Linking Our Libraries

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!