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

Bill DeJohn, 1940-2012

This beautiful post was created by staff in our “sister multitype” in the Twin Cites (Metronet) in their Metro Briefs publication. Written by Ann Walker Smalley. I couldn’t have said any of it  better. Bill was quietly excellent, a master of his craft, and instrumental in helping MN libraries rise to  where they are today. He will be dearly missed.

DejohnThe library community mourns the loss of Bill DeJohn, retired Director of Minitex. Bill died Dec 31 at his home in Northfield after a brief illness.

Bill retired in Jan 2011 after leading Minitex for 27 years. He was a champion of all types of libraries & made sure that all had access to the Minitex resources, staff, & training. He was a leader in library advocacy efforts in Minnesota & conceived and supported new initiatives that expanded resource sharing.

Bill was a “mover & shaker” in the library world. It is easy to forget the leadership required to develop & implement the services & programs we now take for granted. Bill was instrumental in creating many library resource-sharing programs that have an impact on all Minnesota libraries & their users including ELM, MnLink, MDL, the Research Project Calculator, MLAC, bibliographic control & cataloging, automated library systems, training on products & services, & much more. Minnesota libraries are known for their collaboration in good part because of Bill’s leadership. As libraries continue to move forward, we can remember how Bill would ask questions, bring people together to talk, advocate for new ideas, continue the discussions, & keep working until library services are improved for all.

Bill graduated from the University of Missouri with a BA in Russian civilization. He earned a Master of Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to Minitex, Bill was the Head of Resource Sharing, University of Washington, Seattle, serving the Pacific Northwest libraries & before that was the Director of the Pacific Northwest Bibliographic Center (PNBC). He also worked at both the Illinois State Library & the Missouri State Library.

Barbara Fister (a librarian at the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library, Gustavus Adolphus College) wrote this remembrance Bill DeJohn and the Value of Sharing at Inside Higher Ed, Jan 3.

You can learn more about Bill’s legacy in his own words:
• Minitex 40th Anniversary Oral History interview with Bill DeJohn
• Bill’s retirement speech
• His departing thanks & well wishes for the future to Minitex participating libraries staff on Feb 14, 2012

Donations may be made in Bill’s memory to the American Library Association or the Newfoundland Club of America.

Images: Minitex

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Check out the Top 10 EdTech Stories of 2012

I don’t know about you, but I sure love end of the year lists… “Best Of’s”, “Top Stories”, “Top 10 Articles”… they all provide useful information about the most popular or important topics from the past year. Check out EdTech’s list of the Top 10 Stories of 2012. The list will acquaint you with topics that are clearly of interest to others – they don’t rise to the top of the list without good reason! It also includes topics that are still current and timely, that may require at least reflection, if not action, on your part (or your school’s).

Top 10Examples of top stories include: 

One-to-One or BYOD? Districts Explain Thinking Behind Student Computing Initiatives

Why Teachers Worry about Students’ Online Research Skills

10 Education Hashtags to Follow on Twitter

What is Web 3.0, Really, and What Does it Mean for Education?

Check this out:

TIES Conference Summary: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.TIES

Submitted by: Nancy Lorentz, Becker High School Media Specialist
The first session I attended this year at the TIES Conference was entitled “Need More Tech Support? Enlist Some Students!” by Mary Klauk from Osseo Area Schools. I enlisted student help when we went to 1:1 at Becker High School. Mary had some good ideas for me to improve my program –I should have the students trained to run our new auditorium next year, and students who are able to help substitute teachers hook up projectors, etc. I also need to do a better job of training students to create videos for me — concerts, tutorials, etc. all take up quite a bit of my time. She also has a Tech Crew member who supports the Robotics Club–Becker is just starting one up this winter and I have JUST the right boy for the job!

Simon Sinek was the Keynote on Monday: “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.” So inspirational! My favorite quote was “Technology has to solve a human problem. If achievement goes up, it’s the teacher using the technology and not the technology itself.” This is so true–I believe the value in putting the technology in the hands of every student is that it forces people to become better teachers–and THAT’S when transformational teaching happens!

My last session may have ended up being the most valuable to me. Two teachers from South View Middle School in Edina work together on a Challenge-Based Learning project called “Combating Apathy.” I’m hoping one of my next steps at Becker High School is to create a Challenge-Based Learning project with a class or classes–and this session gave me some awesome ideas on how to get started!

Thanks so much for helping me to be able to attend TIES again this year!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Sauk Rapids Rice High School: A CMLE School Visit

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CMLE recognizes that change is afoot in schools and media centers. Change is also happening at CMLE as we have a new strategic plan that includes a refined focus on serving school media centers. Because of this, it’s a perfect time for CMLE staff  to reach out and connect with our K-12 media centers. 

Part of this outreach includes visits to school media centers and Monday I had the great pleasure of visiting Maria Burnham at Sauk Rapids Rice High School (SRRHS). As Maria and I tried to identify a “typical” day for the visit, we recognized that we could do our best in choosing the most probable day, but things always change. There are always the unexpected fires to put out that you had not planned for, which are the types of activities that often demonstrate to the school how very indispensable you are!

Screen shot 2012-12-19 at 12.03.08 PM
Maria Burnham

One of the things we do during our visit is gather information about your school and media center. We are getting requests from librarians who would like to “shadow”, or walk alongside another type of librarian for a day. CMLE manages this shadowing program, and  arranges the matches, so by gathering this information during the school visit, we are better able to provide a good match. For example, a college librarian may want to specifically shadow a media specialist in a 1:1 initiative school. Why? College librarians are beginning to ask themselves questions about how these students will engage or thrive in a college setting, which is still for the most part based on computer labs and the reading of print items like scholarly articles, sometimes, lengthy scholarly articles. Should they consider making changes in how they teach at the college in an attempt to provide a smoother transition between high school and college?

Anyway, Maria and I quickly polished off the data gathering portion of the visit, and moved into her fast-paced day. I learned that Maria finished her media degree and began working for SRRHS in 2011. Maria also has the good fortune of having media paraprofessionals, and she is not confined to covering any prep time for teachers. So, her schedule is flexible, but typically packed with a great balance of students, staff, and media center/books.

I was with Maria for 5.5 hours, and in that time I witnessed a consummate professional. She moved easily  between the media center and  four short but powerful  teaching sessions in labs throughout the morning.  As we moved between settings, she put out fires along the way, and always circled back to the media center to check emails for problems or checking for her flashing message light which typically signals some emergency situation. She keeps her cool and gets a lot done along the way. Everyone seemed to know her and by the quick conversations, it was easy to see that she has embedded herself well in her school in a relatively short amount of time.

One of my favorite takeaways from my visit with Maria was her ability to market the media center and herself.  Every Monday, Maria sends an email called Mondays with Maria, which is a tech tip message for teachers and administrators. She tries to make the tips practical;things that can easily be implemented to solve problems.  On this Monday, Maria wrote a message about using Google Docs to arrange a holiday potluck, rather than a sign up sheet in one physical location. Each week she also does an “Appy Hour” message, where she shares information about an app. And finally, she typically sends a message each week promoting new books or services in the media center, or in this case, encouraging students and staff to check out some books to read over the holiday break! Using these marketing strategies along with her presence as an invited co- teacher and troubleshooter/lifesaver, Maria keeps her name, expertise, and promotion of the physical media center easy to see.

When asked, “What parts of your job keeps you up at night?” Maria did not hesitate. Her circulation statistics are not increasing, and she wonders what will happen to literature? Will students still read good literature? And, with such interest in Google searching, will students push harder to get the really good quality information, rather than adopting a “good enough” attitude. These are commendable things to ponder, and probably haunt many caring professionals. In a nutshell, I had a great time, learned lots,  and came away knowing that the Sauk Rapids Rice High School media center is in very capable hands!

During our school visits, we hope to learn more about school media centers and the services they provide. We also hope to describe the type of services CMLE can offer, and explore additional ways that CMLE might be of service.  We strive to make  these visits  a mutually beneficial experience, and in this case, I believe it was just that!

School Media Specialist

TIES Conference Recap by Holly Pringle: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.hpringle

Submitted by: Holly Pringle, Becker Middle School Media Specialist

I just got home from the TIES conference in Minneapolis, and this year’s experience was, once again, amazing. I am so impressed with all the people who present at these conferences, and the wealth of knowledge that all comes together for the two days of TIES.  Unfortunately, a foot of snow in the Metro made getting to TIES “interesting” this year, but we made it in time!

The theme of the conference was “On the Move: Transforming Pedagogy with Technology”, and there seemed like a million sessions offered for a variety of needs & interests.  As was the case last year, my biggest disappointment was that there were so many concurrent sessions, I had to choose not to see some sessions that looked like they’d be great.  I wish conferences like this were in the summer (and cheaper!), so more staff from my school could attend.  The tech integrationists here would have loved a chance to see some of what I was able to.

Because the 8th graders in my school will be starting a 1:1 iPad project next year, I was interested in attending sessions by Apple, as well as sessions that talked about setting up, deploying, and managing large numbers of iOS devices, since that will be a large part of my job next year. I attended three different sessions about 1:1 deployments and I learned some new ideas, especially in regards to mobile device management.  I think I have a good handle on where I’m heading with this next year (what to do, and what not to do), and I’m glad to have met and networked with some folks who could be great coaches and allies if I have questions next year.

The highlight of the conference for me was the keynote address on the first day by Simon Sinek.  He did a great job addressing the fact that technology is great, but we should never use it for technology’s sake, but for the betterment of our kids….or the world.  After all, it’s all about human connections.  I love that that was the framework my conference began with, and I thought about the role of technology in regards to my kids…..and making their lives richer….the whole time.

In all, the TIES conference was worthwhile for me on many levels, and I’m so thankful CMLE made it possible for me to attend. Thank you!