Tag Archives: Mackin

General, School Media Specialist

Follett announces integration with OverDrive, Mackin

325/365 ThanksgivingSue Polanka recently highlighted an announcement from Follett about their Destiny product. At the AASL Conference, Follett said that soon students and teachers won’t have to log into each separate product once they were logged into Destiny. Polanka explained the integration:

“The product integrations ensure that once users have logged into Destiny, they can access OverDrive or MackinVIA content without being presented with another separate login prompt from those vendors’ platforms. Students and staff can easily access the content from Destiny with a single click of a consistent open button, further negating the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords.”

It seems an unlikely partnership, but all parties involved are on board. This is an exciting announcement for Destiny users!

Read the whole post from Polanka now.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/mlmxvl5, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

How Central MN does book fairs!

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booksWe are so lucky to have great members who share their time to respond to CMLE polls. This input allows us to share with others what is happening in the region. Recently we asked what schools are doing regarding book fairs.

Quick Stats:

  • 96% of responders are using Scholastic
  • 2 – average number of book fairs during the school year
  • 40% – average dollar return of the total amount sold

Overall, all responders said they use the book fair to add books to their collection, but others said they use it for furniture, online subscriptions, and makerspace activities. Most responders scheduled their book fair to coincide with conferences at their school.

Responders also weighed in on book fairs:

“The book fair generates a lot of excitement and it is fantastic to see families visit the fair and leave with books to enjoy at home.”

“Each year our profits shrink. Considering changing or dropping completely.”
Like many library topics, there seems to be many opinions regarding book fairs. CMLE’s research shows that there are many different options and delivery methods for book fairs. Mackin’s Funds 4 Books promises 100% return. Barnes and Noble also offers book fair programs for schools. One responder had even worked with Usborne Books. While other schools have used Amazon.com to host virtual book fairs. Let us know if you know of any others and how they worked for you! We hope to continue to cover and talk about this issue in the future, so stay tuned.
Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/ojj9olm, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Academic, General, School Media Specialist

Grants and Resources from Edutopia and Mackin

273/365: 09/30/2013. Money, Money, Money!Do you need grant information? Besides the CMLE Grant Page, another resource for grant seekers is the Grants and Resources page on Edutopia.

From Target Field Trip Grants to the Global Teacher Prize 2015 where one teacher is awarded a $1 million grand prize, Edutopia’s list has a great variety. From Edutopia about the listing:

“Get a roundup of educational grants, contests, awards, free toolkits, and classroom guides aimed at helping students, classrooms, schools, and communities. Check this page weekly to get the latest updates!”

Need even more grants!? Check out Mackin’s Grant channel for the latest funding opportunities for your school or library. They even have a newsletter you can sign-up for if you would like grant news straight in your inbox. They even offer grant writing tips. Check out this months 9 tips for writing effective grant proposals.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/kr5ka35, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Thinking About Moving to A Bookstore Model in Your Library?

C_Robbinsdale_schoolsRobbinsdale School of Engineering and Arts (SEA): A K-5 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics magnet school, has adopted a “bookstore” model for arranging their collection.

SEA is hosting a free library media center tour on Wednesday, May 15th. Open house begins at 4:30, with a short presentation about how and why SEA made the transition beginning at 5:00 pm. Representatives from Mackin will also be available to answer questions about processing.

Please RSVP: http://bit.ly/Yu0fUk

Map: http://mapq.st/yjF7jh

School Media Specialist

Got Fundraising?

Are you planning to do a fundraiser to raise money for your school or media center this fall? If so, remember to take a look at the CMLE-hosted  “Finding the Bucks” webinar recording. The webinar highlighted CMLE’s scholarship page, ideas and tips for obtaining scholarships and grants, and information about Mackin’s Funds4Books program. With the Funds4Books program, 100% of the donations received will go straight to your media center for purchasing books!

Watch for future posts about other similar tools with other book companies too, or give them a call and ask whether they have a tool to help you with online fundraising.  They are usually more than willing to help you earmark funds, to buy their products, for your library collection.

Visit CMLE’s Continuing Education page and click the “View Recording” link next to Finding the Bucks Webinar to get started.

Happy viewing, and happy fundraising!!