“Work simply. Live fully.” This week CMLE focuses on the following work productivity tip from Work Simply, Carson Tate’s popular book. At CMLE, we’ve boiled down Tate’s wealth of knowledge from Work Simply to a few key points; please see the book for more detail and resources. At the bottom, see links to earlier tips in the series! Let’s all be our best selves….
This week’s activity: Consolidate your to-do lists into one Master Task List
To get all your to-dos in one place, first you need to perform a “brain dump,” in which you think about everything you need to get done, both at work and in your personal life. In Work Simply, Carson Tate describes this process as “Turning your brain upside down and emptying its contents.” Then, if you have noticed that your list contains more projects than simple tasks, work to create attainable next steps that aren’t so overwhelming. Finally, keep this list in one place for easy and constant reference.
Recently, you discovered your Productivity Style with a simple assessment.
Find your Productivity Style for some personalized tools to manage your Master List:
Prioritizer: Try using ruled or lined paper. Some apps that may be useful to you include iDoneThis, which sends out e-mail reminders asking what tasks you have completed.
Planner: You may like using calendars, or Outlook’s task manager. Also try out Wunderlist, an app that allows you to keep all your to-dos in one place, and includes due dates and reminders.
Arranger: Try using Stickies, or the app Carrot, which takes a to-do list to the next level – earn points for completing tasks and get praised (or scolded!) for how many tasks you complete.
Visualizer: Whiteboards or unlined notebooks may work well for you, or try Personal Brain, a mind-mapping tool that works on both PCs and Macs, which links ideas, documents, and sites based on the way you think.
When a patron comes to your library, upset about a book or some of your materials – are you prepared with an answer? It can be hard for you to respond quickly unless you have a policy and are comfortable with the procedure for working with patrons who challenge your materials. Fortunately, in our profession, we have several resources available to help you to respond well to patrons!
As a profession, one of our core values is Intellectual Freedom. “We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources. ALA Policy Manual, B.9.16 (Old Number 54.16) ( ALA Code of Ethics, Article II)” We believe in providing information to the community, and letting them make choices about their consumption of it. In our Code of Ethics from the American Library Association, this same sentence is Statement Two. Our profession believes in protecting people’s right to choose material, not to restrict it.
Your library needs a policy for this issue, and also to have some training for everyone on their role in challenges. A patron may come to anyone in the building to start a challenge, so everyone needs to know how to either proceed with it or who to pass the patron to for better assistance.
All types of libraries can receive challenges to their materials, so everyone needs to be ready to respond in the best way. The ALA has a set of strategies here, for any library to use in preparing a policy and starting some staff training. There are good tips on effective communication styles, both for the patron in person and when dealing with the media.
It is important to take seriously the concerns community members bring to your attention. Creating and following a procedure can help to assure patrons that you are respecting their rights to share their opinions and to voice their concerns.
As you begin to write your policy, or to do the regular edits necessary for policies, you may find this information helpful from the ALA. They discuss some justification for having a policy, then help you to walk through the basic format of a policy with information you may want to include. Every library is different in focus and in the community it serves; so all policies will need to have different language and information to make them fit your needs. If you have a challenge hearing, some steps on the procedure are given to be sure you are thinking through this process before a need for it arises.
While each library is different, it can be helpful for you to look at the policies other libraries have created. These are often included with their Collection Development polices, as potentially controversial materials are not collected just to be controversial, but because they are adding to the overall collection. Here is an example from the Pikes Peak Library District. This site gives you some specific information on collection development, including sample policies, for school libraries. And here is a Prezi presentation on reconsideration of library materials policies for school libraries. Here is a policy from the University of South Carolina; scroll down to the “Intellectual Freedom” section for the challenged material sample.
Part of your process may include education for your community on the rationale for including controversial materials in your collection. This is some material from the National Council of English Teachers, discussing some reasoning for teaching challenged materials. There are also other links on this page to give you some information and ideas about providing materials that may be challenged.
Handling a materials challenge can be hard: you want to do the right thing for the patron, for your library, and for the profession. It is a lot to balance! But you do not have to do it alone. The resources from the ALA are here, and there are more on these sites linked above. And the CMLE is available to help member libraries as you create and revise policies, or to help with training for your staff to help everyone feel more comfortable with this topic – and ready to handle challenges well!
Wondering if Round Robin and Popcorn styles are really the best practice when it comes to working on reading in the classroom? This article from Edutopia takes a look at the traditional Round Robin style of reading out loud and offers some alternative practices.
Round Robin reading is defined in the same article as students reading “orally from a common text, one child after another, while the rest of the class follows along in their copies of the text.” Popcorn style is a type of Round Robin reading, where one student is reading aloud, then says “Popcorn” before choosing another student to continue reading.
Author Todd Finley makes the argument that when it comes to improving literacy and encouraging kids to read, the Round Robin style may not be the best approach. He shares several studies and their findings that Round Robin may have a negative effect on students and their reading progress.
Happily, the article includes 11 better approaches for you to try instead! A few of them include:
Choral reading: The teacher and class read passages or paragraphs out loud together, which reduces potential embarassment for struggling readers
Teacher read-aloud: The teacher shows how proper pronunciation and inflection are used while reading
Buddy reading: Students read out loud to prepare for reading to children in a younger grade
Do you use Round Robin or Popcorn style reading? How about any of the 11 alternatives? What have you found works the best in your library or classroom?
“Work simply. Live fully.” These are the words of Carson Tate, renowned author, coach, and expert on workplace productivity. Each week CMLE will focus on a particular tip from Work Simply (a book our staff love). We hope to summarize concepts and share manageable bites of information for you to try in your daily life. And of course, we hope you fall in love with the book too!
Your beginning activity: Discover your productivity style
A main argument of Work Simply is that one-size-fits-all approaches to time management just don’t work. That is because people have natural inclinations for the ways they work. Instead of fighting against these inclinations, find out what they are and harness them to your benefit! You will need your type to work through this series!
(This does require you to enter your name and email address)
P.S. I found out I’m an Arranger (Angie). Finally, an explanation for my love of multi-colored pens! The other productivity styles include Prioritizer, Planner, and Visualizer. So go ahead, take five, and learn more about your productivity style. Let us know in the comments if it is what you expected!
You have probably seen the stories around the news: excited kid gets a 3D printed hand at the local library. In case you have not – or just want to see a great story about about public library service, check out this video from ABC News.
A few more details and photos from this success story are available here.
This is just another example of the state of library service: we are all using technology more often to connect our services to our patron’s needs. It may not look like a library from 50 years ago, or even 10 years ago, but we serve the needs of our patrons with all the tools at our disposal. And sometimes the results are fantastic!
Is someone in your library interested in learning more about 3D printed limbs?
Disney is working with the organization Open Bionics to print Disney-themed arms! “Now kids can get excited about their prosthetics. They won’t have to do boring physical therapy, they’ll train to become heroes. They’re not just getting medical devices, they’re getting bionic hands inspired by their favorite characters.”
The organization e-NABLE is working to bring 3D printed hands and arms for people all around the world. Their site is filled with reference material, information, and stories to share. “The e-NABLE Community is made up of teachers, students, engineers, scientists, medical professionals, tinkerers, designers, parents, children, scout troops, artists, philanthropists, dreamers, coders, makers and every day people who just want to make a difference and help to ‘Give The World A Helping Hand.'”
What other kinds of great things could your library do with a 3D printer? The possibilities are amazing! There are many websites filled with information about using your printer, and designs to follow. Thingiverse is one of the most popular, with all kinds of people sharing designs and learning from each other. “The Thingiverse community has uploaded over 606,640 3D models, and that number is growing every day. Check out all the incredible objects people have created, and get inspired to make your own!”
You probably need a Pokeball with a button-release lid, when you can use a break from your Pokemon Go app.
A very cool T-Rex skull would brighten up any library!
Maybe a wall mounted hairdryer holder could help your morning routine, and keep your time management skills sharp?
Did you lose the buttons to your Toyota Yaris key fob? No worries – just print new ones!
We want to hear from our libraries about your use of 3D printers! Great successes? Share them! The time you printed a 3D pile of sludge – that was supposed to be a Legend of Zelda shield key chain? We want to hear that too!
Are you considering 3D printers for your library? This would be a great topic for us to discuss in a group, so we can share experiences and make plans for the future. Email us if you are interested in some training sessions, or group discussions!
Libraries are all about service; this is one tool we might use to provide outstanding service to our communities!
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