Tag Archives: Rural

Small town libraries – let’s code!

Code-1076536

“Over the past few years I have been working with libraries on code clubs, and I’ve been impressed with the community response in small towns – kids see coding as a way to connect/influence a much bigger world, and it’s empowering.
So we launched a program where small libraries get our full offering (software, training, support) for free. Here’s the info about it, and I’d ask you to send this to folks you know at small libraries that may be interested: https://medium.com/coding-at-the-library/donald-trump-is-abandoning-small-town-kids-and-i-intend-to-do-something-about-it-d7e6646a5d14
Let me know if you have questions.

Kelly Smith kelly@prenda.co”

Upcoming Webinar: Engaged Planning – Ask What You Can Do For Your Rural Community

CMLE Headquarters is working to provide everyone in our system with all kinds of training to help you hone your skills in this every-changing profession! We maintain a Continuing Education calendar on our website, we offer regular in-person and online training sessions, and we will direct you toward the many other valuable opportunities available to you.

Many CMLE libraries, of all types, provide services to rural areas. This webinar, from WebJunction, can help you to think through your services in a way that will be beneficial to your community members.

There is no cost to attend, and materials will be available after the webinar. So sign up now, and discover some additional tools for reaching out to your rural community!

Engaged Planning: Ask What You Can Do For Your Rural Community

A webinar presented in collaboration with ARSL outlining the steps of an engaged planning process, to align library capabilities with community needs and aspirations.

Your community needs the library, and planning for the future of your library begins with understanding the community and their aspirations. Once you understand what your rural community wants and needs, you can assess how the library can help them. In this webinar, understand the important steps of this engaged planning process, including internal assessment, data collection and analysis, trustee involvement, and community conversations. Learn what it means for your library to “turn outward” to secure its place at the heart of your community.

This webinar is hosted in collaboration with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries.

Presented by: Cindy Fesemyer, Director, Columbus (WI) Public Library, population 5,000

Tweet: #wjwebinar

Education and Broadband Access

“[Broadband is]… just as important as having electricity and water. It’s really become a core component of the whole business of delivering instruction and also managing school districts.” …This according to TIES Technology Integration Development and Outreach Facilitator, Mary Mehsikomer, in a recent St. Cloud Times article regarding the importance of broadband connectivity in education. The article goes on to explain that parents may have thought that a dial-up connection was enough, but now dial-up connections are not robust enough to handle the type of information that students are required to access online. But, it’s not just at home; some rural schools and colleges are facing the same problem as households. Some district budgets simply cannot afford high-speed connectivity. Due to this difficulty, some schools have now joined forces via the Minnesota Educational Technology Network. The network strives to improve access to broadband in rural areas. It allows for the cooperative purchase of internet access and video services to rural schools and libraries. This network of rural schools and libraries effectively has greater buying power than each institution on its own. A few institutions in the network have even begun the cooperative sharing of servers or IT departments.

In addition to seeking out cooperative arrangements, schools and libraries may also be interested in securing grants to support their technology needs and updates. Locally, a $4,000 grant was received by the Foley School District from the Blandin Foundation’s MIRC Program for the installation of additional wireless units in the schools for school and community use.

At the college-level, there may be even greater need for high-speed connectivity. With the boom in online courses and fully online programs, high-speed connectivity for college students is essential. Vi Bergquist, Chief Information Officer at St. Cloud Community and Technical College, says “Internet access has gotten so vitally important for college students. It’s almost a must.” Bergquist goes on to explain that there’s often an assumption (especially at larger metropolitan campuses) that all students will have a device and access to high-speed connectivity — but that’s a dangerous assumption. Bergquist explains that there are still students that don’t have this access, and students that simply don’t understand the technical requirements for taking online courses.

With demand will ultimately come greater access to connectivity and high-speed providers. James Koenig, Director of IT Services at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, explained that already “…there’s enough [provider] competition in the area that we can buy from a local provider”. This is certainly a move in the right direction!