Tag Archives: School Library

Programs, Public, School Media Specialist

Report from Youth Services Librarian Meetup!

This is a Guest Post from Bethany Kauffman, CMLE Board Member and Media Specialist at Rogers High School

Greater Together: Expanding Partnerships

Librarians from across the center of MN gathered in Chaska for a rare opportunity for school librarians and public librarians to meet, talk to each other about library services and learn from each other about collaborations happening between libraries and community organizations. Librarians from Hennepin, Anoka, Scott and Dakota Counties discussed how they are improving services to patrons by working together and gave specific examples of the benefits youth in MN are receiving, as a result.

We met on Tuesday, April 16 at the lovely Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and started our day with spectacular goodies provided by North Lights Library Network and Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange.  We had updates on state library services, including information about the new eLibrary portal that will be replacing ELM. After the panel discussions, there was time for one-on-one networking.

Several of us took time to visit the absolutely phenomenal Andersen Horticultural Library which contains nearly 20,000 books specific to horticulture, botany, landscape architecture and local natural history.  I had no idea that the library was home to a commissioned set of furnishings designed and built by the famous architect and woodworker George Nakashima. Simply breathtaking.

If you didn’t get to attend this Meet-up, watch for one in the future.  As a school librarian, I had a wonderful time and would definitely attend again.

School Media Specialist

What do newbie school media center people need to know?

2 Comments
McMillen High School Library

CMLE has over 200 member libraries, and we know they are all doing great work!! (Really! We’ve visited a bunch of them to admire it, and it’s always so cool!!)

A big part of our mission is to support our members. We want to get as much of the administrative/policy/back-stage kinds of things done for them as a group as possible. Library staffers are best utilized spending most of their time with their community (face to face or online), not working on the tedious stuff. We can’t take away all of that (sorry!), but we want to see what we can do as a system to make it easier for our library people to get away from that and spend more time with patrons.

One thing we are working on is a “Hello! Welcome to Your New Job In A School Media Center!” handbook. (The name is, obviously, still a work in progress. Send suggestions!)

We have some ideas, and have been gathering thoughts from school library people – but we want to know what YOU know! What do you do each day? What kinds of things do you wish you knew your first day, week, month? What suggestions do you have to pass on to your colleagues in school libraries??

Please feel free to send this request (appeal for help!) to any school library people you know! The more ideas we get, the better our end product will be.

(And yes: we are talking about CMLE members, because they are our primary mission – but anything we produce will be available for any school library person to use! We are strong believers in the idea that libraries are all stronger when we work together!!)

Leave a comment below! Email us at admin @ cmle.org! Tweet to us at @CMLELibs! Call us at 320-257-1933!

We would really love to hear from you – no matter what you do in any type of school library! The more info we get now, the better we are able to help!!

Thanks!!

Communication, School Media Specialist, Tech

School Libraries and Internet Filtering: What are you doing on this?

Réprésentation d'internet

We have had a member question about how school libraries are handling internet filtering requirements, and how to talk about it with IT staff, administration, and other stakeholders for school libraries.

So I looked up some information to share – and really, there is not enough out there.

Now we want to ask YOU what you are doing in your library!

First – are you using filtering software in your school library?

My sense at the moment is that not all of our members are, but I don’t know that. And of course there is not a right or wrong answer here – every community will be different and serve different needs that affect their decision.

How are schools handling internet blocking/filtering of sites for students and teachers. What do you specifically block? Topics? Key words? Websites?

What language do they use when working with administration, parents, students?

What support can library personnel acquire to use when discussing this with their IT personnel?

How specifically are library personnel handling the downloading of YouTube videos to school management platforms such as Schoology?

Whether or not you are filtering, it is worth taking some time to sit down with stakeholders, and/or CMLE staff, to make a plan to ensure you are meeting the needs of your community. As with all plans, it’s good to check in and review them every so often to be sure you are meeting changing needs and expectations!

Here are some resources to help you think about this issue. Remember: We are here to help CMLE work through just these kinds of topics! Call or email us and let’s set up some time to chat about your library’s filtering plan.

You can start at the ALA’s website for some of the basic ideas
from the profession. There are tons of links and sites here:
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/filtering

Here is the FCC’s take on filtering in schools – Children’s Internet
Protection Act (CIPA):
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act

Here is an article for public libraries, but some of the info may be
helpful for schools and other libraries: http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/blog/internet-filtering-dont-do-it


This article is for school libraries:
https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2017/01/law-requires-content-filtering-school-and-library-networks

Some general info: https://ncac.org/resource/internet-filters-2

S little old, but info on filtering in schools:
https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/how-internet-filtering-affects-education/


Books, Children's services

A Peek into the Future School Library

Library

I love thinking about the future – things will be wonderful there! Full funding for libraries! Programs are always filled! Funders fall over themselves to talk about the great things we provide!

So I was happy to see this article from Hannah Byrd Little, thinking about the future of school libraries. You can read an excerpt below, and click here to read the whole thing.

“During the school year, I focus my time almost completely on curriculum, collaboration with faculty, and working directly with students. But during the summer I turn my focus on the immediate future of my library space and the library collection. I tend to be more of a big-picture person. Many librarians are detail oriented but details are not my strength. So, I have my lists.

 “Summer to-do-list” for the big-picture librarian:

  • Analyzing Use — Walk into the front door of your library and pretend you are a student. Or, walk into the front door of your library and pretend you are a campus visitor.
  • Summertime Weeding  — I use tools like Follett Titlewise, and I also like to invite faculty to participate like they do in Pennsylvania Libraries. There is also the Continuous Review Evaluation and Weeding acronym MUSTIE that can help start the process.
  • Editing Furniture — Less is more, streamlining the library shelving can make for an open, inviting space.
  • Updating Technology — Think about low cost or no cost options like improving the self check-out, or adding instructions and helpful signage in the technology-rich areas.
  • Updating the Virtual Library — Work to improve online research guides and the library’s web presence.
  • Create Positive Signage — Change any negative language; for instance instead of “No Food or Drink” try “Food and Drink Free Zone.”
  • Make a Tickler List/File — A monthly list of what celebrations and events happen in the library space and of course, what bills are due each month

My big-picture side automatically thinks about library use and function over the next 10, 20, or even 30 years. I think of the library space as a place of information access and literacy development. A place where students still want to visit and a place where the librarian is still available to guide students in their information quest.”

Children's services, Programs, Tech

ALA, Google Seek Libraries to Apply for Coding Pilot this Summer

Month of Military Child 150425-Z-CH590-276

(From School Library Journal)

“Is your library ready to code? The American Library Association (ALA) and Google want you. As part of Phase III of the Libraries Ready to Code initiative, ALA and Google are forming a cohort of 25-50 school and public libraries, which will receive resources and support to create youth coding programs to serve their communities. In turn, participating libraries will help inform the creation of a toolkit to be used to inform coding programs at libraries nationwide.

The $500,000 initiative—announced at Google Chicago June 22, during ALA’s annual conference—will involve a competitive application process set to open in mid-July and run until the end of August 2017. Both school and public libraries are encouraged to apply, according to Marijke Visser, associate director of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP).

Continue reading ALA, Google Seek Libraries to Apply for Coding Pilot this Summer →