Linking Our Libraries
290 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 months ago - ★★★★★ - 8 ratingsLibraries 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, we 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!
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Episodes
Browsing Books: Lake County
July 13, 2021 08:30 - 15 minutes - 7 MBThis 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 b...
Browsing Books: Cass County
July 06, 2021 08:00 - 9 minutes - 4.34 MBThis 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...
Browsing Books: Carlton County
June 29, 2021 08:30 - 9 minutes - 4.18 MBThis 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 immen...
Browsing Books: Nobles County
June 22, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutes - 4.92 MBThis 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...
Browsing Books: Mahnomen County
June 15, 2021 08:30 - 9 minutes - 4.37 MBThis 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 Ojib...
Browsing Books: Lincoln County
June 08, 2021 08:30 - 8 minutes - 4.09 MBThis 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 pre...
Browsing Books: Freeborn County
June 01, 2021 08:30 - 11 minutes - 5.04 MBThis 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 bo...
Browsing Books: Crow Wing County
May 25, 2021 08:30 - 9 minutes - 4.54 MBThis 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 ...
Browsing Books: Big Stone County
May 18, 2021 08:30 - 7 minutes - 3.62 MBYou 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 loca...
Browsing Books: Anoka County
May 11, 2021 08:30 - 10 minutes - 4.83 MBThis 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 persp...
Browsing Books: Aitkin County
May 04, 2021 08:30 - 11 minutes - 5.27 MBWe 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...
Episode 810: Episode 100 of Linking Our Libraries!
April 29, 2021 08:30 - 38 minutes - 17.7 MBCheck 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 wi...
Episode 809: The Future! Strategic Planning and Needs Assessment
April 22, 2021 08:30 - 17 minutes - 7.85 MBWe 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.
Episode 808: Library Board Members
April 15, 2021 08:30 - 34 minutes - 15.7 MBToday 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.
Episode 807: Teen Services
April 08, 2021 08:30 - 24 minutes - 11.3 MBToday 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 challen...
Episode 806 Reference Interview
April 01, 2021 08:30 - 22 minutes - 10.3 MBIf 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 as...
Episode 805: Podcasting
March 25, 2021 12:00 - 25 minutes - 11.5 MBAs 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 whethe...
Episode 804 Cultural Competencies
March 18, 2021 12:30 - 32 minutes - 14.9 MBWe 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 ar...
Episode 803: Makerspaces
March 11, 2021 09:30 - 20 minutes - 9.36 MBWelcome 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 mor...
Episode 802: Hosting Virtual Events
March 04, 2021 09:30 - 23 minutes - 10.6 MBWelcome 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 thei...
Episode 801: Library Gardens
February 25, 2021 09:30 - 26 minutes - 12.3 MBWelcome 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! ...
Browsing Books: Savanna Portage State Park
February 16, 2021 09:30 - 10 minutes - 4.8 MBThis 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." E...
Browsing Books: Hayes Lake State Park
February 09, 2021 09:30 - 10 minutes - 4.57 MBThis 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 ...
Browsing Books: Fort Snelling State Park
February 02, 2021 09:30 - 9 minutes - 4.39 MBThis 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...
Browsing Books: Judge Magney State Park
January 26, 2021 09:30 - 11 minutes - 5.2 MBThis 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 wate...
Browsing Books: Cascade State Park
January 19, 2021 09:30 - 10 minutes - 5.01 MBThis 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 Hi...
Browsing Books: Nerstrand Big Woods State Park
January 12, 2021 09:30 - 11 minutes - 5.22 MBThis 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, ...
Browsing Books: McCarthy Beach State Park
January 05, 2021 09:30 - 10 minutes - 4.62 MBMcCarthy 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 the...
Browsing Books: Kilen Woods State Park
December 29, 2020 09:30 - 10 minutes - 4.58 MBWe 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 le...
St. Croix State Park
December 22, 2020 09:30 - 9 minutes - 4.3 MBWe 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 Rive...
Browsing Books: Split Rock Lighthouse State Park
December 15, 2020 09:00 - 10 minutes - 4.64 MBWe 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. W...
Browsing Books: Myre-Big Island State Park
December 08, 2020 09:30 - 9 minutes - 4.22 MBWe 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 ...
Browsing Books: William O’Brien State Park
December 01, 2020 09:30 - 9 minutes - 4.2 MBWe 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 wi...
Browsing Books: Carley State Park
November 24, 2020 09:30 - 9 minutes - 4.39 MBWe 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 ...
Browsing Books: Lake Shetek State Park
November 17, 2020 09:30 - 9 minutes - 4.16 MBWe 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...
Browsing Books: Garden Island State Recreation Area
November 10, 2020 09:30 - 11 minutes - 5.33 MBWe 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 i...
Episode 710: Basics: Instruction
November 05, 2020 09:30 - 16 minutes - 7.67 MBWelcome 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 i...
Episode 709: Basics: Social Media
October 29, 2020 08:30 - 15 minutes - 7.18 MBToday’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 probab...
Episode 708: Basics: Services
October 22, 2020 08:30 - 15 minutes - 7.28 MBWelcome 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 comfor...
Episode 707: Collection Development
October 15, 2020 08:30 - 19 minutes - 9.08 MBWe 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 y...
Episode 706 Reopening Public Libraries
October 08, 2020 08:30 - 25 minutes - 11.7 MBWelcome 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. O...
Episode 705 Basics: Library Programming
October 01, 2020 08:30 - 18 minutes - 8.39 MBLibrary 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...
Episode 704: Basics: Copyright
September 24, 2020 08:30 - 16 minutes - 7.39 MBWe 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...
Episode 703: Reopening a School Library
September 17, 2020 08:30 - 19 minutes - 9.07 MBWelcome 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 Cl...
702 Basics: Foundations of Library Profession
September 10, 2020 08:30 - 17 minutes - 8.14 MBToday’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 librar...
Episode 701: Digital Skills
September 03, 2020 08:30 - 23 minutes - 11 MBWelcome 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 Mid...
Browsing Books: The Lake Louise State Park
August 25, 2020 08:30 - 9 minutes - 4.42 MBWe 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 Shooti...
BONUS EPISODE: Reopening Libraries
August 24, 2020 16:27 - 30 minutes - 13.9 MBThis 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 g...
Browsing Books: Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area
August 18, 2020 08:30 - 8 minutes - 4.03 MBWe 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 a...
Browsing Books: Afton State Park
August 11, 2020 08:30 - 9 minutes - 4.3 MBWe 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 di...