Recently, staff in CMLE member libraries had almost one month to respond to an online CMLE Needs Assessment (survey). We sincerely thank the 152 people (20%) who took the time to share their thoughts, feedback, and dreams for library support services in Central Minnesota. CMLE serves 320 libraries in 12 counties, and one of the biggest challenges is understanding your specific needs while also trying to spot opportunities to convene academic, public, special and school librarians when a topic cuts across library type. In the next few weeks, we will highlight a few questions/responses in order to provide manageable bites of data.
This week we highlight data about who participated, and how they engage with various tools including social media!
Makeup of the Needs Assessment Respondents
* Of K-12 respondents, 50% were in elementary schools; no surprise as there are more elementary schools overall.
The following chart shows tools that are blocked for use at work. Tip: Sometimes, these tools can be used in the workplace by requesting special access for the specialized work you do!
Social Media Use by Respondents: Professional and Personal Use
Other interesting, notable facts!
85% of respondents currently receive the Weekly Review email every Thursday from CMLE
The Tech Bits and Ideas, and Resources You Can Use categories of weekly blog posts, are the two highest ranked categories in the Weekly Review lineup
44/46% of respondents felt either there would be value, or there might be value in having a place online with others in Central MN for asking questions and getting answers.
I cannot believe we are once again staring down the end of another academic year! My social media world reminds me that many of you are pushing through grueling testing in the K-12 schools, enduring exhausting budgeting exercises when there simply isn’t enough money, and yes, some of you are defending your jobs too. Welcome to spring in library land. Oh wait, I forgot pending legislation!
Legislatively, it doesn’t help that although the state has a wonderful budget surplus of $1.8 billion for the first time in years, funding to K-12 education AND libraries will probably not happen in any meaningful way this year (I don’t equate the current 1% increase for K-12 education meaningful). There are many opinions about why this might be. Last year, the heavy price tag to the state for all-day kindergarten did us no favors. And, the Governor’s push for statewide Pre-K this year, may have pushed too far, and fueled the legislator’s need to block the Governor on yet another pricey education improvement. Personally, I am not sure we were quite ready for another budget item of this size, and I am not sure the schools were ready for it either. Unfortunately, all education related funding (including libraries and multitype systems) get punished when all of our requests are included in a big old education omnibus bill. When things get adversarial, unfortunately we all lose! And, let’s not forget the students, what price will they pay?
On a positive note, I also see good things this time of year!
Summer reading lists and hammock plans are growing,
We only see snow showers occasionally each week, and
Great summer events like the MidMN EdCamp in St. Cloud are taking on an exciting life of their own. CMLE is a sponsor of this event, and we are hoping to see you there!
And, I see that 152 people in Central MN took time out of busy schedules to participate in our 2015 CMLE Needs Assessment. To those people, thank you; we are prepared to suit up and serve the expressed needs of the majority of respondents!
Doing a Needs Assessment is an emotional roller coaster much like a legislative session! As you can imagine, trying to determine and/or serve the needs of almost 800 people in 320 locations is a tall order, and you can only ask for the information if you are brave enough to face it! We are happy to see that 85% of our audience is receiving our weekly email that acts as a launching pad for important library information. Help us discover who we might be missing. We saw few surprises in your use of social media, but still think Twitter is underutilized as a collaboration tool with colleagues. Our Tech Bits and Ideas category of information was rated highest which fulfilled our hunch this year when we added it to the Weekly Review lineup. The open ended questions are the hardest….we hear worried, isolated, and exhausted voices in some of those responses. CMLE will continue to listen, support you, and respond! Thank you for the important work you do in Minnesota libraryland and watch for the next installment of Needs Assessment data next week. Did you miss this weeks results?
Not receiving our CMLE communications? Send us an email, and we will get you subscribed.
Image by CSB/SJU featuring Librarian, David Malone.
Last October, the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University (CSB/SJU) launched a campaign featuring librarians in Halloween-type costumes sporting the slogan, “Librarians aren’t scary – they’re scary good at research.” So this year, the Marketing Committee was challenged to develop another campaign to promote awareness of Library/Media/Archives to advance a greater recognition of the value of these services appealing to a broader audience. Kathy Parker, Director of Libraries, Media, and Archives at CSB/SJU said, “This specific campaign was designed to help make the librarians more approachable in the eyes of our students –to show them we have a sense of humor and maybe aren’t as stuffy as librarian stereotypes can suggest.”
Eight images were printed as posters and placed throughout campus. The digital versions of these posters have appeared in the CSB/SJU’s social media, including Facebook and Twitter (@csbsjulibraries). In addition, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) has also featured these funny, targeted posters (link 1, link 2.)
What have/can you do to get people talking about your library?
Image by MLibrary. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.
A recent post on the Education Week blog caught my eye, and captured the true dilemma many librarians and media specialists face as they ponder the future of libraries. The post is most specific to K-12, yet there are parallels for other library types too. Author Matthew Lynch proposes that to keep up with student needs, school libraries need to embrace a blend of traditional and contemporary philosophical needs (then takes the time to list them out). It is not hard to understand that remote access to the school catalog is a huge deal to students, yet so many schools in our region do not provide such access. In some districts, individual schools cannot even see each other’s catalogs. Why is that? Is it only a money thing, or do some believe our power remains in forcing people to physically visit the library or in asking the media person to do a search for them? Students want instant, remote access to school catalogs for books and other objects too. The post concluded with a rousing conclusion about Libraries of the Future and our own Minnesota school media leader Doug Johnson provided a great quote in this section. Johnson says “that all libraries have three primary responsibilities in the coming decade: providing high touch environments in a high tech world; offering virtual services; and standing ground as uber information hubs.” If decision makers are willing to break out of the traditional rut, school libraries (all libraries) will remain relevant and viable. Take five minutes to read the complete post, including quotes from other thought leaders on this subject!
Patricia Post, Director
Central MN Libraries Exchange (CMLE) A Minnesota Multitype Library System
St. Cloud State University, Miller Center 130-D
720 4th Ave. So.
St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498
Welcome to a new fiscal year with CMLE. Fall signals new beginnings for most people. And whether we work in a K-12 school or college or somewhere else, we are all part of the educational process. The life of library staff varies during the summer. Most K-12 staff are off duty as are some college librarians. In contrast, public libraries are extremely busy with reading programs in the summer. Most special librarians see no change in their work life in summer except often taking a much needed vacation. CMLE staff fit in this last category, and rather than a vacation this year, I had my knee replaced the first week in June. Prior to that, I had my hip replaced in February (yes, the same leg). Not a great summer for me!
We are a small office of two, so if things seemed a bit quiet last year on the CMLE front, you now understand why! The knee produced complications and setbacks that have made this the hardest year of my life. I take comfort in knowing I am almost back to fulltime, and hope to have much of my energy back by the October MEMO and MLA conferences in October.
Last year marked our gradual transition out of the interlibrary loan (ILL) service. Our staff consulted one-on-one with the small remaining group of ILL users who needed new solutions. In all cases, we found ILL alternatives that served their specific needs. Now, we are able to focus on our many other services, some of which are brand new. The question has come up, “If CMLE no longer does ILL, what does it do?” If we had a tagline, it would probably be: Providing support services to library staff in Central Minnesota. The needs for support are defined largely by people like you. Therefore, at any time feel free to communicate with our staff about your needs. Our services change as the needs of our twelve-county region change.
The services of CMLE are planned by the Director, an eleven-member Governing Board, and with member feedback. Four members of the Board are practicing librarians in the Central Minnesota region, and are selected by their representative caucus of academic, public, K-12 or special libraries.
CMLE has three strategic focus areas to guide services in FY13 through FY15
Refined Focus on K-12 Media Center Needs
Convening and Bridging Libraries Around Issues (all library types)
Stretching Dollars: Strategies and Services (all library types)
Some ways in which CMLE currently fulfills these focus areas is by engaging in the following activities;
Functions as a current awareness service to library professionals for national, statewide, and regional library news: To reach people where they are, CMLE utilizes email, a website, a WordPress blog, Facebook, Twitter and other online collaboration tools or Web 2.0 tools.
Provides scholarships to attend professional development events.
Negotiates discounts from various companies for both print and eBooks.
Maintains a collaborative role in the North Star Library Consortium in order to extend discounts on Follett’s Destiny software and additional library manager subscriptions.
Facilitates a succession of trainings, workshops, or “convened conversations” as needs dictate, which are typically offered at low or no cost to attendees.
Conducts various library advocacy activities in the work setting, statewide and national: The CMLE Director serves as a voice for libraries when there is no voice.
Manages a library shadowing program: CMLE staff gather and maintain valuable site-specific data to assist them in pairing librarians from the region to experience different library settings.
Identifies and develops subject guides on professional topics including library best practices.
Supports, engages, and collaborates with professional library organizations such as MEMO, MLA, ISTE, ALA, AASL: Includes conference support activities (Internet Cafes, networking activities, conference presentations, etc.)
We hope to have a fantastic year building relationships and gathering program ideas from our membership. Please know that your ideas and goals do matter and our staff is here to serve your professional needs. My “door” is always open, so please feel free to make direct contact with me via email or phone when that makes the most sense. Otherwise, I will “see” you online, at the MLA or MEMO conferences, or at one of our events. All the best as you move into a year of making a difference with the important work you do!
Patricia-
Patricia Post, Director
Central MN Libraries Exchange (CMLE) A Minnesota Multitype Library System
St. Cloud State University, Miller Center 130-D
720 4th Ave. So., St. Cloud, MN 56301-4498
Phone: 320-308-4779 Fax: 320-308-5131 E-mail: papost@stcloudstate.edu
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
* Of K-12 respondents, 50% were in elementary schools; no surprise as there are more elementary schools overall.
