Author Archive: admin

Looking for a Mentor? Want to Be a Mentor?

ALA has launched MentorConnect in ALA Connect so you can find or become a mentor.

MentorConnect (”MC”) allows ALA members to create mentoring profiles that highlight their expertise and experience. After they’ve joined MC, ALA members can search for a mentor using a variety of criteria (gender, type of library, ethnicity, etc.) and request mentorship. Once created, the mentorship is tracked within MC, with a space for providing and archiving feedback. The system will prompt mentors and mentorees every few months to ensure they are staying in touch.

To learn all about this new service, see Mentoring Starter Questions and Mentoring and MentorConnect FAQ at (http://www.students.ala.org/studentmemberblog/?p=344)

Don Wood
Program Officer
Chapter Relations Office
American Libraries Association
dwood@ala.org
1-800-545-2433, ext. 2429

Annual Board Retreat 2009

Vermont Library Association Board Retreat
August 5, 2009
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
St. Michael’s College

DRAFT MINUTES

Present: Marti Fiske (Vice-President/Presiding), Judah Hamer (Past President), Brenda Ellis (Past Secretary), Sharon Thayer (Membership chair), Kip Roberson (NELA – New England Library Assoc. Rep), Nancy Wilson (ALA Councilor); Larraby Fellows (outgoing CSL- College & Special Libraries), Jill Coffrin (Outgoing Youth Libraries Section), Jane Napier (President – YLS), Grace Greene (DOL/VLS Awards Committee), Amy Grasmick (Personnel), Lucinda Walker (Public Libraries), Helen Linda (Advocacy), Deb Bullock Spackman (Government Relations)

Meeting was called to order at 10:05 a.m.

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Putney, Burlington and Brattleboro Libraries: The Hearts of Their Communities

The feature article in the Summer issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal, “Libraries at the Heart of Our Communities,” reports on the increasingly important role public libraries are playing in our communities. The article also focuses on how libraries can strengthen downtowns and main street districts. The article features interviews with librarians in Putney, Burlington and Brattleboro.

For a limited time the article is available to download at no charge (as a pdf file). For information about Libraries at the Heart of Our Communities, and to download it, go to:

http://pcj.typepad.com/planning_commissioners_jo/2009/07/libraries.html

The Beatles Had It Right

Sometimes we just need a little help from our friends.  You may be a new librarian who feels at sea.   Or you may have a library project or issue that you would like to talk with another professional about.  The Vermont Library Association can help you connect with people who can help you out.  Over a dozen VLA members from all over the state have agreed to act as a mentor for public librarians.  Contact Lucinda Walker 802-649-1184 lucinda.walker@norwichlibrary.org if you would like to find a mentor in your area.

Digital Video Production Workshop

Adults (ages 16 and up)

Saturday and Sunday, March 21 and 22, 10:00am-4:00pm

Spend a weekend with media professional Adam Walker who will immerse you in the digital video world and help you to promote your ideas with a video message. Learn about camera controls, different motion techniques, creative angles, tripods, lighting, and iMovie video editing software while creating a 1 minute public service announcement. Then, learn how to post your production onto the YouTube website to share with the world. At the end of the workshop, family and friends will be invited to see the finished products! Bring your own video camera or use one of ours. All other supplies included. Please come to class prepared with at least two ideas for your public service announcement and bring your own bag lunch. Check out www.dogooder.tv for inspiration.

$160 for non-members
$126 for members
http://www.helenday.com/education/adult-classes-sign-up#advideo

Free Library Marketing Webinar on OPAL

This free webinar is available to anyone.  The link below takes you to the entry point where you can download and the install WebConference program.  Enter a user name (anything will do) and leave the password blank.  If you can’t make the webinar live, you can catch it in the archives later.

Friday, March 6, 2009 at noon Eastern Time. Cruise to Success: Marketing for Libraries

Loreen Phillips, the Head of Information Literacy Services at McDermott Library at the University of Texas-Dallas, has written a recently published book about marketing for libraries, Cruise to Success: How to Steer Your Way Through the Murky Waters of Marketing Your Library, published in Dec. 2008 by Chandos Publishing. Phillips provides clear, step-by-step instructions and guidelines for developing a successful library marketing program. We will speak with her about how libraries of all types, but especially academic libraries, can improve their marketing strategies, activities, and results.

Host: TAP Information Services

Location: OPAL Auditorium http://www.conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs1641902f62b4

VT Libraries Listserv change

After much discussion over the course of the year, the VLA Board voted to change the default reply for the VTLibraries listserv to Reply to Sender.  Messages sent to the listserv will now automatically have a footer that more easily gives the listserv address so that anyone wishing to reply to the whole list (currently 271 people), can easily do so by simply copying and pasting the list address into the To: field of their message.  This change will eliminate accidental replies to the list intended only for the sender, but it still allows people to reply to everyone on the list if they so choose.   See instructions for joining the listserv if you are not yet on the list. 

The 2009 Vermont Library Conference Needs Your Help!

Volunteers are needed to support work on the May, 2009 Vermont Library Conference.  Conference proposals are coming in, and we are lining up some great speakers and exciting events for May 12 & 13, 2009.  Our keynote, Marshall Keys, is ecstatic to speak to the librarians of Vermont about library advocacy – a topic more important now than ever.  It is our hope that the Vermont Library Conference is a meaningful, worthwhile, professional experience for all of Vermont’s librarians, library staff, boards, school boards, teachers, and administrators.  We hope to broaden our scope and invite all the people who make our jobs a reality.

 However, in order to put on a fantastic conference, we need your help.  We are operating with a much smaller conference planning committee than in years past, and have identified areas in which we need your support.  If you are interested in any of the jobs listed below, please contact me as soon as possible.  You will be given all the information you need to fill these jobs – please don’t feel like you can’t volunteer for lack of experience.  We will make sure you have all the support you need to do the job. If you have any questions about the conference, volunteering, or program proposals, please don’t hesitate to contact me.  I look forward to hearing from many of you! Sincerely,http://www.vermontlibraryconference.org Barbara Doyle-Wilch

Director of Cultural Activities

Middlebury College

252 Columbus Smith Road

Salisbury, VT 05769

802-352-9315

bdoylewi@middlebury.edu

802-238-7608 cell

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Workshop: Marketing for Libraries

Marketing for Libraries
Thursday December 4, 2008
9:30 am – noon
Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston

Participants will learn the basic steps of creating a marketing plan using information from “Crash Course in Marketing for Libraries” by Susan Webreck Alman and the Certified Public Library Administration marketing course taught by Wayne Piper. Guest speaker Elizabeth Bluemle, co-owner of the Flying Pig Book Store, will share book store tips for merchandising and marketing outside and within the building. Bring along examples of your successful library marketing experiences to share with the group.

It is highly recommended that participants purchase and review “Crash Course in Marketing for Libraries” by Susan Webreck Alman before attending the workshop. ($30, ISBN-10: 1591584302, ISBN-13: 978-1591584308) This book outlines a marketing plan in less than 58 pages, with several appendices of real-life examples.

Contact Marti Fiske for information and to register, marti@williston.lib.vt.us or 802-878-4918. This workshop is sponsored by the Public Libraries Section of the Vermont Library Association.

2009 Vermont Library Association Conference Theme: Speaking Up! Advocacy for Libraries

“Isn’t the Internet going to put public libraries out of business?”
“Why do we need school libraries when everything is online?”
“Why do we need a campus library when students can do their research on the Internet?” (Library Advocate’s Handbook, ALA).

Library advocates must adapt to a changing and not always sympathetic political and social environment. We need to be able to explain the role of libraries in the 21st century in order to maintain funding, to be a voice for policy issues ranging from intellectual property to intellectual freedom and protection of privacy.

It is our hope that the 2009 Conference will offer programs that give us the tools and knowledge to explain the importance of libraries to our communities, legislators and funders. We would like to build our own strength as advocates, and also help others – boards, friends, principals, administrators, and community members – to become strong advocates for libraries.

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