Tag Archives: School Library

Check it Out:, Guest Blogger, School Media Specialist

CMLE Mini Grant: Adventure Book Series

This is a guest post from Karen Miller, school librarian at Bertha-Hewitt School. Want to read more about the exciting materials our members have purchased with their mini grants? Read past mini grant reports here.

I first would like to say thank you for accepting my grant submission!
I purchased 5 book series for our school library.

I had a 6th grader read the first book from each series and give an “advertisement” for their book during Character Building which is a program for K-6 that happens every Friday morning. They presented their advertisement and they all were very happy with the book series they chose.

The most exciting thing to me was all my library classes on Friday as the kids came in they asked to check these books out! I actually have a waiting list on a couple of the series that have to be read in order.

I think it made a difference to have students present to their peers with their book reviews. That is exactly what I was hoping would happen after doing this!

Now I am hoping to do book “advertisements” monthly with different books in our library. Sometimes that is all it takes to get students interested in different genres that they might not normally read.

Some of the students who volunteered to do the advertisements were not ones I thought would be interested in it. So it also was a huge learning experience for me!

Once again I would like to thank you for giving me this opportunity!

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist

Next ClassVR In-Person Training on Jan. 30th

Learn to use our VR devices and bring them to your school!

Last fall, CMLE was THRILLED to receive an LSTA grant that has allowed us to purchase ClassVR headset devices. We started loaning these out to our member schools FOR FREE last fall and are excited to continue this program. Get more details and reserve kits for your school here.

Each kit comes with eight headsets that include access to an amazing array of VR/AR technology, for students K-12.  Lesson plans, 360 images and videos, and 3D models are all available to use.

And we are holding in-person training again, to help you get comfortable with using the devices!

If you are interested in reserving kits for your school, either this year or next, sign up for training at the bottom of this post. Learning how to operate the devices and making plans ahead of time can really improve your experience with the headsets.

Training will take place from 9am – 3pm on Thursday, January 30th.
Lunch will be provided from 12-1pm

In the morning, we will look at the basics of using the headsets and the portal filled with educational material. In the afternoon, we will practice everything, and give people a chance to work through making their own playlists, and to get their school’s planning set up. (Time is flexible, if you have to come late or leave early it’s okay – we would rather see you for part of it than have you miss it entirely!)

Training will be held at our location: 570 1st St. SE St. Cloud MN 56304. We are inside the cmERDC building and have a large classroom to use.

And if you apply ahead of time, you can definitely pick up your VR headset kit at this training event! You’ll get to keep the kit (each kit has 8 headsets) for approximately one month.

Please RSVP below if you plan to come to this training. Email any questions to vr@cmle.org 🙂

This program is funded in part with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education using federal funding, CFDA 45.310 – Library Services and Technology Act, Grants to States Program (LS-00-19-0024-19). We would love you to send your thanks to @US_IMLS and with @MnDeptEd for providing this great program we can share with our members!

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

November VR Training in St. Cloud AND Cambridge!

You are invited to in-person training Nov. 5th and 8th!

Quick Update: our St Cloud location is just about full! So we would love to see you in Cambridge too! If you are signed up for St Cloud, but would like to shift to Cambridge (it’s on that Friday), just send us a quick email to admin @ cmle.org (no spaces). Each day and location will be flexible, as we know you have tight schedules – we are just happy to see you!

Mark your calendars! We hope you take advantage of our upcoming VR training to learn how to operate the VR headsets we are loaning to our school libraries FOR FREE. You can reserve your own kit here.

Please RSVP at the bottom of this post. You are welcome to drop in to training as your schedule allows. You are still allowed to reserve VR kits for your school if you cannot attend training.

St. Cloud Training:

Tuesday, Nov. 5th 9am – 3pm (lunch provided 12 – 1)
Classroom at cmERDC location: 570 1st St. SE St. Cloud MN 56304

We are located inside the cmERDC building

Cambridge Training:

Friday, Nov. 8th 9:30am – 3pm (lunch provided 12 – 1)
Meeting Room at the Cambridge Public Library: 244 S. Birch St. Cambridge, MN 55008

We’ll have a morning and afternoon training session with lunch in between so both sessions can eat. Please feel free to attend both sessions in order to get comfortable using the headsets and Portal.

The plan is to cover fundamentals in the morning and more advanced VR skills in the afternoon, but please feel free to drop in or leave as your schedule allows! Remember to bring your own computer (and headphones if interested).

At this training session, you will learn how to operate the devices, find lessons that line up with your curriculum, send the VR/AR content to the devices, and use the headsets effectively in your library, media center, or classroom.

The ClassVR vendor will be holding a free Q&A webinar on Nov. 13th. Here is the link in case anyone is interested in participating. CMLE staff attended the one offered in October and found it useful.

Visit our page to find out more information about the VR kit loan program, including instructions and links to additional materials.

RSVP St. Cloud Nov. 5th training:

RSVP Cambridge Nov. 8th training:

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

CMLE Has VR Kits For You! Apply Today!

The grant is funded in part with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education using federal funding, CFDA 45.310 – Library Services and Technology Act, Grants to States Program (LS-00-19-0024-19).

This year, we are so excited about our Year of STEAM at CMLE! And we’re especially excited because we received a grant  LSTA grant from the MN Department of Education, the State Library Services, with money from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), we were able to buy VR/AR kits we will be sharing across our member school libraries!! These headsets are sturdy and meant to be used in schools. When you receive the headsets in your school you will also be given access to an online Portal that contains hundreds of curriculum-aligned lesson plans that incorporates the VR/AR technology.

We will have an application ready soon, but for now, if you would like to request a kit, just email admin @ cmle.org. We’ll have some questions for you and will work out the details! (Please keep in mind these kits must be coordinated through your school library).

We are holding a Fall Welcome Back Event on Thursday, Sept. 26th from 4-7 at the St. Cloud Public Library and will be happy to bring kits along to distribute to members that have contacted us and applied ahead of time.

Otherwise, we’ll have signup sheets and more information available at the event. Plus, you can try the VR headsets for yourselves! (They are seriously cool).

We are working with the vendor to schedule formal in-person training sessions and will announce them when we know more. In the meantime, you can get started on our vendor’s website – browsing around to get some ideas you might want to try when your kit arrives.

Also, browse this document! It’s the setup and user’s guide. You also NEED to show this to your IT people before your kit arrives, so they have time to make any modifications. (Show them page 27: Technical Guidelines.)

Watch this video to see what the headsets look like, and watch our website all year for updates from schools that are using the headsets in their libraries and classrooms! Of course, email admin @ cmle.org with any questions.

Advocacy, School Media Specialist

How School Librarians Help Literacy

This article from Education Week Teacher delves into several ways school librarians can collaborate with teachers to enhance student learning. It also tackles the question of classroom libraries replacing school libraries, and the problems this can create.

The article also links to this research article explaining how having a school librarian leads to higher-achieving students and a better school community. It’s impressive research and really reinforces just how much school librarians have a positive impact on their schools.

From the article “Why School Librarians Are the Literacy Leaders We Need”:

“Making Connections: Our school librarian helped students connect to reading and digital literacies in a variety of ways.  She found out what students were learning about in history and science class and found interesting reading materials to connect to those topics. She helped us bring local authors to visit to talk to students about their work. She helped students and teachers access periodicals and other helpful programs online.

There is a cumulative benefit to students and teachers, both academic and cultural, when a school librarian becomes a literacy leader.”

Read the rest of the article here!