Tag Archives: Technology

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

How to Keep Libraries Relevant

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Image by MLibrary. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
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

Phone: 320-308-4779  Fax: 320-308-5131
E-mail: papost@stcloudstate.edu

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

Teaching Advice

Image by Charles Jeffrey Danoff. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by Charles Jeffrey Danoff. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.

All librarians/media specialists teach! Some are assigned specific courses, others work with classes throughout the year and many collaborate  with other teachers to identify resources and develop appropriate curriculum.

Dawn Casey-Rowe wrote an article for new teachers sharing her experiences, and offering sound advice that is applicable for first year newbies to seasoned veterans. This post includes lists of resources and adoption tips; stressing the importance of mentoring, developing checklists, managing behaviors, etc.  Even more valuable may be the links to additional resources. Click here to read the full article,            10 Digital Resources for New Teachers (August 2013.)

Tip: A learnist board is a visual repository of articles and resources. While reading the 50 Different Bulletin Boards for Your Classroom, I navigated my way to a “how to” learnist board about writing. Click here to view the board.

Academic, Check this out:, General

Solo Library Technologist

Image by swanksalot. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons licensing. Some rights reserved.
Image by swanksalot. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons licensing. Some rights reserved.

In a recent ACRL TechConnect post, Eric Phetteplace provides advice for library technologists that may feel as if they are going solo and unequipped to address pending tasks. He generalizes common issues into the following four areas:

  1. Colleagues lacking similar skill sets
  2. Too broad of responsibilities and limited technology time
  3. Creating endurable and maintainable projects
  4. Determining appropriate projects given the available resources

Click here to read the full article, Advice on Being a Solo Library Technologist to read  tips on how to circumvent these common road blocks.

Tip: Although this article is directed to Academic Libraries and their respective staff, the advice is very applicable to  all technology users in any library type.

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

2013 Fall MEMO Conference

Image by MEMO. Conference Logo 2013.
Image by MEMO. Conference Logo 2013.

Information in this post was provided by Laurie Conzemius, MEMO.

The MEMO Fall Conference, It’s About the Learning, is being held on Oct 3-5 at St. Cloud’s River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Each year attendees comment that the sessions at this conference, more than any other they attend, support their work in schools and provide the tools and training they need to do their job.

  • As teacher librarians we share a love of books and authors. For those of you able to attend, Thursday evening will feature a new special event, Journey of a Young Adult Book: From Writer to Reader. Dr.Heidi Hammond from St. Catherine University will moderate a discussion with young adult authors Carrie Mesrobian and Mary Losure, along with Carolrhoda Lab’s educational director Andrew Karre and Red Sofa Literary agent Dawn Fredrickson. Mary Casanova, featured Minnesota author, will delight us with a Saturday luncheon keynote address.
  • Both Joyce Valenza and Stephen Abram, recognizable names for those working in school libraries, focus on integrating technology in all aspects of education.
  • Keynote speaker Steve Hargadon, host of the Future of Education interview series and creator of the Classroom 2.0 social network, also has a strong connection to school libraries. Their keynote sessions are certain to inspire you, and Joyce and Minnesota’s own Doug Johnson will be hosting a “unconference” format for our Saturday breakout sessions. This format allows attendees to tailor the conference sessions to their own needs, and will be certain to provide you with a wealth of knowledge and a list of connections for your professional learning network.
  • Several Minnesota authors will be on hand throughout much of the conference to share their stories, offer autographed copies of the books, and provide information about their interest in school visits and other communication with students and libraries.
  • Breakout sessions of interest to K-6 library media specialists include iRead at the eLibrary; Minnesota Youth Reading Awards; Literary Rotations with a Technology Twist; Books for Teaching the MN Native American Standards; 2013 Mackin BookTalk Live!; Information Literacy: The Transition; Be Essential – and Convince Others that You Are; Younger American’s Reading and Library Habits Report; and much more!
  • Breakout sessions of interest to secondary media specialists include: YouTube (Your Channel/Your Resources); iRead at the eLibrary; Research Collaboration Librarian & Teacher; Research Projects and EasyBib; Supporting the New MN 6-8 Social Studies Standards; Online Information Literacy – Creating Effective Search Strategies; How Twitter Changed my Professional Life; Books for Teaching the MN Native American Standards; Teaching and Learning with Graphic Organizers; 2013 Mackin BookTalk Live!; Information Literacy: The Transition; Be Essential – and Convince Others that You Are; Tech Tools for Reading & Writing in content Areas; Younger American’s Reading and Library Habits Report; and many more!

Register online at: bit.ly/2013memo

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

Young Adults Seeking Books!

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Photo by mkh marketing and retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.
Photo by mkh marketing and retrieved from Flickr.                     Used under Creative Commons license.

Publisher Weekly posted an article titled Teenage Tweetland, YA authors and publishers reach out to young readers where they live: online and on their smartphones which discusses the use of social media in relation to the publishing industry. What makes this post so interesting are the multiple perspectives/voices being projected; the young adult, the author, the publisher, etc.

A large sector of young adults use social media such as Twitter (20+ million), Goodreads (8+ million users under 30), Tumblr (22+ million users under 18), blogs, etc. to identify titles to add to their reading lists.  Publishers themselves are posting upcoming book lists and must reads derived from data collected from sites “liked” or reviewed by their target audience.  In addition, authors are engaging their readers by sending tweets not just about the finished publication but during the characters development process to heighten anticipation and ultimately entice continued readership.  Simone Elkeles, author of Perfect Chemistry, states that she spends about 25% of her time writing and 75% of her time directly interacting with her fans. Authors like Sundee Frazier find it daunting to engage in social media platforms stating, “I’m not the sort of person who can just fire off tweets. My first priority is writing my stories.”

This highly personalized and direct marketing creates a digital dialog with readers-especially young readers who are confident and enthusiastic about technology.  It also creates a feeling of being connected, albeit virtually, using a system that has been known to inversely foster physical isolation.  This type of connection between writer and reader is becoming a growing expectation opposed to a preference.  I suspect the key is finding a medium that works.  As Patricia Post indicted in her editorial, From the Director,  CMLE has recently begun to engage in various forms of social marketing (this blog) with our target audiences (libraries and library professionals) to acknowledge that libraries are key stakeholders in the ever present cycle of information development, access and sharing. Click here to read the full article (May 2013).