e-Vermont Broadband applications now available

The Vermont Council on Rural Development has posted application materials for Year Two of the e-Vermont Community Broadband Project.

This project is funded via a federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grant and continues the project begun in 2010 when 12 Vermont communities were chosen for funding.

The Department of Libraries is a grant partner and is responsible for administering grant funds to public libraries in selected e-Vermont communities.

Deadline for electronic applications is November 17, 5:00 p.m.

For information about the e-Vermont Program:

http://vtrural.org/programs/e-vermont/communities

For information about applications for Year Two:

http://vtrural.org/programs/e-vermont/how-to-apply

For information on how public libraries can become involved, contact your DOL regional consultant.

YALSA MAE Award press release

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), seeks members’ application for the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens, sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. The winner receives $500 and an additional $500 for their library. The award is open to all personal members of ALA/YALSA who have created an outstanding reading or literature program in the twelve months preceding the award deadline of December 1.

ECHO Open Door Library Program Update

ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center will continue to offer the ECHO Library Pass program in 2011. In January all Vermont libraries will receive information on the updated program, new passes, posters, etc.

The current Library ECHO passes, which have an expiration date of October 31, 2010, will continue to be valid and honored at the ECHO Front Desk through January 31, 2011.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact:

Emilie Mattesich
Membership Coordinator
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
1 College Street
Burlington, VT 05401
Tel: 802 864-1848 x 134
Email: emattesich@echovermont.org

Katherine Paterson Talk October 7

Katherine Paterson, two-time winner of the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal, will give a talk titled “The Child Left Behind” on Thursday, October 7 at 7:30 at McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael’s College. The presentation is free, open to the public, and accessible to people with disabilities.

Paterson was recently named “National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature” by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and her latest work, The Day of the Pelican, is this year’s selection as the Vermont Humanities Council Vermont Reads program.

The event is hosted by Saint Michael’s College and sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council in honor of her latest work, The Day of the Pelican.

NELA Annual Conference is coming!

Learn how to work “Outside the Box” to meet today’s challenges for your library. The 2010 New England Library Association Annual Conference will be held October 17 – 19 at the Holiday Inn in Boxborough, Massachusetts. Join your colleagues from across the region for this exciting educational and networking event.

National Novel Writing Month & Libraries

I learned today that the Nanowrimo offices have developed resources for libraries who want to get involved in Nanowrimo. There’s even some free stuff, I hear:

Come Write In: Libraries
Nanowrimo Library Outreach Guide

I hope some of you will consider welcoming the Wrimos into your libraries. There are many parts of the state where folks are isolated and don’t know where to go to meet up with people. If you choose to do something for Nanowrimo, please let me know so that I can share it on our community forums. And, of course, if you have any questions at all, please feel free to let me know!

Helen

—
Helen Linda
Library Systems & Technical Services Librarian
Eliot D. Pratt Library
Goddard College
helen.linda@goddard.edu

National Novel Writing Month & Libraries

As an annual participant in National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) each November I am always interested in finding new place to suggest/hold write-ins, and surprised to find out how many libraries have never even heard of it!
I learned today that the Nanowrimo offices have developed resources for libraries who want to get involved in Nanowrimo. There’s even some free stuff, I hear:
Come Write In: Libraries
Nanowrimo Library Outreach Guide
I hope some of you will consider welcoming the Wrimos into your libraries. There are many parts of the state where folks are isolated and don’t know where to go to meet up with people. If you choose to do something for Nanowrimo, please let me know so that I can share it on our community forums. And, of course, if you have any questions at all, please feel free to let me know!
Helen
—
Helen Linda
Library Systems & Technical Services Librarian
Eliot D. Pratt Library
Goddard College
helen.linda@goddard.edu

Secretary of State Outreach to Voters with Disabilities

The Department of Libraries is working with the Secretary of State to get special information on voting out to Vermont’s disabled citizens. I am asking libraries to help with this effort by displaying posters and distributing handouts. Please help spread the word!

The following items are available:

Text to send out in an email (Attached here as a Word document)
Postcard handouts (Contact Pat Sears at Spike Advertising for copies. Contact information below.)
8 1/2 x 11 poster (Attached here as a PDF or Pat Sears can send out hard copies.)

Libraries can contact Pat Sears directly to have handouts and posters sent to them: pat@spikeadvertising.com or 802-951-1700.

spikeadvertising.com/Download/SOS/Voting_email.doc
spikeadvertising.com/Download/SOS/voting_poster.pdf

Thank you.

Martha Reid
State Librarian
Vermont Department of Libraries
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05609
802-828-3265
martha.reid@state.vt.us

An Evening Without: Giving Voice to the Silenced

September 30, 2010 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Centre Congregational Church
193 Main Street Brattleboro, VT

In celebration of the First Amendment during Banned Books Week, the Vermont Civil Liberties Union and the Vermont Library Association present “An Evening Without…Giving Voice to the Silenced” featuring Vermont authors and speakers reading from books that have been banned or challenged.

The featured readers below will read from the works of authors such as Mark Twain, John Steinbeck and Toni Morrison.
Jerry Carbone is the Director of Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro.
Jon Clinch is the author of two acclaimed novels, Finn and The Kings of the Earth.
Joni B. Cole is the writer of several non-fiction books and co-founder of the Writer’s Center in White River Junction.
Castle Freeman is a writer who has published four acclaimed novels, a book of short stories, and a collection of essays.
Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina is the author of seven books, including her latest, Mr. and Mrs. Prince and hosts The Book Show, a nationally syndicated weekly radio program.
Karen Hesse is the Newbery Award-winning author of 22 books for young readers.
Suzanne Kingsbury is the author of three novels, two of which have been optioned for film

The program is affiliated with the Brattleboro Literary Festival that will continue September 30-October 1.

Looking Inward/Looking Outward: Changing Roles and Expectations in Archival Settings: New England Archivists Fall 2010 Conference

November 5‑6, 2010
Keene State College
Keene, NH

Archival work has always been an evolving field ‑‑ it must be, to maintain its place on the modern front of history amidst changes in collections, technology, and our patrons. The technological revolution has spawned new types of collections, new possibilities for managing them, and new expectations in those who use them.