Tag Archives: MLA

Programs

MLA Institute for Leadership Excellence 2019 Mentors Program

"Mentor" Sticker Design version A

We are always fans of leadership training! It does not matter what your job is in libraries – you are (or can be) a leader. We believe strongly in the idea of leading from any position – and this is so important in any type of library!

MILE has been a good force for library leadership training in Minnesota. And now they are looking for mentors. You do not need to be an “expert” of any sort; but if you have experience you can share with a less-experienced library staffer, this is a great way to contribute to the profession.

We are passing on this information from MLA – and encourage you to consider applying to be a mentor. You can provide some great assistance to someone else, and it really helps you in your own career to have this opportunity to stop and think about the work you are doing and how you got here. (Self reflection is a valuable, not-always-recognized benefit of mentoring!)

The MLA Institute for Leadership Excellence (MILE) Mentor Program is an opportunity for experienced library professionals to share their knowledge and experience with future Minnesota library leaders who attend and participate in MILE. Mentors are matched with participants based on the information provided in the mentor application. On the last day of MILE, mentors and participants meet to begin an 18 month mentorship program.Application now open: Apply HERE

The Value of Mentoring

Mentors…

  • strengthen the profession by strengthening its future leaders.
  • grow and learn from their relationship with their participants.
  • can improve communication and leadership skills.
  • gain a personal satisfaction from helping others in the library profession.

Participants…

  • gain valuable knowledge and advice on career goals and professional development.
  • have the opportunity to eliminate or reduce feeling of professional isolation.
  • can expand their professional network.
  • can acquire new skills and confidence in their abilities.
  • are exposed to new opportunities within the professional community.

The Minnesota Library Association…

  • gains an efficient and skilled community of librarians and paraprofessionals.
  • helps foster a community of librarians who focus on lifelong learning and development.
  • helps build and strengthen a statewide professional network.

Where and When Mentor Relationship Begins

MILE Mentors are welcomed to attend one half-day session of the “Leading for Life” conference held at Sugar Lake Lodge in Cohasset, Minnesota on May 10th, 2019.  Mentors and participants try to meet quarterly and commit to an 18-month mentoring relationship. Mentors assist participants with goal-setting, networking, and leadership development.  

Mentor responsibilities

We ask all our mentors that:

  • you commit to an 18-month relationship with your assigned mentee
  • You work with your mentee to understand and help frame their goals
  • You contact your mentee and reach a satisfactory schedule for meetings and goal updates
  • You contact your mentee on an agreed upon schedule. (At least quarterly is recommended.)

Each mentor relationship is unique to the participant’s needs.  The mentor and participant should work to define and develop their particular roles in the relationship in light of the mentee’s goals and professional needs.  Determine these roles early on in the relationship so that you can get the most out of your 18 months together.

A relationship with your mentee consists of:

  • Communicating on professional topics
  • Being interested in your mentee’s career goals
  • Maintaining a safe environment where you and your mentee can discuss difficult topics

Mentee responsibilities

It is vital that the mentee:

  • comes to the relationship with a firm grasp on goals, objectives, and professional challenges
  • welcomes constructive criticism: this is a professional relationship meant to encourage growth and learning
  • helps facilitate communication by asking for suggestions and feedback
  • is open to new ideas or ways of looking at the library profession
  • expresses gratitude for the time your mentor spends with you
  • contributes to the community through ACTIVE involvement in MLA

Application now open: Apply HEREIf you are contemplating mentorship and have questions or comments, please contact the Mentorship Subcommittee Chair, Christy Wayne – [email]

Training

Institute for Leadership Excellence (MILE) 2019 Leadership in Action!

We are such fans of the MILE experience!! And we would love to see you go to this very cool opportunity!

Here is the information from the MILE:

Institute for Leadership Excellence (MILE) 2019
Leadership in Action!

May 7 – 10, 2019
Sugar Lake Lodge


The deadline has been extended to March 1st for applications to MILE! 

The Minnesota Library Association (MLA) Institute for Leadership Excellence (MILE) gives participants an opportunity to grow leadership skills, connect with library professionals from around Minnesota, and be paired with a mentor. MILE helps you discover the leader within yourself and learn to lead effectively today – even if your current position is not one of leadership.

You’ll have the opportunity to:

  • Develop and refine leadership skills
  • Develop and move forward on professional and personal goals
  • Network and make connections with people in the broader community
  • Reflect on the variety of leadership opportunities available at the local, regional and state levels
  • Meet and connect with your individually selected mentor

We are also looking for mentors to share their experience and knowledge with this year’s attendees.

Visit the MILE website to apply to be an attendee or mentor today!

Conference

Calling all ARLD or ACRL members in Minnesota

You know that we love conferences, and the poster sessions are a really fun part of any conference! Whether you are admiring them, or presenting one to share information from your library, they are valuable. They are also easy to create, easy to share, and really help you connect with other people who like the same stuff you like!

We are passing on the call for posters for the MLA conference that will be RIGHT HERE in St Cloud this October!! If you want to chat about your poster proposal, send us an email at admin @ cmle.org – we really like to talk about posters and proposals! (No need to be a CMLE member – we like to talk to anyone!)

If you want to hear some basic ideas on conference – including posters – you can listen to our Linking Our Libraries episode right here!

“We are now accepting proposals for the poster session hosted by the Academic and Research Libraries Division of the Minnesota Library Association at the MLA 2018 Annual Conference.

Please submit your poster proposals online. Proposals are due on Wednesday, August 22, 2018 at 5:00pm.


Poster Session Requirements
Poster sessions may present any of the following:

•    A description of an innovative library program
•    An analysis of a practical problem-solving effort
•    A report of a research study

Poster sessions are not for product advertisements, vendor displays, or similar promotional purposes.

Participants must be available to informally discuss their posters with meeting attendees during the ARLD Poster Session, immediately following the ARLD Business Meeting, at the MLA Annual Conference October 11 at the St. Cloud River’s Edge Convention Center  from 1:00pm-1:50pm. Poster boards will be displayed on easels.

When submitting a proposal, you will need to provide:

  • Title – consider choosing a title that is short enough to be cast in an extra large font which can be read from a distance
  • Abstract (200 words or fewer) – a plaintext description of your proposal, its impact, and how you will present it
  • Information about each presenter:
    • Name and mjob title
    • Email address
    • Current employer
    • Phone number

 

Please direct any questions to Megan Kocher (mkocher@umn.edu)or Jodi Grebinoski (jlcarlso@d.umn.edu)”

Advocacy

Contest: Minnesota Libraries Transform Because . . .

Transformation at Future Perfect

Check out this cool contest from MLA!!

“Because 5 out of 5 Doctors Agree Reading Aloud to Children Supports Brain Development
Because Today’s Gamer Could Be Tomorrow’s Inventor
Because 5 Million Students Can’t Access Broadband at Home


Have you seen statements like this up at your local library or on social media? They’re part of the American Libraries Association Libraries Transform campaign, and they’re designed to increase awareness of the value, impact, and services provided by libraries and library staff.

As we prepare to advocate for Minnesota libraries in the coming year, we’re proposing a Minnesota spin on the Libraries Transform initiative and would like to create several uniquely Minnesota “Because” statements. We’re seeking submissions from library supporters, and these statements can be about the services and value you see in any type of library (public, academic, school, government, and others). Your submissions will be collected and used for virtual library legislative week in Minnesota, March 5-9th, 2018. One lucky winner will receive a large print of your Minnesota Libraries Transform Because statement.

How to Submit

  • Deadline to submit is Friday, February 2nd, 2018
  • On Twitter, use the hashtag #MnLibrariesTransform
    • Format example: Because audiobooks turn snowy commutes into adventures #mnlibrariesstransform
  • Submit online: https://goo.gl/forms/0mpPTQ5XtyyzbRYQ2

Need ideas? Take a look at the statements that ALA has created:
http://www.ilovelibraries.org/librariestransform

More Information

The contest is sponsored by the Minnesota Library Association (MLA) Legislative Working Group and the Information and Technology Educators of Minnesota (ITEM). More information about library legislative activities in 2018 can be found on the MLA website: https://mnlibraryassociation.site-ym.com/?LegislativeCommittee#documents

 

Conference, Guest Blogger

CMLE Scholarship: MLA 2017

This guest post was written by Violet Fox, Metadata Librarian at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University.

The theme for the 2017 Minnesota Library Association’s Annual Conference was “Radical Librarianship,” and I couldn’t have been more excited! I was excited to hear from library workers not only about the great things that libraries do for our users, but also how we as a profession should strive to recognize and address our shortcomings.

I was delighted to be able to present alongside some of my favorite library folks: Hannah Buckland (Leech Lake Tribal College), Tina Gross (St. Cloud State University), and Jessica Schomberg (Minnesota State University, Mankato). In our session, we talked about how centralization in cataloging often prevents libraries from responding flexibly to the needs of their users, and encouraged all librarians to argue for the value of local control in our standards and vocabularies in order to provide respectful and responsive metadata.

A number of MLA 2017 presentations gave me ample material to reflect on. Standouts included Safiya Umoja Noble’s session on how increasing reliance on opaque algorithms results in upholding societal inequity and oppression, as well as an interesting session from librarians at Dakota County Library (Christie Schultz and Lori Veldhuis) on their valuable project to make their world language collection more accessible and attractive to patrons.

Alhough I don’t do usability testing or user surveying in my job, the most exciting session I attended was “UX is Social Change: the Feminist Impact of User Experience Work” by librarians at Metropolitan State University (Christine Larson, Jennifer DeJonghe) and Hennepin County Library (Amy Luedtke, Tony Hirt). The presenters talked about how they use feminist principles within their work, in part by centering patron experiences and recognizing that patrons have knowledge and experience that we don’t. They also discussed their efforts to recruit UX participants intentionally, and acknowledged that it can be uncomfortable to have one’s design ideas critiqued. I very much appreciated the presenters’ unapologetic embrace of “disciplined empathy” in their work, and their presentation encouraged me to find ways to do the same in my own day-to-day work.

I’m grateful for CMLE’s support to attend MLA 2017 and I’d like to encourage Minnesota library colleagues to attend and present at next year’s conference!

Do you want to attend a conference or take part in some other professional development? Apply for a scholarship from CMLE today!