Tag Archives: networking

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

In case you missed it – Nuts & Bolts Supervisor Workshop

photo-1422854068916-cf163783f7ca“This was a great workshop and I hope it is offered again in the future. Although it was only 2 sessions, I really felt the information was good and talking through peoples’ situations helped us process what readiness levels and leadership styles meant and how they worked together.”

CMLE was pleased to offer this two-part series regarding situational leadership and supervisory skills (if you are interested in learning more about using situational leadership, check out this article). We were able to employ the services of consultant Chris Kudrna, who called on his extensive experience to teach and advise our group of library professionals. He covered a lot of information, and we’ve tried to include the main points for your benefit.

Part One of the series focused on the basics of situational leadership, including the steps of leadership, readiness levels, and leadership styles.

Leadership = any attempt to influence

The steps of leadership include identifying the task, identifying the person’s readiness for the task, and using the correct leadership style. We discussed the four levels of readiness, and that it is up to the leader to decide which one is correct.

Then, based on the level of readiness, the leader will select (hopefully!) the correct style of leadership, of which there are also four. However, it’s important to recognize that the follower gets to decide the style that is being used. As a leader, if you are unsure you are leading in the style you intend, it is a good idea to simply ask.

Part Two focused on power, the fact that it is a neutral entity, and that we personally do not get to decide how much power we have. The amount of power one has can fluctuate, even on a daily basis.

Power = influence potential

There are two main categories of power; with several types of power within each category.

Position power comes from your organization (such as your job title). We discussed several types of position power, and how there are effective ways to use each of them. Some types of position power are especially suited for specific professions, like teaching.

Personal power refers to the extent to which followers want to follow you –  it takes into account how much they genuinely like you. We discussed the three types of personal power, and the fact that all of them require time to accumulate.

Something to keep in mind is that in order to be a successful leader, you must have one or more of these power types; the more the better! It is also very important to be able to correctly identify the task and readiness of the people or person you are leading. That ensures you will be able to use the correct leadership style to be successful. As always, clear and efficient communication is a necessity of any effective leader.

“I LOVED getting real, concrete examples of how to phrase things and to handle situations. So many light bulb moments happened when a situation was presented and Chris offered a concrete way of handling it.” 

We want to thank everyone that was able to attend, your experiences contributed to lively discussion and highlighted the need for events like this one!

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/0Sy4gfZ2RXU (Ross Tinney), licensed under CC0 1.0
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Collaborative Learning Resources

Image by Sean MacEntee. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons' licensing.
Image by Sean MacEntee. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons’ licensing.

Edudemic posted an article identifying ways to build stronger collaboration among peers. The author,  discusses the benefits to sharing resources and ideas for the purposes of uncovering practical and innovative solutions.  These solutions start with a simple conversation. Noting that it takes more than visually seeing colleagues, suggesting resources to help connect with peers routinely and in meaningful ways. If nothing else, it is a way to measure your work in relation to other libraries. Click here to read Casey-Rowes’ article, 10Web Resources For Becoming A Better Collaborator (September 2013.)

TIP: One of the ideas mentioned in this article is to develop a Personal Learning Network (PLN.) These networks are comprised of a collection of people (contacts) to engage and exchange information with (often online.) Here are some additional PLN resources, archived by Edudemic, for you to consider:

  • A WordPress Widget Perfect for Building Your PLN (link)
  • 3 Ways to Kick Start Your PLN (link)
  • What My PLN Means to Me (link)
  • How to Manage Your PLN Using Twitter (link)
  • 3 Ways to Turn Your PLN Into an Active Network (link)
Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Resources for Aspiring Writers!

Writing is a struggle against silence.  ~Carlos Fuentes

writing.erichhh
Writing! Photo by Eruchhh and retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.

Writing can be filtered by many genres; biography, business, memoir, fantasy, science, etc. Regardless of the form it takes, writing is a powerful tool to convey thoughts, ideas, and concepts. However, writing can also be a solitary and isolating endeavor. In April, Open Educational Database (OEDb) released a list of 150 Useful, Educational, and Inspirational Blogs for Aspiring Writers. This post is intended for authors looking for insight, encouragement or inspiration. It is also for seasoned authors interested in networking or brainstorming with a peer/peer group.  These resources may make the difference between a completed project or a draft, a published book or unpublished manuscript.

Click here to learn more!

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

2013 Lake Superior Libraries Symposium

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lake-superior-symposium-1aThe Lake Superior Libraries Symposium is a conference developed by librarians from Northwestern Wisconsin and Northeastern Minnesota. From an initial collaboration of academic and public libraries to educate their community on E-books, the idea for a regional professional network was born. Out of that collaboration the Lake Superior Libraries Symposium was created to help librarians develop enhanced professional networks and promote resource sharing and communication between organizations. Our continued operations are thanks to the in-kind and monetary contributions of our supporters.

Participate in the 2013 Lake Superior Libraries Symposium to be held on June 7th, 2013 at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Superior, WI. 

Who should attend? Library staff, patrons, administrators, trustees, and students from around Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula, and beyond are invited to attend!

  • A Thursday night pre-conference Library Palooza featuring trivia, glitter, and library conversations at Dubh Linn Irish Pub
  • Keynote presentation will be on libraries as community spaces for knowledge sharing and media production by Nate Hill, Assistant Director at the Chattanooga Public Library and Co-Chair of the Digital Public Library of America‘s Audience & Participation work-stream,
  • In addition, this symposium will facilitate presentations (16) by librarians and administrators from public, academic, and school media organizations on designing space, skills, and services. Plus poster sessions and time to network.
  • A Friday evening post-conference social event at the award-winning Thirsty Pagan Brewery

The cost to attend this year’s symposium is $49. Click here to register online.

General, School Media Specialist

Follow the MEMO Conference on Twitter

We know that not everyone in our region will have the opportunity to attend the MEMO Conference this year, which can be disappointing. A strategy I have found helpful when I am unable to attend events, is to find out the Twitter hash tag for the event, then do a Twitter search on the hash tag. now, you can read the tweets from attendees and feel a bit more connected to people and events. In this case the hash tag will be #memo12 and you can follow MEMO on Twitter anytime, using their @memo_updates too.

This is my first blog post using the new mobile WordPress app on my iPad.