Tag Archives: School media center

CMLE, School Media Specialist, Visits

Touring Kimball Elementary school library

For someone who is not regularly around small kids, it’s always a treat to visit an elementary school library – you see just how much thought goes into making everything size-appropriate for the patrons! That kind of usability is important in all libraries, but in a library like this it is clearly on display and fun to see.

This library is a fun open-concept design! No walls cut them off from the rest of the school, so everything feels very open and flexible. They are recessed below the hallways around them, so there is privacy and a sense of specific place; and I love this feeling of being connected to the daily activities around them.

Continuing the idea of design making the library connect with the kid patrons, this art on the wall was just lovely. Kids could see this and be really inspired to read books – but also to just dream about great things!

Continue reading Touring Kimball Elementary school library →

Communication, General, Guest Blogger, Special, Tech

Podcasting – Jumping in Head First

 

check out Maria’s actual setup – pretty cool!

(by Guest Blogger Maria Burnham, from Sauk Rapids-Rice High School; read about our visit to her library!)

I’ve been a big fan of podcasts for a long time, and I love that podcasts are, once again, on the radar and a popular topic of conversation.  Several times over the last few months I’ve heard people say, “Have you listened to [insert podcast name]?  It’s so great!”  Podcasts sometimes feel like short little audio books; perfect snippets for those of us with limited spare time or those of us with commitment issues.  I listen to popular podcasts like Serial and Hidden Brain, literary podcasts like The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor, music podcasts like Tiny Desk, and book podcasts like Book Riot.

Recently, I decided that it was time to take podcasting into my own hands.  I’m an avid reader, and because of my role as the school’s “librarian” (even though that’s not my official title), I’m often asked to help others find a book.  In conjunction, I’m also in a high school setting which can sometimes be a finicky place to get reading traffic in to the library.  High schools aren’t like elementary and middle schools where classes of kids come down once a week to check books in and out.  Instead, I often rely on the roaming traveler in the book stacks or the rare, “My friend said I just HAVE to read this book!” for foot traffic.  Podcasting seemed like the logical blending of these two situations.  I could push out my book recommendations and at the same time try to create a bit more excitement about reading and the new books we have available.

Continue reading Podcasting – Jumping in Head First →

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, School Media Specialist, Services

Calling on Academic Librarians! We need your input on student needs!

Are you an academic librarian? We need you!

Do you know an academic librarian? Forward this on!

Maria Burnham is the media specialist at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School. She wants to be sure her students leave school post-secondary ready, a goal of her building and of her district. But what does that really mean for libraries??

We do not have a good sense of what students need to know to be successful when they get to you in an academic library. So we are asking you!

This is a quick survey (same survey in all those links above!), and it should only take you about five minutes to complete.

Maria will collect the responses, and turn it into some material that she can use to help her teachers and students to know what it is they need to know to be successful! We can also share the results with you, and we will be building on this work to reach out to libraries across the CMLE system, and across the state.

We all want students to be ready for their next step after high school; let’s see what we can do to make that happen!

We really want to get input from all types of academic libraries, so your help is really appreciated!! We know you are busy as you wind up your semester; so to thank you CMLE will award a $10 gift card from Amazon.com to a randomly chosen person who completes the entire survey before Dec. 16.

Thank you for your help!

 

Check this out:, Communication, General, School Media Specialist, Visits

A visit to Kimball High School

A visit to Kimball High School library reveals a library dedicated to helping student patrons, and thinking about the future of libraries! Library Media Specialist Lori Miller showed me around her library; and then we had a chance to sit down and chat with some other technology staffers to talk about libraries and the future. That is one of the really fun parts about these visits – talking with colleagues about libraries is just great! And CMLE is here to help our members to be successful; so we are always available to talk about library history, present, and future.

book-display

Of course libraries are more than “just” books (as if that would be bad!); but our foundation is always books – the original technology for reading! Never needs charging or refreshing; and having a paper copy means you never worry about losing your license to the content. So the books are important. The bookshelves are neatly arranged, have cool posters on the end-caps to draw in prospective readers (it worked on me!), and the display of books makes them easily accessible and ready to grab – always a benefit when considering circulation stats! Continue reading A visit to Kimball High School →

Academic, Check this out:, CMLE, Public, School Media Specialist, Special, Visits

A Visit to the Avon Elementary School Library

Angie and I were invited to visit the Avon Elementary School library, where we were in the capable hands of Cathy Studer and Gayle. They showed us around their very nice library, in between helping their young patrons and teachers in technology distress. (A busy library’s work is never done!) Teaching a class in the computer lab behind the library was Dana Dingmann, and swamped with busy kids working on assorted projects. Dana also helps in the library, and works on devices for the school.

book-tasting-display
looks good enough to eat!

When you walk in the door you immediately see this great display. It changes monthly, and this month they are focused on food and books. This theme carries over to other displays in the library.

tablets-and-crayons
important library supplies

Check out the really cute basket of crayons! This food-themed strategy for putting out crayons for patron is on all the work tables in the library. The library is also available for backup for the school’s technology needs. They have a laptop cart with 30 laptops, and iPad cart with 30 devices, and another cart of 30 Chromebooks. Each classroom works on a 2:1 ratio of tech tools – Chromebooks and iPads – to student. Cathy and Gayle are available to work with everyone to be sure the tech is effective in teaching and learning. And there was a copy of a Magic Tree House series book – one of my favorites! Continue reading A Visit to the Avon Elementary School Library →