Leonard Marcus Lecture in Rhode Island

This seems like an interesting event for some adventurous children’s librarians to attend. And if not, the book sounds great:

In conjunction with the current exhibition Building Books: The Art of David Macaulay (description below), we invite you and your colleagues to this lecture Wednesday, January 21, 7pm:

Leonard Marcus Lecture

Noted writer, critic, and historian of childrenâ€™s literature, Leonard Marcus, on his Minders of Make Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Childrenâ€™s Literature (2008), the first-ever history of childrenâ€™s book publishing from colonial times to Harry Potter; co-presented with the Providence Athenaeum. More about Mr. Marcus: http://www.leonardmarcus.com/.

Free and open to the public!

Vermont Board of Libraries Meeting Notice

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Vermont Board of Libraries is: Tuesday, January 13, 10 am â€“ noon at the Midstate Regional Library in Berlin. In case of bad weather, a snow date will be announced.

The meeting agenda and the minutes of the October 21, 2008 meeting will be posted at the DOL website today or early next week. The Board of Libraries page can be found at: http://libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/bol

Please contact me if you need more information.
_____________________________
Martha Reid
State Librarian
Vermont Department of Libraries
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05609-0601
Tel: (802) 828-3265
Fax: (802) 828-2199
martha.reid@mail.dol.state.vt.us

A New Film About Life In Vermont Released on DVD – SPECIAL OFFER for Libraries

A recent hit at the Vermont International Film Festival, “Slingbacks and Syrup” drew a larger audience than any other film in the festival! This endearing movie about the lives of the members of Vermont’s own House of LeMay is now available on DVD from RJD Productions.

Deep in Vermont lies the mythical town of Beaver Pond. “Slingbacks and Syrup” uses the documentary form to tell the true tale of a young man who meets The House of LeMay, a family of outrageous Vermont drag queens who forever change his life.. Through laughter and leadership the young man learns how the LeMays have stood tall in their heels and changed the world around them, and eventually the young man discovers that his world has been dramatically changed too. For more information or to view the films trailers visit www.slingbacksandsyrup.com

WebWise Conference on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World

MLS and The Wolfsonian-Florida International University Announce Registration for 2009 WebWise Conference

Washington, DC-The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and The Wolfsonian-Florida International University (The Wolfsonian-FIU) announce open registration for the 2009 WebWise Conference on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World. The free conference takes place February 26-27, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with a pre-conference workshop on February 25. For information on the conference and related events, please go to:Â http://webwise2009.fcla.edu.

Picturing America Bookshelf Grant Deadline

Public and School Libraries:

This is a reminder that the ALA/NEH â€œPicturing Americaâ€ Bookshelf Grant application deadline is January 30, 2009.

The We the People Bookshelf, a collection of classic books for young readers (K-12), is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanitiesâ€™ (NEH) We the People program, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office.

The theme for the 2008-2009 Bookshelf is â€œPicturing America.â€

A total of 4,000 public and school (K-12) libraries will be selected to receive the â€œPicturing Americaâ€ Bookshelf. Awards will be announced in April 2009.

University of South Carolina Distance Library Degree Program

The University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science plans to begin a Masterâ€™s program for a regional â€œcohortâ€ of students in the New England region. This is an expansion of a program that was previously conducted in Maine. The program is proposed to begin in the fall semester of 2009; beginning students may also be admitted to the program in spring 2010 and fall 2010.

Classes will be presented as an interactive online program utilizing a variety of technologies. Attendance on the home campus of the University is not a required part of the program. Students admitted to the program will have several on site experiences at a location(s) in New England, including (but not limited to): a beginning orientation, portfolio preparation and state association meetings.

For more information, contact: Tilda Reeder, Admissions Coordinator, Student Services Office: tildareeder@sc.edu

The University of South Carolina is located in Columbia; phone number for the School lo Library and Information Science: 803-777-3858.

NETSL 2009 Spring Conference

Mark your calendars and plan to join us for NETSL’s 2009 Spring Conference.

WHEN: April 17, 2009

WHERE: College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA

Watch for further announcements with program and registration details
coming after the first of the year.

Questions, suggestions, or other feedback? Contact Amy Benson at
netslpresident@nelib.org.

NETSL: New England Technical Services Librarians is a section of the New
England Library Association. For more information about NETSL see http://www.nelib.org/netsl/

VLA Seeks Nominations for its Annual Awards

There are so many fabulous librarians and trustees in Vermont that it is always hard to single out just one of each annually, but there are always ones who are extraordinary and deserved to be recognized statewide. Now is the time for you to think about who VLA should recognize this year at the Vermont Library Conference, and nominate those deserving colleagues.

VLA is now accepting nominations for two awards:

1) The 2009 Sarah C. Hagar Award which is for outstanding service in or significant contribution to the field of librarianship in Vermont. Nominees must be working in a Vermont library and a member of VLA.

2)The 2009 Trustee of the Year Award for achievement by a trustee on behalf of his or her library, either during the previous year or during his/her years of service.

The Vermont Consortium of Academic Libraries hereby resolves our support for the critical role of libraries and librarians in K-12 education in Vermont and strenuously opposes the proposal made by the Education Quality Standards Commission, appointed by the State Board of Education, to remove all instances of the words “library,” “librarian,” and “library-media specialist” from the Vermont Education Quality Standards.

2008 Library Automation Survey — closing soon

The 2008 Library Automation Survey will be closing soon.

If you have not yet responded, I hope that you will do so in the next few days. Please help me assess the current state of the library automation arena by responding to the survey and giving your library’s perceptions of its current automation software and the organizations involved in supporting it.

Original survey invitation message:

I am conducting another round of the library automation perceptions survey. Last year’s survey was the basis for “Perceptions 2007: an international survey of library automation:”