Public Libraries Section & related news and events.
REMINDER TO REGISTER SOON!
Friday April 8, 2011
9:15 am – 3:30 pm
Registration begins at 8:30 am
Hogan Campus Center, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
http://www.holycross.edu/directions/hogan.html
Registration (closes March 25, 2010):
Member: $50
Non-Member: $80
Student / Unemployed: $25
Registration information: http://nela.camp9.org/netsl/conference
The e-Vermont Community Broadband Project is offering free webinars, starting with a 30 min session about Internet Safety Basics for Parents.
Please encourage your patrons to attend and help us spread the word.
Thursday March 17th 6:00 – 6:30pm
Monday March 21st 6:00 – 6:30pm
Thursday March 24th 6:00 – 6:30pm
It’s that time of year again! The Department of Libraries is asking that you report results from your 2011 Town Meeting(s). Below you will find a link to an online survey with questions about your budget and the results of Town Meeting. Please complete the survey and submit it online no later than April 1, 2011.
This year you will find new questions related to library fees and charges. I have heard from some library directors about new pressures to find additional revenue sources (e.g. fees for overdues, out-of-town borrower cards – and even library programs.) I want to have an account of any new or increased fees that took effect in Vermont libraries during 2010.
If your town has not yet held a vote for the next budget year, please fill out the relevant questions, and leave the rest of the survey blank – but please DO submit a survey.
More than ever before, this data is critical for us to show the true picture of library funding in Vermont.
Here’s the survey:
Vermont Library Association, Vermont School Library Association and Vermont Department of Libraries have joined forces to create a multi-media advertising campaign for Vermont’s libraries. The campaign includes television commercials and newspaper ads to be released during National Library Week (April 10-16) and state-wide Snap Shot Day during March and April.
We are ready to launch Snap Shot Day statewide and WE NEED YOU! ALL types of libraries are encouraged to participate. Snap Shot Day is a great way for you to show your clients and your funders exactly what happens at your library during a day.
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011) – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday introduced legislation to extend expiring provisions authorized by the USA PATRIOT Act. The provisions are set to expire on February 28.
Joy Worland, the director of the Joslin Memorial Library in Waitsfield, highly recommends The Amelia Bloomer Project, a project of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association. Founded in 2002, its mission is to select and recommend quality feminist books for ages birth to eighteen. The committee of seven public, school and academic librarians from all over the country recently met at the ALA Midwinter Conference to create this year’s list.
Joy has been following this project since she first heard of it when working on her MLS, so was thrilled to get to participate this year, spending hours with smart, opinionated, passionate committee members evaluating over 100 books to create this year’s list of 68 books.
The list is a diverse compilation including a picture book about a girl sherpa, a graphic novel about a girl fencer with the potential to save the world, a zine of advice for teen girls, and many more works of fiction and non-fiction exploring and celebrating the stories of resilient and inspiring girls and women.
For more about the project and the complete 2011 list, go to http://ameliabloomer.wordpress.com/
DEADLINE EXTENDED!
We invite your participation in creating a full-color wall calendar that celebrates, educates about, and fund raises for our Vermont public libraries.
A home-grown venture, the 2012 VLA Public Libraries Calendar Project arose from the desire to spread the word about all that our vibrant libraries have to offer. Our Calendar Project team includes Marti Fiske, Vermont Library Association (vermontlibraries.org) president and head librarian of Williston’s Dorothy Alling Memorial Library; Marcy Kass, award-winning Williston graphic designer (marcykassdesign.com) and library trustee at the DAML; and Andy Duback, Williston-based, award-winning photographer (andyduback.com). The calendar will be printed in Vermont as well.
Each month will showcase a different library, hopefully one from each county in Vermont. Along with a spacious and inviting calendar, each month will feature:
For more information and submit the survey online (by 1/24/11 1/26/11) please go to http://marcykassdesign.com/vlacalendarproject/index.html
ALA just launched Our Authors, Our Advocates , four authors’ free Facebook, Twitter and PSAs to use in spreading the word about how important libraries are. Download all or one at http://www.ourauthorsouradvocates.org.
For Friends, don’t forget Paula Poundstone’s PSA at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/altaff/about/news/poundstone/index.cfm.
We now have 55 participants in the Vermont Library Substitute Pool (VLSP) representing every county in the state! If you are a person interested in making yourself available to work as a temp or sub in a library, feel free to fill out the Vermont Library Substitute Pool Sign-Up Form hosted at the Vermont Library Association website. Libraries with a staffing need are able to request a single log in to access the VLSP. Email vermontlibrarieswebmaster@gmail.com with the name and email address of your library representative.
If you currently have access to the VLSP list for your institution, I am delighted to announce that I have worked out some bugs in the spreadsheet and it now has proper column headers so that you know what data is in what field. Apologies for the confusion! I think you will find the whole thing much easier to use now.
To sort alphabetically by the column that contains the information you want most, simply right click on the lettered column header above the information of interest and select either “Sort Sheet A-Z” or “Sort Sheet Z-A”. For example, if you want to sort by “County”, that information is held in column “G”. There is also a pull down menu that appears when you roll over the lettered column header and you can sort using that as well.
In addition, we have a new field that allows participants to list the Automated Library Systems, such as Follett or Koha, that they have experience with if they choose to provide that information. All current participants were notified of the change and allowed the opportunity amend their entries with that information. You will see it there now if it has been provided.
In our rural state, many libraries are staffed by a single staff person, or by a very small staff. This can make it a challenge to accomplish large projects within a short time period, have an extended vacation, or take advantage of a professional development opportunity. Also, those librarians who work part-time sometimes would like to expand their experience, network and income with additional work within their profession.
The Vermont Library Association (VLA), Green Mountain Library Consortium (GMLC) and Vermont Consortium of Academic Libraries (VCAL) are excited to introduce the Vermont Library Substitute Pool!