Category Archives: Events

Upcoming events of interest to the Vermont library community.

Save the date: ACLU webinar on Act 150/S.209 (prohibiting civil arrests on library premises) for library staff and volunteers on Monday, August 17

Members of the Vermont ACLU’s legal team will join VLA to lead a webinar for library staff and volunteers on Act 150 and navigating interactions with immigration enforcement on Monday, August 17 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM. Act 150, signed into law last month, prohibits civil arrests (including most immigration-related arrests) on public library premises. This webinar will include the ACLU’s “Know Your Rights” training tailored for libraries, information about the new law, guidance on how libraries can protect themselves and their patrons through robust policies, tools for identifying judicial and administrative warrants, and instruction on handling situations in which ICE disobeys the law. The webinar, which will be recorded and available to VLA members after the event, will be followed by an un-recorderd Q&A session in which participants will have the opportunity to ask questions or request more specifics on any of these topics. Join from PC, Mac, iPad, or Android: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85173739350?pwd=EP2mKvgjiJXlxTuKN2eh8DJ6gaKwZ5.1

– Posted 8/2/26

Vermont Library Association Annual Meeting June 5

Vermont Library Association members are invited to attend the organization’s annual meeting via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, 2025.  All members should have received the meeting link in an email. If you did not, please email VLA President Mary Danko at president@vermontlibraries.org

There are elections at this meeting. The following slate is proposed:

  • Vice President:  Amy Williams
  • Secretary: Loren Polk

 

 

 

Alison Macrina – 2020 John Swan Memorial Lecture

The 2020 John Swan Memorial Lecture will be happening virtually this year.
Thursday, June 4th at 4 PM – Virtual
(Register here. GoToMeeting login information will be emailed to you)

Alison Macrina
Library Freedom Project
https://libraryfreedom.org/

head shot of Alison from Wikipedia

PRIVACY and the INTERNET OF THINGS

Along with founding the Library Freedom Project, Alison Macrina is a librarian, internet activist, and a core contributor to The Tor Project. Alison is passionate about fighting surveillance and connecting privacy issues to other struggles for justice. She believes that a world without pervasive surveillance is possible.

After the lecture there will be time for casual networking, so have your favorite beverage nearby.

Space is limited. The John Swan Memorial Lecture is open to everyone, so please feel free to share this event widely. Librarians, Library Trustees and Library Friends & Foundation Members are encouraged to attend.

2017 Annual Vermont Library Trustee and Friends Conference

wall of books with door inside it.
Saturday, November 4th, Champlain College, Burlington
Brush up your knowledge, reinvigorate your board, network with VT Trustees and Friends, and walk away inspired and informed! Co-sponsored by the Vermont Library Association and the Vermont Department of Libraries. See the schedule on the Department of Libraries website.
Registration Deadline: 10/27
Registration Link: http://bit.ly/2hAKUDy
Cost: $45 VLA members, $50 non-VLA members
10% discount for 3 or more from the same library

October Is Information Literacy Month

unesco-2The Vermont Consortium of Academic Libraries, Vermont School Library Association, and the Vermont Library Association believe that information literacy is crucial to Vermonters’ success from K-20, into the workplace and continuing throughout the lifespan. While librarians and libraries provide the foundation for teaching information literacy skills, offering quality information sources and collaborative spaces for all Vermonters, we do not work alone in valuing and building these skills…There is an urgent need for dialog among key stakeholders to raise awareness of the importance of information literacy as a lifelong skill, strengthen channels of communication to help students transition their skills from one setting to another, and to help Vermont’s students become information literate adults and citizens.
Vermont Librarians Statement on Information Literacy

Library Snapshot Day (Any Day April 10 – 16)

Taking place during National Library Week (April 10 – 16), Library Snapshot Day is a great way of documenting all the vital services libraries provide to the citizens of Vermont. For more information, please visit: www.vtlibraryday.wordpress.com
The more libraries we have participating, the better our final statistics will be, so be sure to join us for this exciting initiative!  We look forward to getting a vision of Vermont libraries!