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

Congratulations to Ellen Kaye of Putney, VT!

The VLA Scholarship Committee is pleased to announce the first MLIS scholarship has been awarded to Ellen Kaye of Putney, VT. Ellen has demonstrated great dedication to Vermont libraries and communities through both her pursuit of her MLIS from Simmons College and her work on The Commons newspaper in Windham County. Both her professional work and her school work garnered great praise and she has been described as “an excellent student and very dedicated to library services and the issues that face libraries” and “a great candidate for working in libraries” who has “great energy.” Congratulations, Ellen!

Join VLA's Council on Career Development

Cindy Weber invites any and all interested parties to join the VLA Council on Career Development. Based on Cindy’s ongoing Career Development Facilitator training through the American Library Association, the council’s purpose will be to brainstorm ways to utilize career development knowledge, theories, and resources to:

  1. Create an aggregated career development resource list do be housed on the Vermont Library Association’s website.
  2. Develop a career assistance program that will be useful to librarians in all settings.
  3. Provide career development training to those librarians seeking guidance on assisting their patronage and students.

“I foresee the council working with librarians, libraries, schools and universities, community agencies, and the Department of Libraries,” Cindy says. “I think we can all agree that libraries can be useful resources for career development, and this initiative has great potential!”

The first Council on Career Development meeting will be scheduled for the end of March. Look for details on the VTLIBRARIES listserv.

Time to Apply for the New England Library Leadership Symposium (NELLS) 2015

NELLS 2015NELA
August 3-7, 2015
Rolling Ridge Retreat & Conference Center
North Andover, Massachusetts
Facilitator: Maureen Sullivan, ALA Past President
The Vermont Library Association is seeking applicants for Participants (individuals with 3 to 15 years’ experience in libraries) and for Mentors (individuals with 15+ years’ experience in libraries) to represent Vermont.
For more information and to download an application to be a Participant click on this link http://nelib.org/advance-your-career/nells/
Applications are due by March 20.
Mentoring applicants should contact Karson Kiesinger, VLA’s NELA Representative at kkiesinger@nelib.org or 802-442-9051.

VLA thriving at VTComicCon

comic book reader's license
VLA had a presence at Vermont’s first ComicCon. We had a good time, made a good impression and helped sponsor one of their special guests. We tabled for two days. Our table had a few things
– Mr. McFeeley from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (aka David Newell) who did a story time with puppets and his book twice daily. He was a wonderfully gracious man and the kids loved him.
– A Banned Graphic Novels exhibit. We brought graphic novels from our own libraries and put them up on book stands along with a printout of why each graphic novel was banned or challenged.
– Handouts of good “If you liked…” suggestions for graphic novels to read. We have copies of them in PDF or Word format if anyone would like them for their libraries.
– Stickers! We used these as a model and printed out a bunch of them. Very popular.
– Minicomics! One of the publishers had a stack of these and let us use them as giveaways at the booth, also very popular.
– Our Comic Reader’s License (seen above). This was a frame like a driver’s license with a whiteboard area where people could write their names. It hung on a movie screen stand and we had a chair behind it. We took people’s photos, uploaded them (with permission) to the VLA Instagram account and then later edited them and put them on our facebook account in a VLA ComicCon album so people could tag and share them.
It was really fun seeing so many people all dressed up and having a good time celebrating reading (among other things) and we’re sure to do it again next year.

Cindy Weber to represent VLA at Career Development Facilitator Program

The Vermont Library Association Board is pleased to announce the selection of Cindy Weber, director of the Stowe Free Library, as Vermont’s representative to a Career Development Facilitator (CDF) training offered by the American Library Association and the National Career Development Association. Vermont is one of 22 states selected to participate based on an application outlining our plans for implementing the program statewide. Participants from each state will become certified Career Development Facilitators, with an emphasis on guiding other librarians in providing career and job-seeking help to their communities as well as assisting librarians with their own career development needs.
VLA and Cindy Weber will be working together to identify a cohort of librarians in the state to help share this material widely. The VLA Board is looking forward to being able to help our members serve this function in their communities more confidently and to contribute to the economic vitality of our local families and communities. The training includes such topics as development and maintenance of a career resource center, labor market information, career planning processes, basic helping and facilitation skills, informal and formal assessments, program promotion, ethical and scope-of-practice issues, professional portfolios, and up-to-date job search resources.
The training consists of two days of workshops in Chicago in January 2015 prior to the ALA Midwinter Conference and then an online course for 14 weeks. See the ALA press release on the selection of participants here. Look for future announcements on the VTLibraries mailing list or contact Cindy Weber for more information or to express interest in future trainings: cweber@stowelibrary.org or (802) 253-6145.