Book Giveaway at Midstate Library Service Center: Oct. 6-7

Dear Public and School Librarians,

The Mistate Library Service Center and the Northeast Regional Library have recently finished merging their collections into one. Due to a large number of duplicates and a general need for weeding older titles, we have thousands of books looking for new homes. On October 6th and 7th from 8am to 4pm MLSC (578 Paine Turnpike N, Berlin 05602) will be opening its doors to public and school librarians to take these discarded books. Half of what are being given away are older adult titles, mostly fiction with some biography, and half children’s books, many of which are recent juvenile fiction. Be sure to bring boxes or bags to help carry your books out. If you have any questions please contact Jeremiah Kellogg at jeremiah.kellogg@state.vt.us or 802-828-2320.

2011 National Survey of Public Library Funding and Technology Access

Dear Library Director:

Since 2006, the American Library Association, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has conducted a national study of public library public access funding and technology. This Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study builds on previous studies conducted since 1994.

We thank you for your participation in the past, and hope that you will continue to participate in these important surveys. Last year, the study sampled and received responses from all states and the District of Columbia, however, the survey did not receive enough responses from four states for analysis purposes. Our goal for this year is full participation by all 50 states, which will provide the greatest impact for advocacy efforts at the local, state, and national levels.

U.S. IMPACT Survey Pilot – Request for Help From Public Libraries

Public Library Directors,

I am forwarding a message from the University of Washington and asking for your help. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation they are developing a new U.S. IMPACT Survey public access technology evaluation tool. This follows their “Opportunity for All” survey (with report) conducted in 2009 and a second report released in 2011.

They are looking for public libraries of all sizes to help test their survey tool. See below for details. They have extended the enrollment in this pilot until September 26 for a 2-4 week field study.

It is important that we have some VT libraries participate in this pilot. Contact info is in the message below. Their goal is to register 400 libraries nationwide for this pilot.

Now’s the Time to Register for the NELA Annual Conference in Burlington!

Education! New and useful product and services! Networking! Inspiration! Innovations! Authors! Social Events! Colleagues!

All this and more is available at the New England Library Association Annual Conference, October 2 – 4, in Burlington. Learn about Navigating the New Normal in your library. Register by September 23 for lower Early Registration rates. Vermont Library Association and ACRL-New England members receive NELA member pricing. This is a great, affordable professional development opportunity close to home. The deadline to reserve hotel rooms has been extended to Friday, September 9 – get your arrangements made now! Ride Share is also available for folks who want to carpool to and from Burlington.

There are plenty of offerings for academic and special librarians, including a keynote from R. David Lankes on Sunday afternoon that’s sure to please. Check out the program and register today!

Now's the Time to Register for the NELA Annual Conference in Burlington!

Education! New and useful product and services! Networking! Inspiration! Innovations! Authors! Social Events! Colleagues!
All this and more is available at the New England Library Association Annual Conference, October 2 – 4, in Burlington. Learn about Navigating the New Normal in your library. Register by September 23 for lower Early Registration rates. Vermont Library Association and ACRL-New England members receive NELA member pricing. This is a great, affordable professional development opportunity close to home. The deadline to reserve hotel rooms has been extended to Friday, September 9 – get your arrangements made now! Ride Share is also available for folks who want to carpool to and from Burlington.
There are plenty of offerings for academic and special librarians, including a keynote from R. David Lankes on Sunday afternoon that’s sure to please. Check out the program and register today!

Disaster Assistance Information Available

Last week the President made a declaration of major disaster for Vermont in the counties of Chittenden County, Rutland County, Washington County, and Windsor County due to Hurricane Irene and flooding associated with the storm. Below is some informational materials on floods and how DisasterAssistance.gov can help survivors. For your convenience the flood flyer is also in Spanish. Please post so your patrons can have the most up to date information on how to apply for federal assistance. If you have any questions contact Alicia Gilligham as noted below.

Donations for Flooded Vermont Public Libraries

We have received many calls and emails from people all across the country who want to help our libraries. We are grateful to all of you and want to let you know how you can best help our libraries at this time. For now, please do not send books. Instead, we are accepting cash donations.

Access to Universal Class Online Learning (Public Libraries)

Public Libraries that have registered barcode numbers or patron ID’s can now direct their users to the Universal Class Registration page.

Libraries that have registered may put this direct link to the registration page on their websites:

http://vermontstate.universalclass.com/register.htm

Your library users will not be able to enroll in these classes until:(1) your library’s barcodes numbers or patron ID’s have been registered (http://libraries.vermont.gov/barcodereg) and (2) Recorded Books has enabled those numbers for course registration.

VOKAL Open House at Norwich Public Library

There will be a VOKAL Open House on Thursday, September 15 from 1-3pm at the Norwich Public Library in Norwich, VT for anyone interested in learning more about our VOKAL Koha system (a project of the Green Mountain Library Consortium). We will be giving a brief introduction about the VOKAL project, demonstrating the VOKAL Koha ILS and then have time for anyone with a laptop interested in trying it out.

Green Mountain Library Consortium Info Session

Would you like more information on the Green Mountain Library Consortium (GMLC)? Or perhaps you are interested in one of our projects:

ListenUp!Vermont: Downloadable audiobook and eBook service
VOKAL: Open Source ILS project
Mango: Online Language Learning

You are invited to attend a virtual informational meeting that will give a quick overview of GMLC and their current projects on Friday, August 26^th at 11:00 AM.