Tag Archives: media center

Check it Out:, Guest Blogger

Deanna Euteneuer Extended Mini Grant Report

This is a guest post from Deanna Euteneuer, Instructional Coach-Tech Integrationist at Pleasantview Elementary. 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.

Pleasantview Elementary would like to thank CMLE for this wonderful grant. This past year has been filled with several transitions between in-person and distance learning.

As we navigated the different environments we strived to keep our students reading by allowing them to borrow books from our media center. Some of the students loved the books so much, they have not been returned.

Thanks to the grant from CMLE, we’ve been able to replace the books that were lost and purchase several new titles! Your generosity continues to foster the love of reading!

Check it Out:, CMLE

We’re Hiring! Work With CMLE as a Part-Time School Library Contractor

We are looking to hire a part-time (10-15 hours per week) contractor to work with us through mid-June of 2021. We’re looking for someone familiar with K-12 schools in Minnesota who can help us connect our library services with the needs of our member school libraries.

You can get more information in the full posting here, but these are some of the qualities we are looking for in our contractor:

  • Someone who can move fast, identify problems, and help us to come up with solutions for our members. 
  • This job will require someone with experience in schools, and preferably in school libraries/media centers. 
  • We need someone who is a good communicator – online and in person, when necessary. 

We will work to keep in-person contacts to a minimum, in accordance with best practices and guidelines for working during the pandemic. 

The contractor will meet regularly with CMLE staff, to report on progress, clarify expectations, ask questions, and discuss plans.

Hourly pay: $20

Applicants for this position should submit a resume and a cover letter. Send your application to Mary Jordan: mary@cmle.org.

Please see our full posting for more information.

Guest Blogger, School Media Specialist

CMLE Mini Grant: PaperBackSwap.com

This is a Guest Post from Tammie Walker, Library Designee, Staff Development and Assessment chair and Advisor at Jane Goodall Environmental Sciences Academy in Maple Lake. Want to read more reports from CMLE Mini Grants? Check out our page.

We are elated at the support an organization such as yours could be to our small rural Charter School. Our Library team consists of an advisor, two parent volunteers and seven students. We serve a student body of 110, so having a fully functioning library has been a goal of ours for some time now.

Deciding how to best use the $300.00 gave us an opportunity to discuss ways to use the funds in the most beneficial way. Our consideration was two-fold: One, filling gaps in our library book kits. And two, the environment. We have decided to use the money to subscribe to a program called PaperbackSwap.com.

This site allows us to purchase books to fill out our library book kits, and also to share books that we no longer need.
How this works: 1. We list books we no longer need so that we can swap them for ones we do. 2. Once the book is requested we send it to the recipient for the cost of Media Mail. 3. In return, we gain points to have the book we need sent to us free of charge.

It is a win for us, a win for those who receive our books, and a win for the environment, keeping unused books out of landfills. It is a win all around.

The grant will be used to fund the Media Mail fees as we fill our kits. The first titles we will request will be some of Shakespeare’s plays along with Of Mice and Men ​and ​Animal Farm. Some contemporary selections will be Hunger Games ​ and ​Out of the Dust.

Once again, thank you so much for this grant. One of our “take-a-ways” is: when multiple organizations work together and pool resources, a small win becomes a bigger win.

Tammie, Vicky, Janis, Yuli, Sam, Belle, Bayley, Zane, Matt and Drew

Advocacy, Communication, School Media Specialist

It Takes a Village: Tools to Help Keep the Community Informed, Engaged, and Supportive

Working Together Teamwork Puzzle Concept
I saw this blog entry referenced on the ITEM listserve, and read through it all – it was written by CMLE’s own Lisa Newhouse in Monticello! This is a great (GREAT!) example of strategies all library people can use to promote your library services to your community members! Read this excerpt below, and then click on the link to go read the rest of it at her site!!

By Lisa Newhouse,  @LisaNewhouse4

“The Media Center is an integral part of the school community. Media Specialists and Librarians are aware of this, but how do we keep the community informed of all we do? How do you engage your school and the community itself in the Media Center programs? How do you in turn get the community to stand behind the Media Center and support the many programs? Well, below I will tell you what I have done to get our community involved here. I’d love to hear how you get your community involved as well.
  • Web Site: The Media Center website has all of the information about everything that happens in the Media Center. I designed my Media Center website using Google Sites and some HTML coding. I tried to design it to be simple and functional so that parents, staff, and students could easily access what they were looking for. On the home page, I had links to my contact information, newsletter sign up, the school library catalog, the public library website, and useful websites and online sources.

Continue reading It Takes a Village: Tools to Help Keep the Community Informed, Engaged, and Supportive →

Academic, General, School Media Specialist

Spring ITEM Conference – Call for Proposals and Registration

spring ITEM confGet ready for the second annual ITEM Spring Conference. The conference will take place on April 30th at Hopkins North Junior High.

With the motto “Reimagine Learning” teachers, educational leaders, technology integrationists, and media specialists come together to talk about makerspaces, learning spaces, and the future of the media center.

Check out the website for registration.

Got something cool you’re working on? Share it! The conference has a call for proposals until March 18th. Submit your idea now.