Category Archives: News

News of interest to the Vermont library community

ALA Applauds Support of Libraries in FY2009 Presidential Budget

From the NELA listserv:

Contact: Andy Bridges

ALA Washington Office

202-628-8410

For Immediate Release

Libraries nationwide to benefit from President Bush’s proposed budget

WASHINGTON — The American Library Association (ALA) applauds the funding increases for libraries proposed in President Bush’s fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget, released this morning. The increases in library funding proposed by the President will mean that many of America’s libraries can continue to provide key programs and services to their communities, like bookmobiles and public access to the Internet.

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Vermont’s 23 Things, A winter learning opportunity

From Mara Siegel to VLA Listserv

Have you ever been curious about blogs, wikis, flickr, RSS, MySpace, and YouTube, but haven’t gone beyond looking up their definitions? Here’s a chance to explore those tools (and more!)

Vermont’s 23 Things is a self-directed online learning program that will introduce you to many Web 2.0 tools. It will encourage you to play with them and see how they can be useful in your library (or personally).

To see more, click on Vermont’s 23 Things or cut and paste vermontlibrarieslearn.wordpress.com into your browser window. Then dive right in!

Please distribute this e-mail among your co-workers. If you have any questions about Vermont’s 23 Things, please contact Mara Siegel. e-mail: mara.siegel@mail.dol.state.vt.us phone: 828-3261

I thought this should go up here in case some of you are not subscribed to the VLA listserv. It’s a really good opportunity to get a crash course in social sofware in a fun, self-paced environment if you’ve been waiting for a reason to try these tools out. It only just started at the end of January. I’m having a lot of fun with it, just as a personal endorsement.

Helen Linda

Vermont's 23 Things, A winter learning opportunity

From Mara Siegel to VLA Listserv

Have you ever been curious about blogs, wikis, flickr, RSS, MySpace, and YouTube, but haven’t gone beyond looking up their definitions? Here’s a chance to explore those tools (and more!)
Vermont’s 23 Things is a self-directed online learning program that will introduce you to many Web 2.0 tools. It will encourage you to play with them and see how they can be useful in your library (or personally).
To see more, click on Vermont’s 23 Things or cut and paste vermontlibrarieslearn.wordpress.com into your browser window. Then dive right in!
Please distribute this e-mail among your co-workers. If you have any questions about Vermont’s 23 Things, please contact Mara Siegel. e-mail: mara.siegel@mail.dol.state.vt.us phone: 828-3261

I thought this should go up here in case some of you are not subscribed to the VLA listserv. It’s a really good opportunity to get a crash course in social sofware in a fun, self-paced environment if you’ve been waiting for a reason to try these tools out. It only just started at the end of January. I’m having a lot of fun with it, just as a personal endorsement.
Helen Linda

VT Senate Government Operations Committee holds hearing on confidentiality bill

On January 17, librarians representing VLA and VSLA testified in support of S. 220, a bill to protect the confidentiality of library records. Posted here are links to testimony by Trina Magi, Susan Monmaney, and Karen Lane, a letter from a parent, and the marked-up bill showing changes requested by VLA and VSLA. For a Q&A sheet explaining the rationale behind the bill and a handout you can distribute to patrons, see the January 8 post titled “Library Confientiality Bill Introduced in VT Senate” in the Intellectual Freedom section of the VLA Web site. If you have questions or comments, please contact VLA Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair Trina Magi, 656-5723 or trina.magi@uvm.edu.

Trina Magi’s testimony

Susan Monmaney’s testimony

Karen Lane’s testimony

Sandra Lindberg’s letter

Bill with changes requested by VLA and VSLA

Public Library Funding and Technology

Update: Feb. 7, 2008 memo

The full report, “Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2006-2007 Report” has been published. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association (ALA), the Study is part of a sustained effort to provide current information that describes access to computers and the Internet in U.S. public libraries. It’s also available from the ALA Store

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VLA Advocacy Committee Meeting – All Are Welcome!

The VLA Advocacy Committee will be meeting at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington on Friday, February 15th at noon. The agenda so far is:

  • Revisit our mission, goals and role in the VLA.
  • Plan the “What is a Lobbyist?” event for the VLA Conference.
  • Brainstorm new projects to work on, such as statewide broadband service.

We are a relatively new addition to the VLA and still growing, so please join us as we embark on exciting new projects and shape our committee to best serve the VLA and our collective communities. If you can join us, please let me know. If you can’t join us but wish you could, let me know that, too, as well as best days/times/locations for next time. We can’t accommodate everyone, but we can try!

See you on the 15th!

Helen Linda

celestihel [at] gmail [dot] com