to strengthen the ability of small and rural libraries, archives, and related organizations to serve their communities, and awards sizes range from $10,000 to $50,000.”
There are three categories of these APP grants:
Transforming School Library Practice – School libraries support learning and the development of critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration skills. IMLS is interested in furthering how school library professionals can serve as integral instructional partners to classroom teachers. Grant projects could include programs and services that prepare students for success in college, career, and life, or foster early, digital, information, health, financial, media, civic, and other types of literacies.
Community Memory – This project category centers on engaging local communities in the collection, documentation, and preservation of their local histories, experiences, and identities.
Digital Inclusion – This category focuses on projects that support the role libraries play in promoting digital literacy, providing internet access, and enabling community engagement through civic data and civic technology.
Read more about the grant here. If you’re interested in learning more, IMLS is offering FREE pre-application webinars to answer questions with program staff. They will be recorded to access at any time. Find out more here.
Wow!! The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) recognized ten libraries across the entire country for the work they are doing in connecting services to their communities. And the Rochester Public Library was one of those libraries!! It’s pretty exciting to have a winning library right here in Minnesota – we are clearly a cool library state!
This is the nation’s highest honor given to libraries and museums that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. Over the past 24 years, the award has celebrated 182 institutions that are making a difference for individuals, families, and communities. The award will be presented at an event at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., on May 24.
Selected from 29 national finalists, the 2018 National Medal for Museum and Library Service winners represent institutions that provide dynamic programming and services that exceed expected levels of service. Through their community outreach, these institutions bring about change that touches the lives of individuals and helps communities thrive.
From a children’s museum in the Mile High City to a small public library in Texas, from a natural history museum in the Pacific Northwest to a Florida library system with a growing urban population, all are meeting the unique needs of their communities in innovative ways.
“It is a pleasure to recognize the 10 distinctive recipients of the National Medal of Museum and Library Service,” said IMLS Director Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew. “Through their programs, services, and partnerships, these institutions exemplify the many ways that libraries and museums are positively transforming communities across the nation.”
Following the ceremony, StoryCorps (link is external)—a national nonprofit dedicated to recording, preserving, and sharing the stories of Americans—will visit each recipient and provide an opportunity for community members to share stories of how the institution has affected their lives. These stories are preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
The next deadline for nominating a museum or library for the 2019 National Medal is October 1, 2018. Learn more about the National Medal on the IMLS website.
“A child and adult literacy program and support for LGBTQ youth helped the Rochester Public Library win a National Medal of Museum and Library Service, the highest honor a library can earn.
The library is one of 10 in the country to get the 2018 award from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.
“It’s really about being a safe, welcoming space and really living our core value, which is that we care. And we really do care about our community,” Rochester Library spokesperson Karen Lemke said Tuesday.
The library noted that community member James Arnold will travel to Washington, D.C., with library director Audrey Betcher to accept the award.
Arnold, 17, “has used the library as a safe space to develop his passion for writing and has helped plan programs for teens and younger children, “and when Arnold first identified as transgender, the library provided him a safe space to explore his identity,” the library said in a statement.
“The best thing about the library is its commitment to serving the entire community even if it’s part of the community that typically doesn’t have a voice. And I think that is a very beautiful thing,” Arnold said in the statement.
“The Rochester Public Library has a range of programming that’s really impressive from our standpoint,” said Teri DeVoe, associate deputy director for the Office of Library Services for the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
She pointed to a long-term reading program for kids and adults as an example. “Many libraries do reading programs, but this is really an example of an intervention that can have an impact on the community at large.”
The Rochester library is one of four Minnesota libraries recognized over the award’s 24-year history. The others are the University of Minnesota Libraries, Hill Museum & Manuscript Library and St. Paul Public Library.”
Libraries across CMLE have Somali community members, and we can always find new ways to reach out and connect with members of the community! Check out this report from the national Institute of Museum and Library Services about strategies Hennepin County library is using to provide some great service.
“We wanted everyone in the Cedar Riverside community to see themselves in the library. Our goal was to demonstrate that Hennepin County Library has services to support individuals who have been in the United States for one day or who have been here for their entire lives. Everyone is welcome and everyone can find something to help them.” – Kelly Stade, Library Services Manager, Hennepin County Library
Asma, a Somali-born mother living in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, community of Cedar Riverside, made typical use of her local Hennepin County library: checking out books for her children. However, like many of her fellow Cedar Riverside residents, Asma didn’t see herself as a recipient of library services, even avoiding spending long periods of time at the library because she felt it was necessary to keep her children quiet.
“Asma was hesitant,” said Ruqia Abdi, Cultural Liaison for Hennepin County Library. “When I explained to her that the libraries had more to offer than just books, she was skeptical. But she was one of our greatest successes.”
In December, after a lot of hard work, Asma completed a phlebotomy education program and now wants to pursue her nursing degree. It was a journey that began when she opened herself to services the library had for supporting higher education and career growth.
Like Asma and many other residents of the urban neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, Cedar Riverside members could benefit greatly from library services. The neighborhood has high unemployment and lower achievement in education than the rest of the county, with many living below the poverty line—and only 31 percent of Cedar Riverside residents had a library card. And although there are three Hennepin County libraries within three miles, none are directly in the neighborhood, and geographic barriers present additional challenges to access.
“The Cedar Riverside community expressed great interest in finding more ways to support their residents in their education and career goals,” said Kelly Stade, Library Services Manager at Hennepin County Library and manager of the outreach project. “As a library, we wanted to see how we could partner with the community to create that support.”
A Cultural Liaison to Listen to a Community
Ruqia Abdi, Hennepin County Library Cultural Liaison (left) visits with a Cedar Riverside volunteer ambassador (right) at the East Lake Library Welcome Event. Abdi’s role as a cultural liaison was key to the outreach project’s success. (Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library)
Through IMLS Grants to States funding, the Hennepin County Library (link is external) (HCL) began identifying ways to promote lifelong learning and continuing education in Cedar Riverside.
“We approached this work wanting to build on the strengths of the community, not from perceived deficits,” said Stade. “We continuously considered the assets that already existed in the community and how those could support library services.”
In 2015, HCL began examining what library services would look like beyond the building’s walls. The library hired Abdi, a Somali-speaking community member who had lived in Cedar Riverside for 19 years and who had a wealth of neighborhood connections. Abdi would develop partnerships with community stakeholders, build a network of volunteers, and serve as a main advocate for HCL.
“She immediately sparked a passion within the community to promote library services,” said Stade. “She knew it was about building trust with individuals and then referring them back to the library.”
Abdi worked with the neighboring libraries to provide cultural competency training. She focused her training on broadening cultural understanding around topics such as prayer, physical contact, and holidays. Additionally, the libraries’ outreach staff took part in neighborhood walking and listening tours, which had a strong influence on the project’s future.
“Through everything we did, we tried to demonstrate our willingness to integrate into the community,” Abdi said. “We always welcomed feedback from the neighborhood, especially key community stakeholders who always provided us with advice on how the library can incorporate itself into the community and address its unique needs.”
During a local library pop-up event, volunteer ambassadors provided friendly, welcoming faces to the community in an effort to build trust in the library and its services. (Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library)
Building a Network of Volunteers
As the project gained momentum, it became imperative that connections made in the neighborhood be meaningful and lasting. Because of the importance the Somali culture places on in-person, oral communications, HCL needed to have a network of individuals who could provide face-to-face contact in a comfortable, familiar setting.
With the help of Abdi and the staff at the neighboring libraries, community members were identified, recruited, and trained as volunteer ambassadors. In the course of a year, 20 community members became library experts and advocates, evolving into an essential resource for the library within the Cedar Riverside community. Some of these ambassadors had never before had a library card, and some volunteers had limited English skills.
Training involved bilingual classes, digital literacy, and guidance on how to support individuals’ school and career goals. After training, these ambassadors helped staff welcome events and pop-up libraries, and became familiar faces for the library in Cedar Riverside. Most importantly, the ambassadors found a home in the library themselves. In evaluation surveys, 100 percent of the ambassadors indicated they use the library more often after having served in the volunteer role.
“Our volunteers really began to see themselves in the library, which was one of our biggest goals,” said Stade.
Welcome Event attendee completes an interactive survey about what they learned about the library.(Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library)
Welcome to the Neighborhood
With a cultural liaison and a team of advocates in place, it was time to bring the community the services they had long wanted. The neighboring libraries hosted welcome events that introduced the volunteer ambassadors to the community, allowed families to experience the libraries’ atmospheres, and built relationships between library staff and the Cedar Riverside Somali community. During the events, staff highlighted services and materials of particular relevance to the community, including job search services, support for academic achievement, and children’s literacy programs.
Evaluation surveys showed that 96 percent of welcome event attendees would visit the library again and 79 percent would tell a friend about the library.
Pop-Up Libraries
A key element aspect of HCL’s outreach was six pop-up library events that brought the library experience directly to Cedar Riverside and demonstrated the library system’s commitment to the neighborhood. HCL brought temporary libraries to community centers, high schools, apartment buildings, mosques, and playgrounds, reaching the people where they gathered. During these pop-up library events, community members were able to sign-up for a library card, check out books, gain technology skills, meet with staff, and become familiar with the services offered by the nearby libraries. Mobile technology kits that included iPads, laptops, a projector, and a mobile print station helped emphasize the digital resources libraries offer the community.
Cedar Riverside volunteer ambassador facilitates a story time for Cedar Riverside residents during a pop-up library event. Pop-up libraries demonstrated HCL’s commitment to integrating themselves into already-established community meetings. (Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library)
“The definition of libraries is changing,” said Abdi. “[In Somalia] libraries were where you checked out a book. But here in the United States, libraries are so much more than that. It’s not a place where we are telling kids to be quiet, and only offer a limited number of books. The library is a place you don’t expect, and we wanted to show the community that.”
In one year, nearly 800 community members attended the events and 181 new library cards were issued.
An important partner resulting from the outreach project was the Hennepin County Law Library. Pop-up library events held for the community connected community members with relevant legal resources, helping community members understand landlord and tenant rights and employee rights. Over the course of a year, 85 community members were connected to the law library directly through community outreach events in Cedar Riverside.
“Sometimes we’d meet people who felt they didn’t deserve the library, or that they didn’t belong in the library,” said Stade. “It’s challenging to convince everyone that the library is for them, and sometimes we weren’t able to. But it was wonderful when we were.”
At Home in the Library
In just one year, HCL bridged the gap between their libraries and an immigrant community, carving out a space in the library where members of Cedar Riverside could feel connected to home. Additionally, staff are more confident and sensitive when serving these patrons, and feel they are able to be more responsive to their needs. Residents continue to be enthusiastic about HCL’s online resources, tutors, language training databases, and career support that the library provides.
A Cedar Riverside teen receives her first library card during a library Welcome Event. In one year, more than 180 library cards were issued in the Cedar Riverside community. (Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library)
Lessons learned from the project also aided in building sustained work in the community through the Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center. A collaborative workforce development program established in partnership with the library system, Hennepin County Workforce Development, the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Community Technical College, and local nonprofit EMERGE, the center supports workforce development and educational attainment in the county.
In the years to come, HCL will continue serving the Cedar Riverside community as well as other communities using this outreach model. As the initiative continues, the most important lesson for Hennepin County Library is realizing that barriers could be anything and anywhere.
“We realized that barriers to library service could be physical, like not having a library nearby, but it can also be psychological,” said Stade, who oversaw the project. “There may be people in our communities who are telling themselves that the library isn’t for them. It was and always will be our job to help everyone see that it is. It is not just a place for books. It’s a place to find yourself.”
