Linking Our Libraries: Recent Episodes
Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange
Libraries are amazing places! The work library people do is so wide-ranging, it can be hard to keep up on the latest news. We are here to help. Each episode, Mary and Angie will focus on one area of library work, discuss library news stories, recommend some books, and share a Spotlight Library that is doing some interesting work.
If your image of libraries is dominated by crabby old women who shush you, or places where they scowl when you take books home - you are in for a big surprise. Libraries are the jewels of their communities, and doing all sorts of amazing things every day! Books are the backbone of any library, and there is so much more to do and to use. Service to every member of their community means searching out and connecting with the needs of a lot of different groups. No matter what your interests, there is a library out there for you!
Listen to us talk about some of the great things happening in libraries today!
For our final episode on this topic, we admire the Jeffers Petroglyphs. It is home to about 5,000 sacred rock carvings, also called petroglyphs, made by the ancestors of today’s Native Americans. Celebrate this ancient site with a book about art.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
Thanks for joining us for the last two seasons, as we journeyed across the state of Minnesota to see our historical sites. This is our final podcast of this series, and it has been so great to talk about books with you! All of these episodes are available on our website: cmle.org. You can also download them on your favorite podcast app.
We have a series of past seasons where we talked about every county in Minnesota, and suggested books to go along with each of them. And, in yet another series, we looked at every state park in Minnesota, suggesting even more books to go along with each of these treasures of the state.
It has been wonderful to talk about so many books with you, and to virtually visit so many wonderful places across Minnesota. Please enjoy reading the books we have all discussed over the last few years of this podcast. And also, I encourage you to get out there and enjoy some new and interesting places to visit. Minnesota is filled with some great places, people, and things to enjoy - so get out there and experience it all!
Visit the Sibley Historic Site, home to the oldest structures still standing in Minnesota. From the center of the fur trade to the center of government, this site witnessed some of the key people and events at play in the tumultuous history of the early days of Minnesota statehood. Celebrate this history and read a book about buildings.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
This hand-built house held Dr. W. W. Mayo’s first medical practice, witnessed events of the US-Dakota War of 1862, and eventually served as the family home for another giant of Minnesota history — the Cosgrove family of the Green Giant Company. Celebrate this history and read a book with a medical storyline.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to a couple of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
Historic Forestville was once the center of a thriving rural community until it fell into decline after the railroad passed it by in 1868. The historic town includes a fully-stocked general store, farm and homestead with original artifacts. Celebrate this history by reading a book about a small town.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to a couple of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
Experience the story of farming, food and agriculture — past and present! Explore the original 1860s working farm, and get an up close view of the animals and gardens. Celebrate this farm by reading a book about farming plants or animals.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to a couple of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
For thousands of years, the Dakota lived and worked at Traverse des Sioux, located on the lower Minnesota River. By the early 19th century, European American fur traders, missionaries, and adventurers were frequent visitors. Then in 1851, this site witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux between the US government and the Dakota. Read a book about rivers or river travel.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to a couple of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading aor recommendations.
Step into the Harkin Store, once the social center of the community where townsfolk and farmers gathered to buy groceries, barter for supplies, and exchange news. Many of the store’s original goods remain on the shelves. Get in touch with this history and read a book about a store or selling things.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to a couple of our state’s great independent bookstores: Zenith Bookstore in Duluth and Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
Behold 1000 watts of ship-stopping power! Experience the sights, the history, and the technology behind this signature Minnesota landmark anchored on the rocky coast of Lake Superior. We encourage you to celebrate this and read a book about being on a ship.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais, MN. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
“From police station to Civil War training grounds to site of a siege during the US-Dakota War, Fort Ridgely witnessed the tumultuous history of 1800s Minnesota.” We suggest that you read a book about Native Americans.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais, MN. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
“Through inspiring exhibits, thought-provoking programs, live performances, and action-packed discovery, the History Center feeds your curiosity about Minnesota’s stories, people, and places.” To celebrate this center, we suggest that you read a book set in a museum.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Zenith Books in Duluth, MN. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
"We tell the wider history of Native Americans, French voyageurs, and British fur traders in the early 19th century on the Ginebig-ziibi (Snake River)." Celebrate this history and read a book with furry animals.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Bookstore in Grand Marais. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
“People have long relied on the forests for food, shelter, and building materials. Today we also include recreation and enjoying the beauty of forests in that description. The Forest History Center tells the story of this changing relationship with the land.” To celebrate this relationship, read a book about trees.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: the Red Balloon in Minneapolis, MN. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
Minnehaha Depot, famous for its intricate “gingerbread” canopy, was an integral part of the first rail line out of Minneapolis. Known as the “Princess” by rail workers of the time, it served both local Minneapolis residents as well as visitors from “out east.” Read a book with a princess.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Magers and Quinn in Minneapolis, MN. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
Find all of our information and links on our show notes page!
This week we remember the Birch Coulee historic site. This location was the site of one of the deadliest battles of the US-Dakota War, over 150 years ago. To commemorate this tragedy, we suggest that you read a book about a tragedy.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to one of our state’s great independent bookstores: Drury Lane Books in Grand Marais, MN. It gives you a description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations.
Check out our show notes page here, for all our links and information!
We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we admire the Alexander Ramsey House. Alexander Ramsey held many offices in Minnesota, and he helped to found the MN Historical Society. To celebrate this, we suggest that you read a historical fiction book.
In our show notes for this episode, we link each book to the local Red Balloon bookstore description, so you can get more information about the book to help you make a decision about your reading or recommendations!
Check out this week's show notes right here!
This week, to wrap up the series, we are looking at a potpourri of different kinds of programs. As has been true all season, there probably isn’t anything too wild and radical here - just suggestions for things to try. Once you see that other people have tried some different kinds of programs, you may be more inspired to do the same! Your library needs programs - they can be a great way to fulfill your main mission: connecting your community with information, ideas, and entertainment.
This week we are feeling a little mushy from the effects of Valentine’s Day! Of course, we do not limit ourselves to some forced idea of romance - how dull. Instead we take the expansive definition of relationships and love and happiness! We love libraries and books so much; but other readers and library people are also pretty great. So this week, let’s look at some programs you may want to try in your library to build some relationships in the library.
Check out our show notes page here, to get all the material we discussed today and links to everything.
This week we are discussing the tasty program of cooking in the library! This is another set of programs that you can easily do either in person or virtually. (It is, of course, best to make all of your programs available virtually; this week just lends itself to that pretty well.)
Check out our show notes page here, with links to all the programs.
We will insert a blanket disclaimer here that food sensitivities, allergies, and religious restrictions are important to people. So be sure you are sharing ingredients and preparation methods with people as freely as possible; and to the extent possible, offer some flexibility in the program to accommodate these issues.
Check out our show notes page here, with links to libraries and programs!
This week we are looking at physical programs - those programs that make you get up and dance and move and do some fun things while in the library. Our usual programs involve people sitting still. Sure, those are fun too. But these programs do not speak out to everyone; and it’s important to host programs that other people will enjoy. Plus, getting up and zooming around the library, or outside, will always be fun!
This week we are looking at Technology programs! You might incorporate some of these into the programs we talked about a couple of weeks ago, with crafting and making. There are a variety of different kinds of technology you might want to use or to create here; and your budget can be either pretty small or extravagantly large. These tend to be programs that need some advance planning, but can be really popular when they work out!
Check out our show notes page here, with links to all the libraries and ideas we are sharing.
This week we are talking about different programs for your patrons to do some writing and some publishing work. Of course, we are known for books and reading material; so this kind of programing fits in perfectly with our mission. Encouraging people to not just be consumers of books but to also use their ideas and creativity to create books, to write, and to share their thoughts and experiences with the world is a great program for the library.
Check out our show notes, with all of our links, here!
This week we are shaking off the winter blah feelings, and planning to get outside for a while! Everyone is tired of being cooped up, and we need to think through some ideas to help you and your patrons to get outside and to get moving.
We talk about going outside and doing fun things out there pretty often. You might call it exercise; but it’s fine to think about it as just moving around and having fun. No need to get formal with your programming, unless you really want to. The main point to most programming is to just have fun, and to give your patrons an opportunity to enjoy themselves.
This season we are talking about library programs - giving you some ideas about different ideas you can try in your own library. It is always good to share ideas across libraries, and we are all better! Each week we will look at a different theme of programs.
This week we are talking about a very standard library program: crafting and making! Check out our show notes page here.
This season we are talking about library programs - giving you some ideas about different ideas you can try in your own library. It is always good to share ideas across libraries, and we are all better! Each week we will look at a different theme of programs.
This week we are talking about a very standard library program: book groups! Check out our show notes page here.
We’re in the end of the big holiday season, and everyone is tired of celebrating - and ready to start some resolutions for the new year. Reading more books is a pretty common resolution; book groups of all types can be helpful to your patrons - and fun for you!
Welcome to Season Ten of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you join us again! This is the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and our members are all types of libraries and their staff. In this podcast, we talk about the skills library staff need to be successful and to help them to serve their communities.
Check out our show notes page here, with links to everything we share today.
This season we are talking about library programs - giving you some ideas about different ideas you can try in your own library. None of us is as good at this as all of us thinking together. It is always good to share ideas across libraries, and we are all better! Each week we will look at a different theme of programs.
This will be a fun week, because we are sharing some citizen science programs! At CMLE, we are such fans of bringing citizen science to libraries. We have done a series of blog articles about citizen science, with suggestions for bringing it into your library. (You can find our blog here!)
This week we admire Red Lake County. This county contains Equality Township. To celebrate this county, we suggest that you read a book about equality in any way.
We are wrapping up our final season looking at Minnesota counties! Thanks for being with us as we admire all the counties, and last season when we looked at all the Minnesota State Parks. Join us here next week when we start our next series, and admire all of the Minnesota State Historical Sites, right here in this podcast feed.
This week we admire Redwood County. This county contains the Delhi State Wildlife Management Area. To celebrate that, we suggest that you read a book set in India or with an Indian character.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Renville County. This county was named after Joseph Renville (1779-1846), interpreter for early explorations of the Louisiana Purchase. To celebrate this county, we suggest that you read a book with a bilingual character.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Rock County. In honor of the very cool county name, we suggest you celebrate it by reading a book about geology.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Roseau County. This county contains Canadian National Depot, 1914 station of the Canadian National Railway on U.S. soil, used by many immigrants leaving for Canada. To celebrate this county, we suggest you read a book about the experiences of immigrants.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Scott County. This county is home to the Elko Speedway. To celebrate this, we suggest that you read a book about cars or racing.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Sherburne County. One bonus fact to celebrate here: this is one of the CMLE member counties! All the libraries in this county are members of CMLE, and we are so happy to have you. This county is the home of Oliver H. Kelley Homestead, Farm occupied 1850–1870 by Oliver H. Kelley, founder of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. We’re going to dodge the specifics there, and suggest that you read a book with a husband.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Sherburne County. One bonus fact to celebrate here: this is one of the CMLE member counties! All the libraries in this county are members of CMLE, and we are so happy to have you. This county is the home of Oliver H. Kelley Homestead, Farm occupied 1850–1870 by Oliver H. Kelley, founder of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. We’re going to dodge the specifics there, and suggest that you read a book with a husband.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Sibley County. This county is the home of Transit Township. To celebrate that, we suggest that you read a book about going somewhere.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Steele County. This county is the home of the Blooming Prairie Township. To celebrate it, we suggest that you read a book with flowers of any sort.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Pine County. In 1872, there is evidence of a train derailment in Pine County that resulted in that train falling in and sinking into Devil's Lake. To date, this train has not been found, but theories abound as to the events of the day. Read a book with a mysterious event.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Traverse County. Traverse County Fair is held in August. To celebrate that event, we suggest that you read a book about a fair or other big celebration
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Wadena County. Over the years there have been approximately ten creameries in the county and ten cheese factories. To celebrate that good stuff, we suggest that you read a book with dairy products.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Washington County. This county is named after George Washington (1732-1799), first president of the United States (1789-1797). To celebrate this county, we suggest that you read the first book in a series.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Watonwan County. The county names name reflects the Dakota word "watanwan," meaning "fish bait," or "plenty of fish." We suggest you celebrate it by reading a book with fish or fishing.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Winona County. Named after Wee-No-Nah, Sister or Cousin of Chief Wabasha III. To celebrate this woman, we suggest that you read a book about an interesting woman, especially one who does something first.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Norman County. To celebrate early Norwegian settlers, also known as Norman settlers, we’re reading books set in Norway or another Scandinavian country.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Norman County. To celebrate early Norwegian settlers, also known as Norman settlers, we’re reading books set in Norway or another Scandinavian country.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Mower County. This county is the location of the Paramount Theater, a 1929 movie theater, the only atmospheric theater and commercial use of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture. Let’s celebrate this historical theater by reading a book made into a movie!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Meeker County. This county was named for Bradley B. Meeker (1813–1873), Associate Justice of the Minnesota Territorial Supreme Court (1849–1853). To celebrate the county, we suggest that you read a book set in a courtroom.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Martin County. This county contains contains Fairmont Opera House, theater built in 1901, it is a well-preserved and longstanding venue for cultural and social events. To celebrate this, we suggest that you read a book about a cultural or social event. You can find all our book suggestions on our show notes page!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Lyon County. This county contains Lady Slipper Lake. To celebrate the fancy name of this lake, read a book with people on the cover or in the plot who wear fancy clothes.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we admire Lac qui Parle County. Lac qui parle is a French phrase meaning "lake which talks". To celebrate that meaning, read a book set in France or with a French character
This week we admire Kittson County. This county contains contains the Smokey Bear State Forest; to celebrate that we suggest that you read a book about bears or Teddy Roosevelt.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Kittson County. In this county is the town Pelan - officially a ghost town. To celebrate this county, we suggest that this week you read some scary stories, particularly if they have a ghost and especially if you stay up late and enjoy them or if you read them around a campfire while enjoying the outdoors.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Itasca County. Our prompt comes from Lake Itasca, source of the Mississippi River. We suggest you celebrate by reading a book with someone who visits the Mississippi River!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Isanti County. Its county seat is Cambridge, so celebrate that fact by reading a book set in a college or university
And since Isanti County is in CMLE’s geographic territory, that means all the libraries located there are our members! Hooray for CMLE libraries!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
his season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we admire Goodhue County. James Madison Goodhue was the first newspaper editor in Minnesota. To celebrate the value he brought to Minnesota, read a book with a journalist or involving a newspaper.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we admire Faribault County. Two 1903 buildings are representative of the substantial railroad activity in Wells: a train station and a freestanding lunchroom that served crew and passengers. We suggest you celebrate these facts by reading a book about trains or train travel.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Wabasha County. This county is the home of Anderson Gardens; to celebrate it we suggest that you read a book about gardens or tranquility. We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Saint Louis County. This county is the home of the Aerial Lift Bridge, the iconic bridge serving as the western gateway to the Great Lakes. To celebrate it, we suggest you read a book with a bridge - literally or metaphorical. We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Today our prompt is inspired by Dodge County! Henry Dodge (1782–1867), was the twice governor of Wisconsin; to celebrate this, we suggest that you read a book about Wisconsin or about cheese. We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Today our prompt is inspired by Fillmore County! Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), was our thirteenth president of the United States (1850-1853). To celebrate this, we suggest that you read a book about a president - of the US or another country. We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Sibley County. This county is the home of Transit Township. Enjoy this township by reading a book with a method of transportation - the more interesting the method the better the book may be. You can find our show notes page here!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we admire Morrison County. This is one of the counties in CMLE! All of the libraries in this county are members, and it’s great to have them as part of the CMLE family. This county was named after William & Allan Morrison, fur trading brothers. We suggest that you read a book with brothers. You can find our full show notes page here.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! You can find our full show notes page here.
This week we admire Lake of the Woods County. Since Alaska has no counties, Lake of the Woods is the northernmost county in the United States. We suggest that you read a book set in Canada.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! You can find our full show notes page here.
This week we admire Benton County. This is one of the counties in CMLE! All of the libraries in this county are members, and it’s great to have them as part of the CMLE family. This county was named after Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858), former United States Senator from Missouri (1821-1851). We suggest that you read a book with a person from Missouri, or - in honor of their state slogan - a book where you are shown something.
This week we admire Nicollet County. This county is named after Joseph Nicolas Nicollet (1786–1843), early explorer and cartographer of the Upper Mississippi River. We suggest you read a book about explorations or adventures. We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! This week we admire Douglas County. It is named after Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813-1861), former United States Senator from Illinois (1847-1861). We suggest this week you read a book about a person from Illinois or set in Illinois.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! This week we admire Clearwater County. The Itasca Bison Kill Site is the oldest archaeological site within Itasca State Park. The site dates back to the Early Eastern Archaic period. We suggest you read a book about large animals with four feet this week.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! This week we admire Polk County. The Red Lake River flows west through the upper central part of the county, discharging into the Red at Grand Forks. In the best tradition of reference questions asked, we suggest you read a book with a red cover.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! Today our prompt is inspired by Dakota County! This county is located in the southern area of the Twin Cities. The reading prompt comes from the Dakota language, after a local tribe Dakota that means "Allies" so this week, read a book about friends.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! Today our prompt is inspired by Beltrami County! This county is located in the northern part of the state and includes the Red Lake Reservation. Our prompt comes from Giacomo Beltrami, Italian explorer who explored the northern reaches of the Mississippi River in 1823; read a book set in Italy or with an Italian character.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge! Today our prompt is inspired by Clay County! This county includes Moorhead MN, just across the river from Fargo. The reading prompt comes from Henry Clay (1777-1852), Kentucky statesman and ninth secretary of state of the United States (1825–1829); read a book set in Kentucky or with a Kentuckian.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
You can find our full show notes here, with links to everything we discussed today.
Earlier this season we talked about the three required courses in this certification program. This week we are talking about one of the competencies that is optional: Youth Services. Today is our last topic! It’s been great talking about all of these ideas with you!
“These competencies are for support staff working in a public library in service to youth, from birth through age seventeen. Services to youth include collection development, programming, providing readers’ advisory and reference services, and teaching information literacy skills and related activities.”
This was a quick overview of all ten of the topics in the ALA/APA’s certification topics for library staffers. And if you want to find out more about getting certified yourself, check the website (linked in our show notes), or just email us at admin@cmle.org.
It has been great talking about library skills with you all season! This is our final show of season nine - but don’t worry about us leaving you. We will be back here on Tuesday with another season of our series Browsing Books. We will keep looking at counties in Minnesota, finding an interesting fact about each, and suggesting books you can enjoy for yourself or recommend to your patrons. Subscribe today to our sister podcast: Reading With Libraries! We will start a new season of this book group next Thursday. Join us each week for a new genre, tasty beverages to share, and a lot of books to discuss!
Earlier this season we talked about the three required courses in this certification program. This week we are talking about one of the competencies that is optional: Supervision and Management. We have two entire seasons, from Seasons Three and Four, talking about different management competencies that might be useful to you. So check those out for more information!
You can find our full show notes page here, with links to everything we are sharing today.
“Library Support Staff often hold positions that involve supervision and management. These staff members may also need to demonstrate the competencies specific to a department in which they work.”
Let’s take a look at a few of the fourteen different components the ALA has identified as important here, and talk about a little information on each one. You can get more information about the full list on their website.
“Library Support Staff who work in collection functions support coworkers and library users by assisting with the processes that put library materials on the shelf or online. This work requires knowledge and abilities in many aspects of this fundamental library work, including understanding publishers, vendors, budgets and accounting, how to resolve problems, preparing items for use, and caring for items after they have been well used.”
You can find our full show notes page here, with links to everything we shared today.
Earlier this season we talked about the three required courses in this certification program. This week we are talking about one of the competencies that is optional: Reference and Information Services.
You can find our show notes page here, with links to everything we discuss today.
“These services support library users as they seek access to information in all formats, wherever these resources are located. These competencies require an understanding of basic information resources and of the user’s information seeking behavior and expectations.”
You can check our full show notes page for all the links we share today.
“Library Support Staff who work in cataloging and classification support library users’ access to resources in a library. They do this by assisting with the processes that enable multiple ways of searching to identify what is in a library; to identify and select particular items; to locate these items in the library or in other libraries and in general to support the intellectual and organizational coherence of the library’s collections.
Cataloging and classification require a high level of computer skills, knowledge of standard systems of classification, cataloging, and subject headings. This work also requires the ability to apply these standards to diverse types of materials.”
Earlier this season we talked about the three required courses in this certification program. This week we are talking about one of the competencies that is optional: Readers Advisory. We feel very qualified to discuss this, as we have been recording an RA podcast for years now: Reading With Libraries. Subscribe today!
Check out our full show notes page here, with all our links and information from today's episode!
In recent years, Readers’ Advisory Services have expanded from assisting library users with identifying books to read, to assisting users with identifying materials for viewing and listening. These services consist of recommending titles of potential interest to the user to match the user’s interests and experience as well as promoting the collection.
We have talked about the three required courses in this certification program. This week we are talking about one of the competencies that is optional: Access Services. “Access Services include on-site use and the routine circulation of resources in all formats, special circulation of course-reserved or other restricted-use materials, on-site and remote reciprocal circulation with users of partner libraries, interlibrary loan, and document delivery.”
Check out our full show notes page here!
This week we are talking about the third of the competencies that is required in the LSSC program: Technology. “These competencies address the skills and knowledge about technology necessary for library work. This competency set also addresses the role of providing access to and educating the user in the use of technologies and equipment relevant to information seeking, access, and use.”
Check out our full show notes page here, with links to everything we are discussing today!
We have talked about a variety of different technology topics in our archives, including Episode 507 Answering Tech Questions and Episode 508 Web Design. Browse around our website for more information about other topics.
This week we are talking about another one of the competencies that is required in the LSSC program: Communication and Teamwork. “Library Support Staff need to communicate effectively with library users, library staff, and others in a variety of situations to offer high-quality customer service.”
You can check out our full show notes page here!
Being able to communicate and to work together as part of a team is critical for good library service. Even when you are the only person working in your library, there are people across your parent organization you need to work in harmony with every day. Communication and teamwork will help you to get there effectively.
This week we will start with one of the required topics in the series of ten offered by ALA: Foundations of Library Services. “These competencies are fundamental to understanding the mission and roles of libraries. These competencies cover the ethics, values, and governance of libraries, and the basic knowledge needed for all positions in a library.”
Check out our full show notes here, for all the information, links, and other ideas.
It doesn’t matter what you do in a library - it all contributes to the overall mission of service. Understanding a few fundamentals will help you to be clear on not only what you are doing, but why it is important and how it fits into the work all the libraries do to serve their communities.
Let’s take a look at each of the twelve different components the ALA has identified as important here, and talk about a little information on each one.
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Ramsey County is the smallest and most densely populated county in Minnesota, as well as one of the most densely populated counties in the United States. Read a book with crowds. We are looking at books set in some of the largest cities in the world.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This is another county inside the CMLE system! All the libraries in this county are members, and we are so happy to have them. Another interesting thing about this county is that the 1998 thriller A Simple Plan was set in Wright County. So we suggest you read a book made into a movie.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
The county of Wilkin contains Breckenridge Lake; read a book set in Colorado or about skiing to celebrate another Breckenridge!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Waseca County is the home of the former Hofmann Apiaries, on the National Register of Historic Places. To celebrate this county and this historic location, you can read a historical fiction book
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This is one of the counties that make up the CMLE membership, so we are especially pleased to talk about it today! Mille Lacs is the home of Bridge No. 3355-Kathio Township, One of Minnesota's few ornamental concrete slab bridges, covered in fine masonry by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939. You can celebrate this achievement by reading a book with construction or architecture.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Marshall County was the location of a claimed UFO incident in 1979, the Val Johnson incident. We encourage you to celebrate the possibility of this excitement by reading a book about aliens or outer space.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Kanabec County! The libraries located in this county are part of our CMLE system - hooray! This county is located in east-central MN and includes the lovely town of Mora. The county name “Kanabec” came from the Ojibwe term ginebig, meaning "snake," after the Snake River; read a book with a reptile
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries. We are here to help you find new books, for yourself or for your library.
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This county contains part of Paul Bunyan State Forest; read a book with any type of folklore or mythology.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries. We are here to help you find new books, for yourself or for your library.
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Minnesota has been struck by two F-5 tornadoes, and both occurred in Murray County; read about a book with disasters or something scary.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries. We are here to help you find new books, for yourself or for your library.
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This county is named after the Yellow Medicine River, a river that flows through Western Central Minnesota. To celebrate this community, we suggest that you read a book about sunshine or with the color yellow on the cover.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Stearns County is one of the 12 counties in the CMLE membership! Charles Thomas Stearns (1814-1888) was an early settler of St. Cloud and a member of the Minnesota territorial legislature (1849-1858). To celebrate this community name, we suggest you read a book about clouds, or other features in the sky.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Welcome to Linking Our Libraries! We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system where we support libraries of all types.
And today we have two special guests with us: Ann Walker Smalley, who is the director of the Metronet multitype system; and Ann Hokanson, the director of the Traverse des Sioux library system.
We are sharing this special episode to help promote the latest annual Minnesota Library Association conference! It’s coming up Wednesday, Oct. 6 through Friday, Oct. 8. And of course we are still having a global pandemic, so this conference will be virtual. We will preview a few of the interesting events coming up, so you will be ready for all the different activities.
And of course, we want to take special notice of probably the most exciting session at this conference: the Multitype Library systems are presenting a session to talk about the very cool work we are all doing together and individually!
Our session will be Friday, Oct 8 at 10:00am. It is called Mapping Minnesota's Multitypes.
Let’s give you a quick preview of this session.
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Our show notes page is here, and you can find all the books we share today.
Today our prompt is inspired by Chippewa County! This county is located in west-central Minnesota. The Dry Weather Creek drains the west-central part of the county; read a book with an assortment of weather
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
You can find our full show notes page here, with links to all the books we share today!
Today our prompt is inspired by Grant County! This county is located near Minnesota’s western border and contains the Fort Pomme de Terre Site; read a book about potatoes or farming.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Cook County is one of our lovely northshore counties. It is named after Major Michael Cook of Faribault, who was also a territorial and state senator 1857-62. To celebrate this county, we suggest you read about book about a civil war of the US or any other country.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
In this county is the Merton S. Goodnow House. It is a 1913 Prairie School house designed by Purcell & Elmslie, an example of the architectural firm's work, which was typified in its early years by modest residences for small lots. To celebrate this county, we suggest you read a book about living in a house.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Le Sueur County! Le sueur means "sweat" so we want you to read a book about exercise or good health.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Jackson County! This county contains Heron Lake. So we want you to read a book about birds.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Chisago County! This county is located northeast of Minneapolis, on the border with Wisconsin. And Chisago County is part of CMLE, hooray!
This county has an archeological dig site, which includes finds such as mussel shells accumulated from 600 to 1499 CE; read a book with sea shells.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Carver County! This county is located to the west of Minneapolis. It’s named after Jonathan Carver (1710–1790), early explorer and cartographer of the Mississippi river; read a book with a map on the cover or in the plot.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we look at Cottonwood county. The Jeffers Petroglyphs, near Jeffers, contain pre-European Native American rock carvings; to celebrate that, we want you to read a book with any type of painting.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we look at Kandiyohi county. Earl B. Olson, founder of Jennie O Turkey, was born here, and raised his daughter Jennifer here. This week we want to prompt you to read a book about a daughter.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Hi everyone, and welcome to a special bonus episode of Linking Our Libraries! We are sharing some information about the free training program available to library staffers: 23 Things Media Landscapes.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. We talk about a lot of different skills that people will need when they work in libraries. Providing education and training is an important part of our mission.
And of course, we are not alone in that mission!
Today we have two Guest Hosts who are both actively involved in creating and providing a very interesting, very useful training program in Minnesota: Media Landscapes: 23 Things.
Thank you to Ann Walker Smalley, our fellow multitype system director from the Metronet system, and to Linda Mork from Minitex for joining us today!
You can read all of our show notes right here!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we look at Olmsted county. It is one of four counties in Minnesota that does not have any natural lakes; read a book about deserts.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we look at one of our very lovely counties: Lake! This county contains the unincorporated area of Castle Danger. Experience the fun yourself when you read a book with a castle or a big building this week.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Cass County! This county is located in north-central Minnesota and includes Leech Lake. This prompt is inspired by Lewis Cass (1782–1866), senator from Michigan (1845–1857) and United States Secretary of State (1831–1836); read a book set in Michigan or with a Michigander character.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Carlton County! This county is located in the northeast part of the state and includes Moose Lake and Cloquet. In October 1918, an immense forest fire occurred, known as the Cloquet Fire, started here; read a book about fires of any sort.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we look at Nobles county. This county contains the unincorporated area Reading; so we suggest you read a book about books or libraries.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Mahnomen County! This county is located north of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and near Itasca State Park. This county is named from the Ojibwe word meaning "wild rice" Read a book that mentions rice, or another comfort food.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Lincoln County! This county is located on Minnesota’s southwestern border, and is named after Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), sixteenth president of the United States (1861-1865). We want you to read a book that involves honesty (or a lack of it).
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we look at Freeborn county. This county has the H. A. Paine House, a 1898 Queen Anne house; read a book about royalty.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Crow Wing County. This county is located in north-central Minnesota and includes the town of Brainerd. The short-lived city of Old Crow Wing became known as a ghost town; read a book with ghosts or spirits of any kind. Get ready to get spooky!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
You can find our full show notes page here, with information about all the books we share today.
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Today our prompt is inspired by Big Stone County! This county is located on Minnesota’s western border. A lake in this area is Artichoke Lake, so we’ll read a book about growing or eating healthy fruits and vegetables
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
This week we look at a nearby county: Anoka! This is an adaptation of a Dakota word meaning both sides. So this week we challenge you to read a book with multiple perspectives.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries. We are here to help you find new books, for yourself or for your library.
Find links to all the books we share on our full show notes page.
This season we are moving through the state of Minnesota, looking at an interesting fact about each county and giving you a book prompt from that fact. We will share six book suggestions to meet that prompt, to get you started on reading new books. You can also take that prompt and find any other book to meet the challenge!
Our first county is one special to us, because it is one of the 12 counties where CMLE serves the libraries: Aitkin! The county was named after William Alexander Aitken (1785-1851), early fur trader with Ojibwe Indians in this area. This week’s challenge is to read a book with a furry animal.
Check out our full show notes page here.
Welcome back to Season Eight of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you with us today! Because this is a big episode: our final episode of Season Eight and our 100th Episode!
It has been so exciting to be part of the library world with this podcast! We want to thank all of our Guest Hosts over the years, who have been so gracious to share their experiences and their ideas with us.
We want to thank you, the listeners, who have been with us since the beginning – special thanks to Chuck and Ralph who have been such good supporters! We want to thank people who drop in for episodes they like. And also to the listeners who are newbies – it’s great to have you join us.
Let’s take a trip back in time, and revisit some of the past ideas we have covered together.
We are getting near the end of this season, and next week is going to be exciting. So this week, we are going to look toward the future! We are going to walk through some strategies you can use to do some needs assessment and strategic planning for your library. It doesn’t matter how big or small your library is, you can always work on some plans for the future.
Check out our show notes page here, with links to all the resources we talk about today, and to the books we share.
Today we have a Guest Host joining us! Julianne Trebelhorn has been a member of the Traverse des Sioux Library System board, as well as the Sibley County library board. She is here today to talk about what it takes to be a board member for libraries, and to help the libraries succeed!
Check out our show notes here, to get all the links to the material we share today and to the books we discuss.
Today we are going to talk about skills that will be useful in most libraries. Working with teens is not everyone’s favorite part of library service, but this is an important group in the library. We will walk through some steps to help you to serve these patrons who can be energetic advocates for your library!
Teens can be a great segment of your library community - filled with energy, and ideas, and ready to bring new things to your work! And those same attributes can make them a challenge to work with, especially when they turn that same energy to not-so-great ideas. This is true of any group of people in the library, but it seems to be more noticeable in teens.
So today we will look at the latest work from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) to help everyone working with teens to build their skills. For those who already enjoy working with teens: great! Here are some new ways to think about what you are doing, and how it can continue to build. And for those who have been hesitant to engage with this group: getting comfortable with some new ideas and strategies may make it easier for you both.
We are taking today’s material from the American Library Association’s YALSA page, and will link to all of this in our show notes. They provide a lot more material than we will discuss today, including charts and infographics, so check them out!
If you have spent any amount of time answering questions from patrons, you know some of this already. They often do not know how to ask for exactly what they need, and you have to wade through it all to figure out how to help everyone get what they need. As with so many other things you can do in libraries, there is a procedure developed just for you!
When people think about libraries, they envision a nice older lady sitting behind a desk with some quiet, well-behaved people lining up to ask clever, interesting questions.
You do not need to have been working in a library too long to see a few flaws in this vision! Sure, a lot of library people are nice older females. And that is about where it ends. Libraries today do not focus on being quiet. We have some well-behaved patrons.
But questions tend to be the challenging part. Not always in answering them - we have skills in doing Reference work that allows librarians to to find all kinds of great things. Figuring out how to interpret questions, and to get the best information is one of the best skills we have in our skills toolbox.
A complete reference interview will have seven steps. Sometimes, with a quick question, you can condense these. But it’s still a good idea to think about each of them, just to be sure you have done everything necessary to help your patron.
As you can probably guess, since you are currently listening to us talk, we are not only fans of podcasts but we also create them! These are a relatively easy way for libraries to share ideas and information with their community members. Today we will walk through some of the steps you can follow to help your library to create and share audio information in podcast form!
So, think through all of the material we are going to share with you today before you make a final decision on whether or not to start a podcast. Of course, we are always happy to have more, good quality podcasts in the library world! We would love for you to join us!
But there is nothing wrong with being a good podcast consumer, and not starting one of your own. There are enough podcasts that only went three episodes, podcasts with terrible audio quality, podcasts that are just people giggling over how hard it is to have something interesting to say. We do not need more of them.
As with so many things we talk about here, thinking about your strategy, and making a good plan for success, will be very helpful to you in creating a good podcast. And actively deciding not to make a podcast may also be a good decision for you!
We are talking to you from Minnesota, and our state has recently set up requirements for teachers in their licensure requirements to take seminars in cultural competencies. Today we are going to briefly look at the topics covered in this training, and see how it can apply in library work.
It is the job of libraries to serve the information needs of their community members - all of their community members. And most of us are pretty nice people, who try to make that happen. But most of us are also middle aged white women. These are not bad qualities, it is just limiting in perspective. Nobody can know all things, or have all experiences. So working in libraries means it is important to reach out to different sources of information, so we are ready to provide the best, most diverse sources of ideas to share with our community.
There are all kinds of cultural competencies we could be discussing. But for the purposes of today’s discussion we will look at the topics identified by Minnesota for teachers to work with.
What are cultural competencies?
In the state statutes, “"Cultural competency training" means a training program that promotes self-reflection and discussion including but not limited to all of the following topics: racial, cultural, and socioeconomic groups; American Indian and Alaskan native students; religion; systemic racism; gender identity, including transgender students; sexual orientation; language diversity; and individuals with disabilities and mental health concerns.”
The state has standards for the results they want to see from the training, and what people can expect to take into their work. “Training programs must be designed to deepen teachers' understanding of their own frames of reference, the potential bias in these frames, and their impact on expectations for and relationships with students, students' families, and the school communities…”
We are working from the perspective of libraries and library staff, so we are interested not only in the work of building our own skills, but also in providing information to members of our community. So today we are going to browse through these competencies and some ideas and resources. These will be useful to all of us, as well as useful to pass on to your community members.
Welcome back to Season Eight of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you with us this season!
You can find our show notes page here, with all the information we discuss here today, links to all kinds of resources, and links to the books we share.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. Join us in working thorough skills library staffers can use to be more successful in their work!
One of the most frequent questions we get from our members is how they can start to set up a makerspace. And of course, there are as many possible answers to that as there are libraries.Today we will walk through a few basic ideas, to be sure you can feel confident in your own library’s makerspace.
We have talked to several people who were worried they would not be able to set up their makerspaces the right way. So we have good news to share right away: There is no “right” way to do this! Your makerspace can be as individual as your library. As with so many things, you just have to get started. You can always refine it as you go along.
Welcome back to Season Eight of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you with us this season!
You can find our complete show notes here, with all the material we discuss today, links to resources, and even the books we share.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. Join us in working thorough skills library staffers can use to be more successful in their work!
Everyone is still working to provide the best service possible during a pandemic, and we are all still learning different strategies to do that. Virtual programming is a key to success here!
Even after we get back to some semblance of normalcy with our current pandemic, the push to provide online programming that can be accessible to more people will be popular. All the skills we learn now will continue to be helpful. And it is still going to be awhile before we get to any sort of end of pandemic precautions. So we can all keep building skills to provide the best service possible to everyone!
Welcome to Season Eight of Linking Our Libraries! We are so happy to have you with us this season!
You can read our entire show notes page here. We keep links to the resources we discuss here, and the books we share today.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. Join us in working thorough skills library staffers can use to be more successful in their work!
This week we are going to take a trip to the past, and update one of our episodes from Season One: Library Gardens. It’s cold and snowy outside, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about setting up your garden. Join us in dreaming about warmer weather, fresh flowers and vegetables, and all sorts of fun library activities!
Libraries increasingly include gardening in their programming, or just as an activity for staff to do with some help from patrons. As more research is done on the physical and psychological benefits of gardening and spending time in nature, more people are turning to their gardens. And of course, during the early stages of our pandemic, many people worked on gardens and gathered seeds to start a hobby and to have the possibility of fresh food.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Savanna Portage State Park was established in 1961. The Continental Divide runs through this park; "water to the west flows into the Mississippi River; water to the east runs into Lake Superior." Embrace this division by reading a book that has a divide of any sort.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Hayes Lake State Park was established in 1967. This park offers swimming and fishing opportunities, as well as wildlife viewing of animals including moose, lynx, porcupines, and loons! The Friends of Hayes Lake State Park are actively seeking new members! Celebrate this support organization by reading a book about friends.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Fort Snelling State Park was established in 1961. This park has a lot of history represented, and is located in the Twin Cities. Enjoy that juxtaposition of nature and urban environments by reading a book set in a big city.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Judge Magney park was established in 1957. This is another of the beautiful north shore parks, with the famous Devil's Kettle waterfall as it's most famous attraction. Enjoy the mystery of the waterfall that disappears into a pothole by reading a book with a cooking mystery to be solved.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
You can find our show notes page here, with links to all the books we share today.
Cascade River park was founded in 1957. This beautiful park has lots of hiking trails, including the Superior Hiking Trail and the North Shore State Trail. Do some armchair hiking by enjoying a book with a character who walks or hikes.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Our full show notes page is here, with links to all the books we share today.
Nerstrand Big Woods was established in 1945. This park has all sorts of trees, including sugar maple, basswood, oak, hickory, aspen, elm, ash, and ironwood trees. Celebrate this aspect of this park by reading a book in paper format, OR a book with a tree on the cover.
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
McCarthy Beach park was established in 1945. From their website: "The beach has a new mat that allows visitors with mobility issues to cross the sand and enjoy the water. Use the mat with the new floating chair available to check out for free at the park's office."
Celebrate a neat new park service by reading a book about a person working with a disability of any sort.
You can find our full show notes here, with links to all the titles we share today.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
The Kilen Woods park was established in 1945. Over 6,000 years ago the people who lived here left drawings and symbols etched in rock at the Jeffers Petroglyphs, 30 miles to the north of this park. Read a book about indigenous people to celebrate this history and culture.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
The St. Croix State Park was established in 1943. This park has two rivers: the Saint Croix River, which is a National Scenic Riverway, and the Kettle River, a State Wild and Scenic River. Enjoy the rivers with a book about rivers, streams, or other bodies of water.
You can find our show notes right here.
We are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Split Rock Lighthouse State Park is one of the most iconic views of the Minnesota north coast. To celebrate this amazing view and lovely park, read a book with a lighthouse on the cover or as a plot point.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
We are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Myre-Big Island State Park was established in 1947. This is a lovely park, so let's enjoy it by reading a book about an island.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
We are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
William O’Brien State Park was established in 1947. There is a lot to do in this park, year-round. In the winter you can go ski and snowshoeing. Celebrate the winter weather with a book about someone enjoying winter outdoor activities!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
We are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Carley State Park was founded in 1949. This park has a lovely array of wildflowers every spring! Celebrate those features with a book that has flowers on the cover.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
We are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
The Lake Shetek park was also established in 1937. "The word "Shetek" is Ojibwe for "pelican," a bird which visits Lake Shetek during the summer and fall." So let's celebrate these birds by reading a book with a pelican on the cover or in the story OR a book published by Pelican Books.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
The Garden Island State Recreation Area was established in 1998. This is the farthest north area in the Minnesota park system. Celebrate the park area closest to the Arctic Circle by reading a book about life in the Arctic or other extreme cold environment.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Welcome back to Season Seven of Linking Our Libraries! Today is the end of our season. We have had a great time looking at a variety of skills to use in libraries, whether you are in the midst of a global pandemic or not. Stay tuned to this feed! We will start dropping short episodes of Browsing Books here on Tuesdays, with about ten minutes of book suggestions just for you.
Today’s episode is part of our series on Library Basics. We are working through some of the skills people need in every library. Not everyone is going to school for a Master’s degree in Library Science, and that’s fine. We want to be sure everyone has the skills to be comfortable in a library and to be successful for the community you are serving.
It does not matter what type of library you are in - we all need to do instruction! Your work might be working with a patron to figure out a specific problem they are having in a moment. It might be a one-shot class, where you just pop into a class and talk about a specific topic. Or it might be a longer part of a class, where you are involved on a longer basis with doing more instruction over the course of days or weeks.
Just remember that our fundamental purpose is to connect information with members of the community. Instruction is the tool we can use to help them to find that information, no matter what topic a patron wants.
Today’s episode is part of our series on Library Basics. We are working through some of the skills people need in every library. Not everyone is going to school for a Master’s degree in Library Science, and that’s fine. We want to be sure everyone has the skills to be comfortable in a library and to be successful for the community you are serving.
Social media of all sorts can be great for helping you to connect your materials, services, and programs with your community members. You probably get a number of them coming into the library already, and that’s great. But there are probably more people who never make it into your library, and you need a good strategy to connect your great stuff with them. Social media can be that tool for you.
Welcome back to Season Seven of Linking Our Libraries!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and our members are all types of libraries and their staff.
You can check out our full show notes page here.
Today’s episode is part of our series on Library Basics. We are working through some of the skills people need in every library. Not everyone is going to school for a Master’s degree in Library Science, and that’s fine. We want to be sure everyone has the skills to be comfortable in a library and to be successful for the community you are serving.
All libraries have three basic things they do: services, materials, and programs. This week we are talking about the third of those fundamental things: services to the community. Libraries are all serving their communities, in all sorts of ways. This is always the heart of our mission: we are there to serve the needs of the community. You might not think the work you are doing every day is special, but for the people you are serving the services you provide are unique and valuable. (Sometimes you have to also remember to tell them about all of it, so they know how cool your stuff is!)
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and our members are all types of libraries and their staff.
You can find our full show notes page right here!
Today’s episode is part of our series on Library Basics. We are working through some of the skills people need in every library. Not everyone is going to school for a Master’s degree in Library Science, and that’s fine. We want to be sure everyone has the skills to be comfortable in a library and to be successful for the community you are serving.
This week we are talking about collection development. Libraries are known for their books and the neat things we can share with our communities. But this does not mean buying just anything at all, or only the things we like. It means creating a collection of materials that meet the needs of the community - the things they want and the things that will be useful and helpful to them even if they don’t know it yet.
This was a quick overview of the foundations of collection development. We hope you feel like you are part of the larger community! Here are a few takeaways for you:
- Write down your collection development procedure and policies. It does not have to be long and complex, just something you can refer to as needed.
- Acquisitions are usually fun. Buy widely, across all kinds of topics and interests. Be very deliberate in not just choosing things you like or know.
- Weed your collection. Don’t let it get choked out by old, junky, out of date books that need to be discarded. Keep it in good shape.
Welcome back to Season Seven of Linking Our Libraries!
You can check out our full show notes page here.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. Join us in working thorough skills library staffers can use to be more successful in their work!
This week we are talking about some of the challenges in planning to reopen a public library during a global pandemic.
Our Guest Host this week is Ariel Kurst, from the Great River Regional Library System.
Today we are going to talk about the reopening plans at Ariel’s library, and help you give some ideas for reopening your library building. We have put together a bonus podcast with information about the state plan here in Minnesota for reopening schools libraries. You can listen to it in our feed if you are subscribed to this podcast, or stream it on our website. Then walk through the official guidance with us.
Library programs are part of the basic triad of things every library does, or should be doing: programs, materials, and services. Materials are pretty basic: books, software, toys, other nice things. Services are ever-changing in libraries, but things like computer training, library card sign up, helping people find books, and other such good things we do to work with our community members. And then programs are the third part, and both the hardest and the most fun part!
Check out our full show notes page here!
We talk about copyright pretty often, and of course this is important for libraries. People working in all types of libraries are often the ones responsible for advising the rest of their organization on how to best follow federal copyright laws.
Our show notes page is here!
And right now, we are in the unusual position of having our school and library buildings open, closed, or in a hybrid situation – with our work moving online. This presents a variety of different copyright situations we need to be considering.
And you may be hearing a variety of contradictory advice. We have been reading a lot of library voices online saying that in an emergency situation, like our current pandemic, it should be okay to use copyright material however we need to. We would be very cautious there, and would not suggest doing that. Federal law does not provide for a “there is a global pandemic happening” exception to copyright laws. So, let’s just play it safe. Let’s follow copyright laws, and let’s encourage our community members to also do it.
Welcome back to Season Seven of Linking Our Libraries!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. Join us in working thorough skills library staffers can use to be more successful in their work!
This week we are talking about some of the challenges in planning to reopen a school media center.
Our Guest Host this week is Bethany Rogers, Media Specialist and Book Club Advisor at Rogers High School.
Today we are going to talk about the reopening plans at Bethany’s school, and help you give some ideas for reopening your library building. We put together a bonus podcast with information about the state plan here in Minnesota for reopening schools libraries. You can listen to it in our feed, and walk through the official guidance with us.
Today’s episode is part of our series on Library Basics. We are working through some of the skills people need in every library. Not everyone is going to school for a Master’s degree in Library Science, and that’s fine. We want to be sure everyone has the skills to be comfortable in a library and to be successful for the community you are serving.
Find all our shownotes right here.
So, let’s start with the basics about the profession and the expectations involved in working in the library profession at any level and in any job.
- We Provide Information
- You are part of the profession
- ALA Code of Ethics
- So many interesting possibilities
- So many organizations - all for you!
- So much more than "just" books!
- This Is What We Are Reading
Welcome back to Season Seven of Linking Our Libraries!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange. Our members are libraries of all sorts: public, schools, academics, special libraries, archives, and history centers. Join us in working thorough skills library staffers can use to be more successful in their work!
Check out our full shownotes page here, with all of our links and full information.
Our Guest Host this week is Beth Russell, the Digital Skills specialist at Rockford Middle School, Center for Environmental Studies.
The world has gone digital! In the last few decades, much of the information and transactions we need for everyday life has moved online. This gives us a lot of flexibility, and opens up a lot of new possibilities for us all to explore. We can all receive a lot of benefits from learning digital skills to best work with the online world - including having podcasts drop right into your phone!
And of course, there are rules to learn and procedures to follow to work well in this world. Learning them in school is so handy for kids, who will be part of the ever-changing and growing digital opportunities that will keep developing.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
The Lake Louise park was founded in 1963. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par...
The Shooting Star State Trail runs through the park for bicyclists. Enjoy the symbolism by reading a book featuring astronomy.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This week we are sharing this bonus episode to help libraries, especially school libraries, to gather and share information about reopening as safely as possible. There is not going to be a strategy to make it all perfectly safe for everyone; but there are steps to take to make it safer for staff and patrons.
You can check out our show notes right here. All the links we discuss are here, and all the info we are sharing today, are collected here.
We are still in the early stages of this global pandemic, so our understanding of what we should do is still evolving, and will keep evolving as we get better at all of this. We are sharing the best information we are finding right now, and encourage everyone to keep paying attention to updates from good science resources.
A tip to keep in mind as we work through this: If you feel like you have to get mad about the guidance - remember that it's the virus we are all mad at. A virus is what is requiring us to wear masks, to socially isolate, and to have such disruption not just in our own lives but across the globe. It’s not an elected official, it’s not a principal or a school board. Nobody is doing this for the joy of wrecking everyone’s good time. This is the largest public health emergency in our lifetimes. And we all need to follow some guidance from health experts to get through this.
We are going to talk about a couple of main topics: First: the Minnesota's Stay Safe Plan and the Safe Learning Plan for the 2020-21 School Year for Minnesota schools. And we are going to talk about science research from the REALM project from OCLC and the IMLS - international leaders in the library profession working to help us all. And we will work in some best practices we are seeing in libraries already, to keep things safe.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
The Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area was established in 1993.
The park was named after the homesteader living on this land, and "his St. Bernard dog, Una, his constant companion and prospecting partner." Celebrate this partnership by reading a book told by a dog's perspective, or one about dogs
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Afton State Park was established in 1969. This park has a Visitor's Center with interpretative displays, as many of the parks do. Celebrate the display by reading a book about a museum.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Welcome back! We have more books to share with you today.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Old Mill State Park was founded in 1951. The park has a steam-powered flour mill, along with several other historic features.
Enjoy this legacy with a book about a look back in history.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Welcome back! Let's find some new books this week.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Rice Lake State Park was another park established in 1963. While tribes are not harvesting rice here today, wild rice is an important Minnesota crop for indigenous people.
So, meet this week's challenge by reading a book with farming or gardening.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Join us next week to look at another park, and more books.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Frontenac State Park was founded in 1957. This park is known as a wonderful place for bird watching! It's one of the best spots in the country to view birds migrating in the spring and fall. More than 260 species of birds have been recorded here. You can enjoy this hobby by reading a book featuring a bird on the cover.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Maplewood State Park was established in 1963. This park has a five-mile Prairie Restoration Auto Tour to enjoy. Drive along the scenic route to observe the wildlife: the park is host to 150 bird species and 50 species of mammals. Let's celebrate that with a book about a road trip.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
The land of Glendalough State Park was first purchased as a summer retreat, but On Earth Day, 1990, this largely natural and undeveloped property was donated to The Nature Conservancy. On June 10, 1992, the deed was transferred to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for use as a state park.
Glendalough is home to abundant populations of white-tailed deer, raccoon, red fox, and smaller mammals. The park also offers excellent birdwatching for a variety of species of prairie, wetland, and hardwood forest birds.
A paved bike trail loop and numerous hiking trails, including two interpretive trails, meander along five lakes, through rich woods and blooming prairies. Wildlife abounds year-round, and there are many observation decks along the trails.
Mary spent a great weekend here that was cold outside, but very warm in the heated cabin.
For this reading prompt, enjoy the hygge feelings by reading a book set, at least partially, in a cabin.
We were surprised by the amount of scary books that take place in cabins, but we’ll try to suggest some cozier ones as well!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Franz Jevne State Park was first designated as a Wayside park in 1967; in 1969 it was adjusted to be a state park. For this prompt, read a book about a character with two names, or with a changed identity
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Welcome back to Browsing Books! Let's explore some summer time reading.
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Split Rock Creek State Park is in the Pipestone area of the state. (Don't be confused with the very similarly named Split Rock park!)
This is the largest body of water in Pipestone County, an area famous for indigenous peoples coming to this area to gather. Let's celebrate the history by reading a book about gatherings of people!
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
Welcome to a summer of good reading – and good state parks!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Red River Valley State Recreation Area was established in 2000. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par...
Celebrate the frequent question at any library: "I'm looking for a book with a red cover; do you know it?" by reading a book with a red cover!
You can find our show notes page here, with links to all six books we are sharing this week.
Join us in reading some new books this week!
Welcome to a summer of good reading - and good state parks!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Moose Lake park was started in 1971. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par... This park has a lovely Agate and Geological Interpretive Center. Dig into this by reading a book about geology, rocks, or jewels.
Join us in reading some new books this week!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Beaver Creek Valley State Park was established in 1937. There are a lot of activities to do in this park, including Guided audio tour of the Beaver Creek Trail.
Celebrate the name of this park, and read a book about a small mammal, preferably a beaver OR about a dam.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
You can find our full show notes page here, with the titles we share here and links to all of them for more information.
Lake Bronson was yet another park established in 1937. This park has the largest observation/water tower across Minnesota state parks! So let's celebrate that by reading a book about a tower, or a high place.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
In this week’s discussion, we are exploring the Flandrau State Park This is another park established in 1937.
"During part of the 1940s, the camp was used as a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp." Read a book set in Germany or with German characters or elements.
You can find our show notes page here, with links to all the books we share today.
Thanks for joining us! We’ll be back next week with a look at the next park and the next book prompt!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
You can find our show notes page here.
In this week’s discussion, we are exploring Gooseberry Falls, one of the most popular parks in the state. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par...
In addition to the beautiful waterfalls, this park has a 300 foot long "Castle in the Park" stone retaining wall, with assorted statuary around it. Celebrate the majestic spirit of this park by reading a book set in a castle or about a castle.
Camden State Park was established in 1935. Today, mink, raccoons, songbirds, hawks, coyotes, and a large winter herd of whitetail deer flourish in the park. Bass and bluegill are found in Brawner Lake, and brown trout are stocked in the Redwood River each year.
Read a book about fishing or with a fish on the cover!
You can find our full show notes page here, with links to all the books we discuss today.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Check out our show notes page here, with links to all the books we share today.
In this week’s discussion, we are exploring the Blue Mounds State Park. It was established in 1937.
Prickly pear cactus blooms here in June and July. Enjoy a book with cactus plants, or other blooming plants.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
You can read our show notes page, with the books we share here today.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Zippel Bay park was founded in 1959. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par… This park has miles of white sand beaches for visitors to enjoy. Find a beach read, and enjoy a book about a beach vacation.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
You can find our show notes page here, with links to the books we are sharing today.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Glacial Lakes park was established in 1963. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par… This park is located in an area with a lot of rolling prairie land. Embrace the wide open space by reading a book set on a prairie or with a prairie on the cover.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, a multitype library system serving all types of libraries.
You can find our show notes page here, with links to all of the books we are sharing this week.
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
Lake Bemidji State Park was established in 1923. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par… This is a busy state park, with a lot of neat things to do! Read a book with a bike, to celebrate the Paul Bunyan Bike Trail that starts in this park.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!
This season we are suggesting books you might enjoy for our Goodreads group: Armchair Travel to Minnesota State Parks. We give you a prompt connected to each state park, and you find a book to fulfill the challenge. You can use one of our suggestions, and you should feel free to read any book!
You can find our show notes page here, with links to the books we shared today.
In this week’s discussion, we are exploring the Upper Sioux Agency State Park, established in 1963. “The park covers 1,280 acres and offers diversity: open prairie knolls, bluffs, and cool, wooded slopes. From the vistas, visitors enjoy the trails which are ideal for horseback riding, hiking, skiing, and snowmobiling. The park also offers a huge sliding hill for winter fun.”
For this prompt, enjoy a book about sledding, skiing, bobsledding, or other strategies for getting down a snow-covered hill.
We give you links to each of these books on our show notes page, taking you to Amazon.com. If you click on any of them, and buy anything at all - including a nice book - Amazon will send us a small percent of the profits they made on these sales. Thank you for supporting CMLE!