Tag Archives: staff development

CMLE, Communication, Podcast, Training

Linking Our Libraries Episode 205: Staff Development

Personal Training at a Gym - Cable Crossover

This week we are talking about Staff Development, and we have a Guest Host: Elizabeth Proell, from St. Cloud Public Library.

You know that to do any job in a library means you have to keep building and honing your skills. Everything we do changes, develops, and evolves – and this will never stop.  If there ever was a time in libraries where we could just coast along on skills we learned twenty years ago, those days are long gone! Technology, automation, and streamlining of all organizations and workers means that we are constantly looking for better, faster, cheaper ways to do all the work we do every day. And what that really means for all of us is that we have to not only keep up with things happening around us – but we need to be out there ahead of our patrons so we are ready to help them build their skills! It’s not just embarrassing to not be able to answer a question on email or web design or VR technology – it is bad practice.

We know it is a challenge!! Your budget is stretched to the max already, your time is also filled as full as you can get it. So we are here to help you! CMLE’s website is filled with information and links to all kinds of great places to go to help you build your skills.

  • We maintain a Continuing Education calendar.
  • We share all kinds of places to take classes, either for free or at a reduced cost – and we offer up to $300 in scholarship money to offset the cost of any training you can identify!
  • We are building webinars and in-person training sessions for you, to work though any time.
  • We are also available to come to your library (or archive, or history center, or other organization) and talk with you about some training ideas, or to do some training based on your individual library’s needs.
  • We have material on our site for this episode; and we also have material all kinds of useful library-related skills, available in our Skills Toolbox section of our site.

 

Want to listen to an episode?

  • You can download an app, subscribe to “Linking Our Libraries” and all episodes will appear on your phone – it’s so easy!
    • Apps we like include Pocket Casts, iTunes, and Stitcher.
    • Download any of these, search for “Linking Our Libraries” and hit Subscribe.
    • If it is not readily available, just enter this RSS feed: http://libraries.blubrry.com/feed/podcast/.
  • Or, you can stream an episode right now on your computer by going to our streaming page, by clicking here.

Whatever tool you use, we hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening, and sharing ideas on libraries!

Want to talk with us about this topic? Do you, your staff, or your organization need training in this topic? Want to write a policy, or develop a program?  We are here for you!
Click here to get started!
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Enhancing Quality Staff (EQS) Symposium: Save the Date

22nd symposium for library paraprofessionals and support staff presented by the U of M Libraries

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Continuing Education and Conference Center
University of Minnesota
St. Paul Campus
1890 Buford Avenue
Saint Paul, MN

Attend this event for a great mix of professional and personal development sessions; ready  for review at https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/eqs/

Registration information will be mailed out in March.

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Symposium: Enhancing Quality Staff

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Some rights reserved by roland
Some rights reserved by roland

The University of Minnesota is hosting the 21st Annual Enhancing Quality Staff Symposium on Tuesday, May 21st at the St. Paul Campus. This event is sponsored by Continuing Education and offers registrants the opportunity to customize their day. Session topics include;

  • What makes an award winning children’s book?
  • Difficult conversations: Are you prepared?
  • Liberating eBooks from difficult publisher platforms.
  • What you can learn from cookbooks.
  • The role of libraries in the success of first year students, and much more.

Click here to find additional sessions and locate registration information. Early bird registration ends on Tuesday, April 30th!

School Media Specialist

TIES Conference Summary: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.

 Submitted by: Deborah Disher, Holdingford Media Specialist

 The place to be on December 12 & 13th was the TIES Conference at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Minneapolis.  Here you would have found 3,100 educators learning about new technology and what others are doing in their classrooms and districts.  I have attended TIES for more years than I would like to admit too, but it never fails to give me new ideas, renew my passion for technology, and motivate me to share ideas with staff and students.  This year was no exception.

 One of the most interesting things that seemed to come up in many sessions was that of a “flipped classroom”.  Where teachers tape their presentation and post to the web and students then listen to the presentations as homework.  During class time students do what would normally have been assigned as homework and the teacher is there to assist them.  Class time can also be used to go more in-depth.  I can see this being very beneficial, especially in math classes.  What a different way to think of teaching!  

 I attended a session on staff training that gave me some new ideas.  One idea I liked was what they called, “Speed Geeking”. During “Speed Geeking”, staff will spend ten minutes at different stations being introduced to some new tool.  After offering a “Speed Geeking” program it’s a good idea to offer a period of time for post-session discussion. During the post-session discussion, questions can be asked of staff attendees about what they learned, what they liked, whether the format of the class effective, and suggestions for improvement.  Later on, a follow-up can be done, asking if staff is using what they learned and if they need further help, advice, or assistance.

 I am anxiously awaiting our next staff development days so that we can try “Speed Geeking”. I also plan to setup up some after school sessions to share some of the other great ideas I learned.  All in all, the conference was great and I would encourage anyone who has never attended to try it next year.