Tag Archives: media specialist

General, School Media Specialist

CMLE Featured Service: North Star Library Consortium

Are you looking for great pricing on a hosted software solution to manage your library collection? CMLE became aware of needs in this area several years ago. Some schools with extremely tight budgets were contemplating a return to their card catalogs, which is simply not acceptable anymore. There was a serious need to find solutions to jump start school library collections again!

Destiny is a state-of-the-art software solution that supports K-12 students and staff in the classroom, media center, or from home. Its higher-end, school-specific functionality is typically priced outside of the reach of small districts, unless they have access to a consortial buy. The North Star Library Consortium is now a statewide opportunity open to any school media centers. By working collaboratively with other multitype library systems  over several years to get a group of 110 districts, and 230 individual school sites, we are able to keep the pricing formula which offers affordability to even the smallest school districts.

It is not necessary, but we strongly encourage all schools in a district to join the Consortium at the same time. In this way, media specialists within a district can see all parts of the district’s collections, work together to solve problems, or assist each other with software tweaks too. And, by being part of the Consortium, these people also have over 200 other schools on a listserv using the very same product, solving the same problems. For media specialists who have been working in acute isolation, this can be energizing, and offers a huge layer of support in their daily work. By having the software hosted and maintained at Region 1 in Moorhead, MN, media specialists no longer have to rely on assistance from over-burdened tech staff in their district. Region 1 staff backs up Consortium data every two hours and attends to software updates too.

The full Consortium is currently represented by 110 districts, with 230 individual sites.  Over 2.7 million library titles are managed through this system, with an estimated value of $57 million, serving over 172,000 patrons. The following CMLE school districts (and associated number of school sites) are now part of the North Star Library Consortium, with interest from others in the region as budgets and staffing allows. NSLC members from the CMLE region include:

Image by 401 (K) 2013. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by 401 (K) 2013. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.
  • Sartell (4 schools)
  • Rocori (5)
  • East Central (2)
  • Melrose (2)
  • Aitkin (2)
  • Long Prairie/Grey Eagle (2)
  • Cathedral-John XXIII (1)
  • North Branch (4)
  • Kimball (2)
  • Monticello (4)
  • Paynesville (2)
  • Becker (4)
  • Maple Lake (2)
  • McGregor (1)
  • Royalton (2)
  • Eden Valley Watkins (2)
  • Osakis (1)

Go to http://nslc.pbworks.com/w/page/12282518/FrontPage to see all of the schools in the Consortium and to access the process for requesting a bid for joining. Note: Requesting a bid does not obligate you to join, but it can give you the information to do some possible tweaking on your budget!

This is one possible solution. Have you found other cost-effective solutions for managing your school library collections? Interested in other CMLE services? Additional information can be found on our website.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Featured Book: The Falcon in the Glass

This post is a part of an original series created by librarians/media specialists across Central Minnesota featuring books. If you have a book you would like to showcase, send your review to our offices.

Review by Maria Burnham, SRRHS Library Media Specialist

Book: The Falcon in the Glass by Susan Fletcher

Maria Burnham, SRRH Library Media Specialist
Maria Burnham, SRRH Library Media Specialist

The novel The Falcon in the Glass by Susan Fletcher is technically classified as a middle school-level fantasy novel, although the book reads more like historical fiction than fantasy.  I was hesitant to read the book at first because fantasy is usually one of the last genres I reach for off the shelf.  However, I enjoyed this book immensely and find it appropriate for both high school and middle school students.

The novel follows the life of Renzo, a teenage boy who is working toward becoming a glassblower (his father’s dying wish for his son) in Venice, Italy as a means of supporting his mother and sister. With no one to teach him the trade, Renzo works tirelessly day and night to perfect his skills.  One night, however, he notices a small falcon in the shop; the bird belongs to a girl who has been hiding in the glassworks for warmth and protection.  And it turns out she’s not alone.  She’s one of ten orphaned children with bright green eyes who are condemned as witches thanks to their ability to communicate with birds.  Renzo struggles between helping these needy children and fulfilling the obligations of his future career to support his own family.

This novel contains both strong male and female characters alike. It explores the theme of moral obligations in the human race and would be a book that many students would enjoy, appreciate, and could easily discuss.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Teaching Vocabulary Effectively

Image by Caitlinator. Retrieved from FlickR. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Caitlinator. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

Danielle Hartman, Literacy and technology integration specialist, provides tips and tricks to teach PreK-8 students vocabulary.  Hartman emphasizes the importance of creating a fun and engaging environment for students. She stresses that the key is variety and outlines the following four activities for you to try in your lesson plan this month;

  1. Nuance Activity
  2. Vocabulary Word Panels
  3. Inductive Sort
  4. Power Words

Additional details about each activity can be found in the full article, 4 Activities to Effectively Teach Vocabulary posted by Edudemic (August 2013.)

If you would like suggestions for apps, Edudemic published an article on 3 Vocabulary Apps for SAT Takers and Lifelong Learners (February 2013.)

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist

Game-Based Makerspaces

Image by Sergey Galyonkin. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Sergey Galyonkin. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

Gaming programs are growing in some libraries across the United States.  In ALA’s blog The Scoop, Brian Mayer wrote an article detailing how he facilitated game creation, with students, using classroom curriculum.  Mayer is a gaming and library technology specialist at the Genesee Valley (N.Y.) Educational Partnership. When creating this game-based type of makerspace, he focuses on “…demonstrating concept understanding and mastery throughout the design process and in the finished product.” This work is accomplished in collaboration with classroom teachers and the school librarians.  Find out more about how Mayer engages and empowers youth in Creating Game-Based Makerspaces, (July 2013.)

Note:  Interested in incorporating games in your learning process?  Read the related article, How to Gamify Your Classroom (October 2013), in which the author decodes how you can win students over in five simple levels.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Lessons Learned with iPad Deployment

Image by LJR.MIKE. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's license.
Image by LJR.MIKE. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ license.

Are your school administrators all geeked up about rolling out a 1:1 initiative in your school in a hurry? As an information professional, it may prove helpful for you to be familiar with  what works and when to take pause…..

Joyce Valenza was the keynote speaker at the October 5th  Saturday morning portion of the  MEMO Conference. Within her presentation, she alluded to the problems encountered in Los Angeles’ failed iPad roll-out. A murmur of an undefined sort rippled  through the room, which made me wonder if I was the only person who had not read or heard about this news item. Armed with my trusty iPad, I immediately Googled it, and sure enough, the news had only hit the social media circuit on October 2nd, which made me feel slightly better, as I had joined the MEMO Conference on October 3rd.

According to Mind/Shift, “There’s an incredible litany of problems here that reads like a primer on what NOT to do with a major deployment of technology in a school district, “ and I couldn’t agree more. Although the story is about the nation’s second largest public school district, the lessons apply well in most settings.

Read from an insider’s viewpoint what went wrong with a $1 billion plan to give one iPad to every single student ($500 million for devices, plus an additional $500 million for internet infrastructure upgrades, raised through construction bonds).  Some of the comments to this blog post are as valuable as the story itself, which is so often the case! Feel free to exercise your right to comment here too….