Category Archives: Conferences

Vermont Library Association Conference 2024 Call for Proposals

The Vermont Library Association (VLA) is seeking presenters for “Libraries Empowering Communities: Standing Together in Uncertain Times,” our 129th annual conference scheduled for Monday, May 20, 2024. Proposals are due by Monday, March 4, 2024.

Libraries are facing unprecedented challenges to our profession. Through this one-day conference, we seek ways to empower and connect our communities with resources, prepare to protect intellectual freedom, and offer solidarity from our smallest libraries to our biggest. Learning from each other is powerful and we hope you will share your expertise with fellow library professionals.

We seek presentations of varying topics, but especially encourage proposals on the topics suggested below and sessions that can be scaled to suit smaller and larger libraries.

Topic suggestions:

  • Intellectual Freedom
    • Banned books
    • Book and/or program challenges
    • Censorship
    • Privacy
  • Writing policies to prepare and protect our communities
  • Mitigating the effects of climate change on our collections,  buildings, communities
  • Providing services to unhoused populations/underserved populations
  • Practical ideas for smaller libraries
  • Protecting the self (e.g. self-care, managing stress, preventing burnout)

Sessions will be 50 minutes in length and will include:

  • Hands-on workshop with an activity / discussion
  • Traditional presentation with time for questions
  • Panel with best practices / case studies
  • Author talk with reading
  • Vendor presentations
  • Book Awards and VLA Awards
  • VLA Division roundtable discussions
  • Brief presentation of a single example or project as part of a longer program: 5 Minutes of Fame/Spark presentation

Please submit your proposal online using this form. If your proposal is accepted, the main presenter will receive free admission to the conference. The deadline for proposals is Monday, March 4, 2024.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Maria Avery, she/her
VLA 2024 Conference Planning Committee Co-Chair
Community Outreach Manager, University of Vermont Libraries
VLAConference24@vermontlibraries.org

Vermont Library Association 2024 Conference Set for May 20

Join the Vermont Library Association at our 2024 annual conference on Monday, May 20, at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel and Conference Center, 228 E Mountain Road, in Killington, Vermont.

This year’s conference title is Libraries Empowering Communities: Standing Together in Uncertain Times.

Save the date! We will share updates on our conference webpage and on our Facebook, Instagram, and X account, as they become available.

Call for Proposals
We seek presentations of varying topics, but especially encourage proposals on the topics suggested on our Call for Proposals webpage and sessions that can be scaled to suit smaller and larger libraries. The deadline for proposals is Monday, March 4, 2024.

2024 Conference Planning Committee Co-Chairs
Dena Marger, she/her
Director, Lydia Taft Pratt Library
150 West Street
Dummerston, VT 05357
802-258-9878
VLAConference24@vermontlibraries.org

Maria Avery, she/her
Community Outreach Manager, University of Vermont Libraries
VLAConference24@vermontlibraries.org

2024 Conference Planning Committee Members
Oceana Wilson, she/her, Dean of the Library, Bennington College
Randal Smathers, he/him, Director, Rutland Free Library
Emma Parks, she/her, Library Support Senior and GIS Consultant, University of Vermont Dana Health Sciences Library
Mary Danko, she/her, Director, Fletcher Free Library
Cory Stephenson, she/her, Director, Moretown Memorial Library
Erin Davison, she/her, Youth Services Librarian, Norwich Public Library
Kelly L. McCagg, she/her, Director, Burnham Memorial Library
Susan Ujka Larson, she/they, Vermont Library Association Digital Communications

Last update January 22, 2024

Submit Your College and Special Libraries Section 2024 Conference Proposal

The Vermont Library Association College and Special Libraries Section hopes to host an online conference in the spring of 2024, and we need YOUR participation to make it happen! The application process is quick and easy. Here are some ideas to get you thinking:

– Has your organization recently gone through some changes? – – How have you managed those?
– Have you redefined roles in your library? What does that look like?
– What is your organization or library’s position on using AI for educational purposes?
– What new approaches has your library taken to enhance equitable access for your patrons?
– Are there new tools you’ve found that helped you streamline a process, enhance the functionality of your library website or catalog, etc?

Please complete the proposal form online by Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.

Thank you,
Sarah Scully (she/her)
President, College and Special Libraries Section, Vermont Library Association
Electronic Resources & Technology Librarian
Cornell Library at Vermont Law and Graduate School
South Royalton, Vermont

VLA Annual Meeting 2022

VLA Annual meeting 10-11 am - Wednesday June 2

Dear VLA Members:

The Vermont Library Association Annual Meeting will be held from 10 – 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, on Zoom.
You can register at this link.

For those unable to attend, you can request an absentee ballot by clicking this link.

Here is the agenda:

  • Call to Order
  • Approval of Minutes from 2021 Annual Meeting
  • Budget Report
  • Election of Board Members
  • Reports from Working Groups, Roundtables, etc.
  • Proposed changes to membership structure
  • Remarks from the State Librarian Cathy Delneo
  • Remarks from VLA President-Elect Kelly McCagg

Best,
Mike Roy
President, Vermont Library Association

2022 Vermont Library Association Conference

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Better Together!

This year, VLA is again doing things a little differently. On the heels of a very successful 2021 virtual conference, we’ll be hosting a participant-driven conference on June 1, 2022, at Castleton University. The theme is Better Together, which embodies two defining principles for the day: the chance for us to see each other in person after a long time apart, and the idea that sharing our knowledge helps us all improve ourselves and our libraries.

Register now, or read more.

5th Annual ACRL-NEC Vermont Virtual Conference

The Association of College and Research Libraries – New England Chapter (ACRL/NEC) has just announced that registration is open for its Spring 2014 Conference:  We’re All in This Together: Strengthening Librarians through Professional Development. It should be a great time, but if you cannot make it down to Worcester, MA and want an opportunity to network with other Vermont librarians, then…

Register now for the 5th Annual ACRL-NEC Vermont Virtual Conference on Friday, May 9th, 2014!

Read more→

Vermont Public Library Trustees & Friends 2013 Annual Conference

Saturday November 2   9:00 am   —  3:00 pm
Vermont Statehouse State Street Montpelier, VT

Registration is now open: http://libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/trustees (DEADLINE October 25)

Plan to join us at the Statehouse for an energy-filled day of inspiring and informative speakers and networking to help the board, staff and Friends with effective governance, fundraising,  advocacy, social media and more.

Keynote Speaker:
Stuart  Comstock-Gay, President and CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation. 

  • Breakout sessions for trustees and friends (and librarians!) on a variety of topics throughout the day, including:
  • Paul Gillies on Vermont libraries and the law. One of the authors of The Law of Public Libraries, former Deputy Secretary of State and a Montpelier attorney, Mr. Gillies has many years’ experience in municipal law and is well-versed in topics of interest to public library trustees and directors.
  • Rob Fish of the Vermont Council on Rural Development and the Vermont Digital Economy Project on social media tools for libraries.
  • And wait, wait, don’t forget the Annual Trivia Contest with prizes!
  • And of course there will be coffee, lunch, networking with your peers from around the state and more.

    • 20% discount for each attendee when 3 or more attend from one library

    Read more→

    Making Connections & Cultivating Community

    Dartmouth’s October Conference for New England Academic Librarians
    Friday, October 18, 2013
    Alumni Hall in the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College

    This year’s conference focuses on the collaborative role that academic libraries can play within their communities. Presentations will include examples of library-IT collaborations, libraries that work with young people in the community, multi-type library collaborations, projects in which librarians and faculty work together, a town-gown event, and more. See the program for details.

    Read more→

    Communication, Collaboration & Commitment – An SLA Event

    SLA New England and our Co-Sponsor SLA Rhode Island Present

    Communication, Collaboration & Commitment
    Saturday October 13th, 2012

    While we hope that we have planned a helpful and successful event for October 13th, registration is quite low at the moment and we can’t succeed without all of you!  We hope that this post will provide some encouragement to those of you who just haven’t gotten around to registering yet!

    • Anyone who registers for the conference before midnight next Tuesday, Sept 25th, 2012 will be entered in a raffle to win one of *three free registrations*.  Don’t worry, if you’ve already registered, you will be automatically entered.  The three winners will have their conference payment refunded in full.
    • We are pushing back the start time of the conference from 8am to 8:45am.  This means that the schedule will be as follows: