Podcasts about linking our libraries

Thank you for joining us on the SEVENTH SEASON of our Reader's Advisory podcast! We have more genres to discuss, new books to recommend, and we're so glad you're here to join us. We always enjoy our book group podcast, and we hope you do, too!   Check out our full show notes here. And today's episode is very special: this is our official 100th episode! Yes, there have been a few bonus episodes, and we include our short Browsing Books episodes when this show is on hiatus for our sister podcast: Linking Our Libraries. So while we have been with you for many more than 100 episodes, we have really enjoyed being with you and chatting about 100 genres!  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. And to make our celebration complete, we have invited back our Podcast Correspondent: Ariel from the Great River Regional Library System! Thanks for joining us again! 

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.

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.

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!

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!

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! Who is joining us? 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.

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 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.

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 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.   

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!)

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. 

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.

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.

Welcome back to our final episode in Season Six of Linking Our Libraries! Thanks so much for working with us all season. If you are interested in getting clock hours for the work we are doing here, check out our website cmle.org, for our continuing education opportunities! This week we look at one of the big skills in school library work: digital citizenship. Check out our full show notes page for all the links This week we have a returning Guest Host, Bethany Kauffman, Media Specialist and Book Club Advisor at Rogers High School.

Welcome back to Season Six of Linking Our Libraries! Check out our full show notes page here. This week we look at a skill that adds fun to your life: attending conferences! There are so many good things out there for you to consider, and attending conferences can be tough. We’ll talk about some strategies for getting the most out of your conference! This week our Guest Host is Jennifer Hill, who is the St. Michael Elementary School Media Specialist and teaches at St Cloud State University. Conferences can be a great strategy for learning new skills, meeting new people, and trying out new skills! They can also be exhausting, expensive, and a little terrifying. We want your conference experience to be more of the first group – but it will involve some of the second group too.

Welcome back to Season Six of Linking Our Libraries! Check out our show notes page, to get links to some other useful resources, and the links for the books we discuss this week. This week we look at a skill used in a lot of libraries: Genealogy work! This week we have a new Guest Host: Wendy Sykes from the Great River Regional Library System. Genealogy is the study of families and lineages. You can look at your own family, or at people from your community. In our multitype system, we have public libraries that help people in their genealogy work looking at their own family, and we have history centers that look at genealogies from across entire communities. There are academic libraries that store work from families who donate materials to collections, and could be used for genealogy.  

Welcome back to Season Six of Linking Our Libraries! Click on our show notes page here, to get links to other resources and links to the books we shared this week. This week we look at strategies you can use to connect with students! You can use these ideas in schools, or in any type of library. Our purpose in every library is always to connect our community to information, and we have some suggestions for getting that done! Our Guest Host this week is Audrey, with a flair for technology, from Mississippi Heights Elementary in Sauk Rapids. She helped to organize a really interesting conference - led and produced by students!

Welcome back to Season Six of Linking Our Libraries! Check out our full show notes page here, to get links to other resources and links to the books we shared this week. This week we look at a skill every library needs to be using: marketing. Fundamentally, our jobs in libraries are all about connecting our materials, programs, and services with our community members. Marketing tools can give you a good strategy for making that happen. We have two Guest Hosts this week: Kate Wallace and Matt Klimkhammer, from the St Cloud Technical and Community College. Welcome!

Welcome back to Season Six of Linking Our Libraries! Check on our show notes page here, to get the links to other resources, and links to the books we discussed. This week we look at a skill so many of us will use: starting a new job! When you are new in the library, it can be tough to figure out what you are supposed to be doing, who you are supposed to talk with, and what is going on around you. After you have been there for a while, it’s important to keep working on helping your job to stay fresh. You really don’t want to be one of those people who count down to retirement in the next ten years, while doing nothing more than sitting around complaining. We have two Guest Hosts this week: Stephanie Schlangen and Glen Irvin, who are technology integration coaches from Sauk Rapids-Rice HS.

We are so happy to be with you again, as we start Season Six of Linking Our Libraries! You can get our full show notes page here, with links to all the other resources, and links to the books we shared this week. This week we will work through one of the most important skills for a school library or media center staffer: connecting your services with the teachers in your school. Even if you are not in a school library right now, these partnership skills will always be useful in connecting with your community members and stakeholders. Our Guest Host this week is Amy Moe, who can share her experience and suggestions on this topic from her time as an Instructional Technology Specialist at Pine Meadow Elementary school!

Welcome back to the show. We are so glad you are here, joining us for the book group discussion! This week we look at not only a genre, but a whole aspect of the publishing industry: Zines! Check out our full show notes page here! Get links to all kinds of resources for finding zines and zine material, get links to the beverages we shared, and to some of the books we shared. Who is joining us this week?  Our returning Guest Host is Violet Fox, who works with OCLC on their Dewey Team, helping to improve cataloging standards for libraries. Listen to episode 501 of our sister podcast, Linking Our Libraries, to hear Violet talk about Cataloging: Basics and Ethics ! We usually stop there with information about our Guest Host, but Violet has a lot of interesting qualifications to chat with us about zines. She has been a part of a group of librarians from across the U.S. and Canada to organize the Zine Pavilion. It’s on the exhibit hall floor during the ALA Annual conference. She has helped to organize the 2018 Zine Librarians unConference, a gathering for library workers and zinesters to explore the intersection of zines and libraries/archives. And she helped organize the Chicago Zine Fest from 2014-2017, and is a co-organizer of the Twin Cities Zine Fest. She also helps to maintain ZineLibraries.info, a clearinghouse of information about how zines can be used within libraries and archives. Become a full book group member on Patreon! Click here to be part of the "inner circle" of this book group, and get access to behind-the-scenes info and photos. Support levels start at $1/month - and you get a postcard from Official Office Dog Lady Grey! More swag is available at higher levels of support; check it all out today. We love doing this, but podcasts aren't free to create; so thank you so much to our book group members who have joined us. We love having you as part of the team.

Welcome back to the show. We are so glad you are here, joining us for the book group discussion! You can find our show notes page here, where you can find background info on more resources for this genre, links to the books we shared, and of course links to the beverages we enjoyed! (Note: this week the beverages require some engineering skills!! Have fun with them.) Who is joining us this week? Our Guest Host is Jason Menth, the STEM Integrationist & CLR Coach from Talahi Community School. (Spoiler note: subscribe to Linking Our Libraries next season, so you can hear more about Jason’s work in the library!) We spend a lot of time in this podcast talking about fiction genres, and there are fiction books talking about Engineering. But of course we like nonfiction books, we know your patrons are interested in them, and we’ve talked about several different genres. So we’re happy to look at this genre, that is just filled with books! Become a full book group member on Patreon! Click here to be part of the "inner circle" of this book group, and get access to behind-the-scenes info and photos. Support levels start at $1/month - and you get a postcard from Official Office Dog Lady Grey! More swag is available at higher levels of support; check it all out today. We love doing this, but podcasts aren't free to create; so thank you so much to our book group members who have joined us. We love having you as part of the team.

Welcome to Reading with Libraries!   Usually we share great book information with you. Today we want you to join us in the book group, and to become a full member!   What does this mean for you?   We have a way for you to help support the podcast. It’s by sponsoring us each month using Patron! Go to patreon.com/ReadingWithLibraries   And, what is Patreon? It's a place where people can chip in to help support interesting and creative projects. Each week we share a new genre We have a Guest Host We provide information about the genre We give you resources to find more books or info on the genre. And we have beverages! Themed beverages! (I mean, sure - the books are great, but you need a beverage go really make it feel like a book group.) When we are taking a break to produce our Linking Our Libraries skills training podcast, we keep putting up short Book Bites episodes here.  We provide these podcasts to you at no cost to you. But of course, there are expenses on our end! Each episode we create takes several hours of work. It's a lot more than just chatting with cool book people.

Usually we have lots of book suggestions for you on this podcast. And this week we are giving you a bonus episode from our other podcast: Linking Our Libraries. We are going to talk about stress management at work. No matter where you work and what you do, there is stress to manage. While we can't fix it all for you, we have some sympathy to offer and suggestions for working to reduce your stress levels.   Check out our full shownotes page here!   If you want to talk about other library skills (useful in all kinds of organizations!), subscribe to us at Linking Our Libraries. We will also have Book Bites there each week, with new book suggestions for you to enjoy!

Welcome back to Season Five of Linking Our Libraries! Check out our full show notes page here. In this episode we will talk about a fun part of library service - Programs. And by “fun” we mean the traditional definition, but also hard, time-consuming, and exhausting. Programs are integral parts to good library service, so let’s chat about doing them well. This week we have returning Guest Host Kate, from the Great River Regional Library System, to help us get some ideas! We are big fans of library programs! Sure, every library has books - paper, audio, and ebook formats - and that’s great. People like them. We have databases, magazines, toys, and all sorts of cool materials. Also great. People like those too. We help people learn to use tablets, create resumes, print documents, find medical information. That’s great too - some  people like those services. But then there is a big hole in the possibilities of what a library can be in a community. Programs provide that missing link of connecting everyone in the community to the library , to the materials, to the resources, and to the services we provide.

Welcome back to Season Five of Linking Our Libraries! In this episode we will talk about an issue every library staffer faces: patron questions or problems with technology, and how to answer them when you have no idea what is going on. You can find our shownotes here, with all our information, links, and books we share. This week we have Guest Host Ariel Kirst, from the Great River Regional Library System to help us get some ideas! Working with technology, and all the various technology tools and devices patrons will bring to your library, is an important part of any library’s service to their community. The main problem here is that you may not have a lot of training (or any!), and may not know how to use these devices or tools yourself. Sorry – we aren’t going to magically give you all the answers. We don’t have them. But we are going to walk through some ideas you can use in your own work to better answer tech questions – even when you have no idea what’s going on! Thanks to Ariel for coming in to work through this topic with us! Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to get all the library skills directly to your favorite app each week. And you can check out our shownotes for each episode to get all the info we discussed, along with the links to more resources. Every episode we have created is on our website: cmle.org. If you want to enjoy our book group podcast, subscribe to Reading With Libraries to get a new book, or a whole new genre, each week. Thank you listening today for joining us! Check back in with us next week for another library competency – we are looking forward to more chatting about library work.  

Welcome back to Season Five of Linking Our Libraries! You can find our full shownotes page here. This week we will be talking about policies and procedures. These are tools that can not only guide your library and help you make decisions, but they can also be so useful in explaining to other people what you are doing and why you are doing it. Good policies and procedures can save you a lot of trouble! This week we have Guest Host Karen Pundsack, Executive Director at Great River Regional Library System to help us get some ideas! Thanks to Karen for coming in to work through this topic with us! Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to get all the library skills directly to your favorite app each week. And you can check out our shownotes for each episode to get all the info we discussed, along with the links to more resources. Every episode we have created is on our website: cmle.org. If you want to enjoy our book group podcast, subscribe to Reading With Libraries.   Thanks for joining us this week! And check back in with us next week for another library competency!

Welcome back to Season Five of Linking Our Libraries! Check out our full shownotes here. This week we will be talking about Social Media in your library, and how to make it work for you. We welcome back returning Guest Host Jessie Storlien, from the Stearns History Museum, to help us get some ideas! Social media is fun! Social media is informative! Social media is a snake pit of danger! Yes, it’s all these things at once. Developing some good social media practices in your library will help to keep you on the more positive side of social media work. So, while it’s good to remember that things you say will be remembered online, and even innocent gaffs can be turned into PR disasters - that’s probably not every day, or possibly not ever for you. Use social media tools as you would anything else that is powerful: carefully, and with plans for keeping everyone safe and happy. These can be so handy for sharing information - you can reach out to where your patrons are to deliver messages, share information, promote programs and materials, and anything else. Your work in a library is to share information; social media tools can be an easy way to do that. This is part of your job, to connect people to your information. And social media can be a useful way to make that happen. Thanks to Jessie for coming in to work through this topic with us! Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to get all the library skills directly to your favorite app each week. And you can check out our shownotes for each episode to get all the info we discussed, along with the links to more resources. Every episode we have created is on our website: cmle.org. If you want to enjoy our book group podcast, subscribe to Reading With Libraries.   Thanks for joining us this week! And check back in with us next week for another library competency!

Welcome back to Season Five of Linking Our Libraries! Check out our full shownotes page here. This week we will be talking about Customer Service in your library, and how to make it work for you. Attentive listeners may be thinking “Hey! Didn’t you guys already do this topic?” Good catch! We did - way back in Season Two, episode 210. We link to it here, and it would be worth your time to go back and listen or read our show notes.  This is such an important topic - the foundation of everything we do in the library really - and it’s also such a hard thing to always do well, that we wanted to cover it again. This week we have Guest Host Kathy Parker, Director of the St John’s/St Ben’s academic libraries, to help us get some ideas! Thanks to Kathy for coming in to work through this topic with us! Be sure you are subscribed to this podcast to get all the library skills directly to your favorite app each week. And you can check out our shownotes for each episode to get all the info we discussed, along with the links to more resources. Every episode we have created is on our website: cmle.org. If you want to enjoy our book group podcast, subscribe to Reading With Libraries.   Thanks for joining us this week! And check back in with us next week for another library competency!

Welcome back to Season Five 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. This season we are working through some skills that people in any kind of library will need to be successful in their work. This week we are starting the season on a foundational skill for any library: cataloging. You need this to keep track of your materials, to know where they are, and to help your patrons locate just the things they need for their information searching. This week we have a special Guest Host: Violet Fox, an editor on OCLC’s Dewey team. Check out our full shownotes page to get all kinds of helpful information, links to resources, and info on the books we share in this episode!

Welcome, everyone, to our final episode of Season Three of Reading With Libraries! It has been so great to read with you for these fifteen weeks – we just can’t bear for our book fun to end. So while we are on hiatus you will get a Book Bite each week. This is a quickie five-minute sharing of a book by one of our Guests. We have been producing these for a while now, so you can browse our entire archive on our website. You can also check out our other podcast, Linking Our Libraries! Each week we will look at a new skill to use in a library, or other places. Follow us there! As a bonus for all the time we have spent together here, next week we have a special episode on book challenges. We want to help you explore even more great books, and challenges can be good tools to make that happen. This week we are discussing a favorite topic: Minnesota books! We will look at book set in Minnesota, and books by Minnesota authors. This is always our season finale topic, because we know there are 10,000 lakes here and at least as many good stories! Check out our shownotes here! Who is joining us today? We are welcoming back our traditional Minnesota book expert Kate Buechler, from the Great River Public Library system! Thanks for joining us again today!

Welcome back! We are so pleased you are joining us for our podcast book group: Reading with Libraries! Check out our full shownotes page here. You can find all the resources we share, links to the books we discuss, and links to the beverages we enjoyed! This week we are discussing Business books. We are pleased to welcome returning Guest Host Rhonda Huisman, Dean of the Library at St Cloud State University. This is such a perennially popular genre of books; you can always new books with new ideas – and books that say the same things that were said 10, 20 or 50 years ago. Business classics are still around and popular, books by successful CEOs are always popular (for a while, at least), and books that try to show a new way to succeed in business and management skills will always be relevant to people working to build skills. You can find books on basic management skills, on starting a new business, on honing communication and creativity, and almost anything else that might help you to be successful in leadership and management. You can also tune in to our Linking Our Libraries podcast, where we talk about all kinds of library and leadership skills with suggestions for honing your own skills!

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach. We also discussed Gulp: Travels Around the Gut, also by Mary Roach. This was recorded live at St Cloud public library.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Amy: Pride, by Ibi Zoboi. This episode is recorded Live! on-site at the Great River Public Library in St Cloud. Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Annie: Tales from the Inner City, by Shaun Tan. This episode is recorded Live! on-site at the Great River Public Library in St Cloud.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Annie: So Far, So Good, by Ursula K. Le Guin. This episode was recorded Live! at the Great River public library in St Cloud, MN.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.  

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Amy: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach. This episode was recorded Live! on-site at the Great River Public Library in St Cloud.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Amy: Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is: On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle, by Hampton Sides. This episode was recorded Live! on-site at the Great River Public Library in St Cloud.     Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is: On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle, by Hampton Sides.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.  

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is: Island of the Mad: A novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, by Laurie R. King (This is the most recent in the series) This episode was recorded Live! on-site at the Great River Public Library in St Cloud.     Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is: Island of the Mad: A novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, by Laurie R. King (This is the most recent in the series)   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Lydia: Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners, by Therese O'Neill.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Lydia: Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners, by Therese O'Neill.   Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Stay right here to start Season Three of Reading With Libraries! The first episode drops Thurs, Jan. 3. We are so happy to be back exploring new genres, drinking new beverages, and chatting about books with all new Guest Hosts each week. Join us!! You can keep getting a weekly Book Bite, for a quick look at a book. Subscribe to our library skills podcast: Linking Our Libraries by putting this RSS feed into your favorite podcast app: http://linkingourlibraries.libsyn.com/rss Get every single Book Bite, and be the first to get Season Five, where we will be using pop culture to explore new library skills. You won't want to miss it!   And if you want to look at all of our Book Bites (so many of them already!), you can always browse our Book Bites library by clicking onto our website right here.   Thanks for listening!

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Mitchell: Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism, by Robert Zubrin. This is one of our series recorded LIVE at the Great River library in St. Cloud! Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This is our Season Four finale! It’s been so good to work with you all this season, and talk about building skills. Check out our full shownotes page for all the information, and the info on the books we read (with links to Amazon!). Be sure to subscribe to our book group podcast, Reading With Libraries, which will start dropping new episodes and new genres Jan 3. If you are subscribed to this podcast, Linking Our Libraries, we will be dropping Book Bites each week for you – three to five minutes talking about a book our guests want to share. You won’t want to miss it! Do you want to talk with us about leadership skills? Do you need some training organized for your organization? We are here for you! Check out our website: cmle.org and let’s get this started!   We have talked about a lot of important skills this season – and some different ways to be a leader, not just as a n idea but in reality. Problems solving is definitely one of the keys to leadership success. And fortunately, you will have a LOT of practice in it! Problems, disasters, things going wrong – all of that will happen in your library daily, weekly, the entire rest of your career. So it’s better to just get in there now and figure out how to be good at solving problems. It will make the rest of your career easier, and it will help to inspire other people to work with you. You can probably think of people who panic in a crisis, or have no idea how to handle even the smallest problem that occurs – completely falling apart at the smallest problem. This is not leadership behavior, though we all know people in leadership roles who do this – but we want you to be better than that!  

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Justine: Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about maturity: a competency leaders need to be successful in their work. Check out our full shownotes page here, including information and links to  to the books we read this week!   Maturity is such a valuable skill for successful leaders! If you think about mangers and politicians you see on TV and social media who behave badly, you can see how they are not respected as real leaders. They have the job title, but no one mistakes them for leaders who inspire others to follow them. A good leader builds a coalition of people, she makes people feel good about the project they are doing, and she inspires everyone to hope for the future. Good leaders demonstrate maturity by working to make things good for everyone – not just a few special people. That includes staff, patrons, community members – everyone. It’s hard to do!! But you can see leaders who do exhibit Maturity in their work, and it’s impressive. So, what do we mean by Maturity anyway? It could mean all kinds of things in different situations, but for us it means someone who shows they are calm and in control, demonstrates emotional intelligence, and that they think of others first.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Connie: I Am Still Alive, by Kate Alice Marshall.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Beth:Lethal White, by Robert Galbraith.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Check out our full shownotes page here! Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about an exciting leadership competency: Risk Taking! Your first thought when listening to this topic might be surprise. Hasn’t everything we’ve talked about this season implied that leaders need to be reliable, steady, and predictable? Yes. All of that is true. These are important qualities for leaders. But you can’t just take the safe course all the time. Sometimes you need to take a chance, try something new, to boldly go where no librarian has gone before! Good risk taking skills will help to propel you and your organization forward. So let’s talk about risk taking, and strategies for minimizing risk and maximizing your chances for success!   What do we mean by risk taking? Different people may think of this in different ways, but we mean not taking the easy way; taking a chance of failure; bold or courageous action.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Denise: The Trouble With Goats and Sheep, by Joanna Cannon.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Rhonda:The Outsider, by Stephen King.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about the leadership competency that sounds like Adulting: Accountability. Check out our full shownotes page here. Who is joining us this week? Rhonda Huisman, doctoral candidate and Dean of the University Library at St Cloud State University! We hear people talking about “adulting" online and in person. When you think about it, this means being accountable. And that’s kind of terrifying. Being accountable means taking responsibility for results - positive and negative. It’s great to take responsibility for the good things that happen in your library – everyone can join in celebrating together! It is much less fun to be accountable when your program is a disaster, people are complaining about your books, the computers explode, and the ceiling falls in with water damage. Leadership means standing up, being accountable, and then helping everyone else to get back on track. Things will not always go as planned. It’s okay. Leaders will accept responsibility, and start working on strategies to move forward. You can easily think of any number of leaders you have seen at work or in the news, who refuse to acknowledge they make mistakes or are involved in any workplace problems. These people are not real leaders; and everyone can see it. No one wants to work with someone who constantly tries to shift blame and hog credit.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Angie: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Lydia:My War Gone By: I Miss it So, by Anthony Loyd .  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Mary: Backstagers, by James Tynion.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Check out our full shownotes page here! Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about managing resources. If your people don’t have the things they need to get their jobs done, your leadership skills could use some sharpening! It seems pretty obvious when you think about: you and your organization need money and stuff to accomplish your mission. But it can be really easy to assume this is someone else’s job, or to assume that things just appear in front of you – maybe by magic!   The reality is simpler, and maybe less romantic: as a leader it is your job to get things done, and that means you need to be sure everyone has what they need. You need to find the money and the facilities and any supplies to make everything happen.

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Angie: A Darker Shade of Magic, by V. E. Schwab.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website. Check out this episode!

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Lydia: Deep River, by Shusaku Endo.  Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website. Check out this episode!

Book Bites are quick, five minute looks at a book from readers. Try a new book this week! Today’s book is from Leigh Lenzmeier: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Want to be a full book group member? Join us on Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you can support the podcast as well as helping to keep Official Office Dog, Lady Grey, in treats.   We also have new episodes of our leadership podcast: Linking Our Libraries dropping every Thursday morning; subscribe to get it in your app, or stream it on our website.

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about Flexibility as one of the most important skills leaders need to be successful in their workplaces. Check out our full shownotes page here, for all the info and links to the books we discuss. Joining us is Bethany Kauffman, Media Specialist and Book Club Advisor from Rogers High School. This is another one of those leadership competencies that may not seem important at first glance. But it is an important tool people can use to meet the needs of the communities they are serving. Everything we discuss here goes back to getting the job done, and flexibility is one of the tools you need for that! What do we mean by flexibility? For us it means the ability to change course when necessary to achieve your goals, and changing plans to be successful.

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about Creativity in the workplace.  Check out our full show notes page here. We are the Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we are here to chat with you this season about building your leadership skills. We provide support and training for all types of libraries, and our work can be used by anyone who wants to build skills, and to become a better leader in your own organization.   Creativity in the workplace is such a great skill to develop! In any organization, the way work was done five years ago, a year ago, or potentially even yesterday, is just not good enough anymore. Society changes pretty quickly, and we need to not only keep up but to be out front providing leadership. The horrifying phrase “…but we’ve always done it that way…” probably means things need to change.  But you may be slightly panicking here. Maybe you don’t know how to sing, dance, draw, or paint – so you think you are not creative. Don’t worry! Creativity at work does not require any of these skills – though if you do have them, feel free to incorporate them into you work.   Instead we define creativity in the workplace as seeing different ways to accomplish goals, and bringing forward new ideas. Anyone can do this!

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about Communication as a tool that leaders use to get things done. Being an effective communicator is one of the very best ways to demonstrate your leadership strength. What do we mean by communication? This week we mean speaking, writing, listening; understanding your message and conveying it to others. We have talked about good communication skills in a prior episode, so check out that episode together with this one. In that episode, we talk about the process of communication. In this one, we are going to focus in on some specifics of different communication strategies to help you build up your skills. Check out our show notes page to get all the information we discuss today, plus links to the books we discuss here.

Welcome back to Linking Our Libraries! This week we are going to talk about Interpersonal Skills as a tool that leaders use to get things done. Do you want to talk with us further about leadership skills? Do you need some training organized for your organization? We are here for you! Check out our website: cmle.org and let’s get this started! And now, on with the show! Who is here this week? Joining us is Leah Larson, from the Minnesota State Library Services!   You know those other people in your workplace? It would be great to develop better interpersonal skills to be able to work most effectively with them, to provide great service, and to help everyone on your team to be as successful as possible.  And what are those? We define this as effectively working together with others of different levels or different positions (staff and public); good social skills; and building rapport with others.  A startling number of people believe that working in a library or an archive means being able to sit in a basement, alone, and work individually. And too many library people are still stuck in the olden days of wanting to shush everyone, instead of looking for ways to say YES to good service. A lot of us are introverts, and may struggle with easy communication and socializing.  All of this is okay. (Well, not the shushing. That’s over.) This is an area where we can always improve, and it is always worth spending some time working on these skills. You do not need to become a social butterfly, or the life of every party. You just need to connect with others in a meaningful or useful way. Great leaders must be good at interpersonal skills; this applies no matter what your title is – you can lead from any position.