Author Archive: admin

Reaching Across the Aisle, Reaching Across the Desk: Engagement, Inclusion, & Outreach in Academic Libraries

Friday, October 21, 2016: 9:30 am – 3:00 pm. Campus Center, Castleton University, Castleton, VT

Call for Proposals
Proposals with be accepted through September 9, 2016
Submit Proposals Here: http://goo.gl/forms/DpzjKWPKO1X6NO972
Please consider joining us for a one-day conference to learn how academic librarians in Vermont and New England are reaching across the aisle to collaborate with colleagues, other departments on campus, as well as publishers and vendors. As we gather to hear how librarians are reaching across the desk to engage with students, reach out to faculty, and create a more inclusive environment, we hope you are able to take advantage of this opportunity to network and share with colleagues throughout Vermont.
Featuring presentations from academic librarians around the state and region, this conference is an opportunity to learn how college and university librarians are tackling new and old challenges in our libraries and adopting inventive strategies to serve our students and faculty.
We are currently seeking proposals for this event. Length of presentation: 15 minutes to 45 minutes. Please consider presenting – your contributions will make this a great day to network and get new ideas.
Please send your questions to:
Beth Dietrich
VLA Colleges & Special Libraries Section President
bdietrich@smcvt.edu
Alana Verminski
VLA College & Special Libraries Section Vice President
alana.verminski@uvm.edu

Library Snapshot Day

If your library participated in Library Snapshot Day, please submit your statistics as soon as possible. A report of the data collected will be compiled and shared with all participating libraries.
Please email your institutions statistics here!

Vermont Reads 2016 (Vermont Humanities) – Deadline: June 3

Vermont communities are invited to participate in a statewide read of two books for Vermont Reads 2016: Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World and Caroline Alexander’s The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition. 2016 will be the hundredth anniversary year of the climactic and dramatic conclusion of the Endurance expedition (1914–1916). Vermont Reads Shackleton will afford Vermont students and adults alike the opportunity to consider, among other things, the power of vision, courage, and perseverance, the nature of leadership, and the spirit of adventure and exploration. Vermonters will learn about the expedition itself, consider its historical context (including World War I, and Arctic and Antarctic exploration generally), and come to understand better what is happening today to ice in the Arctic, Antarctica, and glaciers worldwide.
Read more→

Libraries and Archives in the Anthropocene: A Colloquium – Deadline: August 1

Libraries and Archives in the Anthropocene: A Colloquium
May 13-14, 2017
New York University
As stewards of a culture’s collective knowledge, libraries and archives are facing the realities of cataclysmic environmental change with a dawning awareness of its unique implications for their missions and activities. Some professionals in these fields are focusing new energies on the need for environmentally sustainable practices in their institutions. Some are prioritizing the role of libraries and archives in supporting climate change communication and influencing government policy and public awareness. Others foresee an inevitable unraveling of systems and ponder the role of libraries and archives in a world much different from the one we take for granted. Climate disruption, peak oil, toxic waste, deforestation, soil salinity and agricultural crisis, depletion of groundwater and other natural resources, loss of biodiversity, mass migration, sea level rise, and extreme weather events are all problems that indirectly threaten to overwhelm civilization’s knowledge infrastructures, and present information institutions with unprecedented challenges.Read more→

Children's Literacy Foundation – Deadline: May 4

The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) is now accepting applications for our At-Risk Children grant. The grant is open to social service providers, community centers, afterschool programs, refugee services organizations, shelters, low income housing programs, Head Start programs, early childhood education programs, and a wide range other groups throughout Vermont and New Hampshire that serve low-income or at-risk infants and children up to age 12 (or a subset of that age range). The application deadline is May 4, 2016.Read more→

Library Snapshot Day (Any Day April 10 – 16)

Taking place during National Library Week (April 10 – 16), Library Snapshot Day is a great way of documenting all the vital services libraries provide to the citizens of Vermont. For more information, please visit: www.vtlibraryday.wordpress.com
The more libraries we have participating, the better our final statistics will be, so be sure to join us for this exciting initiative!  We look forward to getting a vision of Vermont libraries!

 

ACTION ALERT: Cuts to the Department of Libraries

Call Your Legislators Today!

Contact Your Legislators Today!

A full picture of the cuts is still emerging, but we know that the State Law Library is now slated for elimination. Additionally, it is clear that the cuts as prescribed will result in a loss of federal funding that is likely to continue beyond the FY 2016 budget cycle. As we fail to meet the matching requirements for federal funds, DOL will likely lose positions (20 out of 26 are funded in part by federal money) and will then be less equipped to meet matching requirements moving forward. The likely effect has been described as a “spiraling” or “cascading” loss of federal support.
The Vermont Library Association is deeply concerned about the magnitude of these cuts and their certain impacts on our libraries and the patrons we serve. We’ve written a press release from the Vermont Library Association sharing our concerns and itemizing many of the services that DOL provides in collaboration with libraries around the state.
Please contact members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees to share your concerns with them:
House Appropriations
Senate Appropriations
You may also share brief and timely requests and concerns with committee chairs and members by contacting the Sergeant at Arms at: (802) 828-2228 or sgtatarms@leg.state.vt.us.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Government Relations Committee Chair Selene Colburn at 802-233-1358. We will continue to update you as the situation develops in the coming days and weeks.
Thanks,
VLA Government Relations Committee