Each year St. Cloud State University challenges book-lovers to create their best rendition of a beloved novel during National Library Week. All submissions are entered in a competition with votes cast by students, faculty and staff. The catch – the entire entry must be edible!
Click here to read about this year’s winner Pa-Ying Lee-Rainbow Fish.
CMLE provides library support services to 319 academic, public, K-12 and special libraries in twelve counties of Central Minnesota. One of our biggest challenges is assessing both the interest and needs of so many different types of librarians/organizations.
Please watch your email for messages from us with a subject line “Quick Question.” These messages will include an easy link to a very short poll on Survey Monkey. We will always ask you to identify your library type first, then will ask a few, very quick questions. Promise, no more than that. Thanks in advance for participating in each poll as quickly as possible!
Feel free to contact me if you have questions, concerns or suggestions (papost@stcloudstate.edu)
Do you need to do some end-of-the-year ordering of books (including e-books) and are you looking for discounts?
CMLE provides book discounts to libraries in Aitkin, Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright counties in Minnesota. This year we have eleven book companies participating in the discount program, and eight of them are discounting e-books! These discounts provide cost savings to 319 academic, school, public, and special libraries. The eleven participating book companies this year are listed below, the companies with e-book discounts are shown in blue! You can go to our website to review all of the savings at http://www.cmle.org/discounts.asp. Each discount has a promo code that you need to mention to receive the savings. In November, our member libraries should have received an email attachment of the discounts and their associated promo codes. Didn’t get the attachment? Send an email to cmle@stcloudstate.edu and use subject line, Discount Promo Codes Needed to receive the attachment.
Please let me know if you have any problems using these discounts, or if the list does not include a company you would like to suggest for inclusion next year. These discounts are a perk to you as part of your free membership as a CMLE member library. Send email to papost@stcloudstate.edu with your input. Thanks!
Abdo, Baker & Taylor, Brodart, Follett, Gumdrop, Ingram, Mackin, Rainbow,
Sebco, Scholastic, and Usborne
**This update was written by Elaine Keefe, MLA/MEMO Library Legislative Lobbyist**
House Omnibus Education Bill: The House omnibus education bill was posted online this afternoon. It maintains current funding for all library appropriations — Regional Library Basic System Support (RLBSS), Regional Library Telecommunication Aid (RLTA), Multi-type funding, the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM) and Telecommunication Equity Aid (TEA). The bill also increases the general education formula from the current $5,224 per pupil to $5,328 in FY 2014 and $5,433 in FY 2015. It also repays the education funding shift to the 90/10 payment schedule.
Senate Omnibus Education Bill: The Senate bill will be released Thursday morning.
Senate Higher Education Funding Bill: Great news! The Senate higher education bill increases funding for Minitex and MnLINK by $300,000 per year. Please send thanks to our chief author, Senator Kent Eken sen.kent.eken@senate.mn and the committee chair, Senator Terri Bonoff sen.terri.bonoff@senate.mn
House Higher Education Funding Bill: As expected, the House higher education bill maintains current funding for Minitex and MnLINK. Once the higher ed bill gets to conference committee, we will need to press the conferees to go with the higher funding level in the Senate bill.
Bonding: We had not planned to pursue funding for Library Accessibility and Improvement Grants this year, but were encouraged to introduce a bill by House leaders. We did have a bill introduced to provide $3 million, but today the House bonding bill was unveiled and it does not include any funding for libraries. We will pursue it next year.
Legacy: As previously reported, the House Legacy bill includes $3 million per year for regional public libraries and $300,00 per year for the Minnesota Digital Library. The Senate has just announced the process it will follow. Our Legacy request for regional public libraries will originate in the Senate E-12 Education Division before going to the Senate Legacy Subcommittee.
Elaine Keefe
Capitol Hill Associates
525 Park Street, Suite 310
St. Paul, MN 55103
office 651-293-0229
fax 651-293-1709
cell 612-590-1244
elaine@capitolhillassoc.com
We’ve Learned… is designed to keep our readers informed about news concerning personnel in CMLE libraries/media centers. Please keep us informed of any “happenings” regarding staff members in your area so that we can include them in the next write-up! Happenings can include: changes in staffing, awards, honors… you get the idea!