Tag Archives: Update

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

New Minitex Director

ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE MINITEX COMMUNITY

I am pleased to share the exciting news about the successful search for a new director of Minitex.  Valerie Horton, Executive Director of the Colorado Library Consortium (CLiC), will assume the role in early December.

Ms. Horton brings an extraordinary portfolio to the Minitex leadership position.  As the founding director of CLiC, she has developed robust programs of resource sharing, as well as open source library systems and continuing education.  Earlier appointments as a library director (Mesa State College), systems and budget officer (New Mexico State University), ALA International Library Fellow,  and systems librarian (Brown University) round out her rich record. Her commitment to collaboration is evidenced in her lead roles in the open access journal Collaborative Librarianship and in conferences around the challenging topic of delivery and in her extensive contributions to our profession.

The search process has been expansive.  The search committee, with representatives across the various sectors of the Minitex community, did a stellar job, bringing us an exceptional pool of finalists.  The engagement of our communities was significant, with well over 150 individuals online watching the public presentations.  Feedback from participants was equally strong, with abundant commentary from individuals across the region. I want to thank the search committee, particularly the chair Linda DeBeau-Melting, for managing this inclusive process. And thank you to all who contributed to this important search.

Valerie hopes to visit Minnesota in the months before her official start, and looks forward to working with the fabulous Minitex staff and deeply committed library communities across Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Wendy Pradt Lougee, University Librarian, University of Minnesota

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

CMLE Scholarship Program – Apply Today!

Did you know?! CMLE offers scholarships of up to $200 per fiscal year per individual for staff affiliated with our member libraries to attend workshops, conferences, and other library-related activities to promote professional development. For all of the details and to apply for a scholarship, go to www.cmle.org/scholarships.asp.

Past recipients of the CMLE scholarship were able to attend national conferences such as ISTE. Locally, members received scholarships for attending the Children’s Literature Workshop in St. Cloud, the TIES conference, the Library Technology Conference at Macalaster College, and for annual MEMO and MLA conferences.

Funds are limited! Apply soon!

Money Plant Image
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Academic, General, Special

National Medal Video: Hill Museum & Manuscript Library

Video

More news from the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library in Collegeville, MN! As we reported in our December edition of the CMLE Exchanger Newsletter, the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library was selected as one of ten winners of the 2011 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. A recently released video available on the Institute of Museum and Library Services Blog highlights the work being done by the Director of the Library, Father Columba Stewart, and Dr. Getachew Haile, Cataloguer of Oriental Manuscripts and Curator of the Ethiopian Study Center, as they discuss the preservation of Ethiopian manuscripts.

School Media Specialist

Children’s Literature Workshop Recap: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.

 Submitted by: Jenny Hill, St. Michael Elementary School Media Specialist

On June 25th and 26th, I had the privilege of attending the 33rd annual Children’s Literature Workshop thanks to a generous scholarship from Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange.  This year, the conference changed venues and was held on campus at St. Cloud State University instead of the Holiday Inn as it has in the past.  The conference featured two key note speakers, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, author of the Caldecott Award winning book Snowflake Bentley and MN Newbery Honor winner Margi  Preus who wrote The Heart of a Samuri.

My favorite part about attending conferences such as these is gaining the opportunity to hear authors talk about the creative writing process.  Martin stressed that writing is challenging for everyone—it’s just that authors don’t mind doing the work.  Preus agreed.  She shared her beliefs that she herself is not a good writer, but she is good at rewriting and loves the work she does as an author.  This reminded me of what MN author John Coy wrote in his 2012-2013 Maud Hart Lovelace nominated book Top of the Order.   “The word RE VISION is a very simple word with two parts…it means to see again” (2009, p. 144).  I was reminded after hearing these authors speak that much of the work of writing is that of re-visioning:  examining stories from multiple angles until a story comes into focus.

Another thing I enjoy about the Children’s Literature Workshop is having the opportunity to learn from presenters during break-out sessions.  This year I attended a session about Google Lit-Trips.  I hope to project Google Earth on my SMART board in the media center this year to help students gain a stronger sense of the setting of their books.

I also attended a session on the award winning books of 2012 including Jack Gantos’ Newbery winner, Dead End in Norvelt, and Chris Raschka’s book A Ball for Daisy, which won the Caldecott.  I aim to promote this books this year on our school news broadcast during a segment that I created called Book Talk Tuesday.

 Finally, I attended a session where I learned how to create text sets, or groupings of books around a similar theme or genre.  I think that grouping texts in this way, whether through displays in the school library media center or through lists of recommended titles, will help readers discover their next great book!

Want to attend the Children’s Literature Workshop next summer?  It will be held on June 17th and 18th at SCSU!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Library Technology Conference Summary: A CMLE Scholarship

The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.

 Submitted by: Laura Mackenthun, Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School Media Specialist

With the help of a scholarship from CMLE, I was able to attend The Library Technology Conference at Macalaster College on March 14 and 15.  As a middle school media specialist, I found this conference filled with opportunities to discover ways to consider and implement technologies for use with students and staff.  Furthermore, because this conference was intended for people from all library types, it also provided an opportunity I don’t have often–and that is to consider how my media center and the students with whom I work today are part of a bigger system of libraries, information technology, and media literacy.

The keynote speakers Andrew McLaughlin, Chad Mairn, and Larry Johnson (I’d suggest doing some research on these speakers and their thoughts!)  provided “big picture” views of technology and how the world may look in years to come.  Our library patrons–of any age and from any library type—live in a world filled with technology.  People are active consumers, users and creators of technology, technology is more accessible, and technology has potential beyond what we can envision.

The conference sessions provided opportunities to learn how information literacy is being taught, new technology tools for use in libraries, and online safety.

The balance of “big picture” thinking and “day to day” practical information that this conference presented was definitely valuable.  I came back to working with my middle school students and staff with ideas to implement and investigate further.