Vermont Library Conference
Volunteers are needed to support work on the May, 2009 Vermont Library Conference. Conference proposals are coming in, and we are lining up some great speakers and exciting events for May 12 & 13, 2009. Our keynote, Marshall Keys, is ecstatic to speak to the librarians of
Director of Cultural Activities
802-352-9315
802-238-7608 cell
The 2009 Vermont Library Conference Needs Your Help!
Volunteers are needed to support work on the May, 2009 Vermont Library Conference. Conference proposals are coming in, and we are lining up some great speakers and exciting events for May 12 & 13, 2009. Our keynote, Marshall Keys, is ecstatic to speak to the librarians of Vermont about library advocacy – a topic more important now than ever. It is our hope that the Vermont Library Conference is a meaningful, worthwhile, professional experience for all of Vermont’s librarians, library staff, boards, school boards, teachers, and administrators. We hope to broaden our scope and invite all the people who make our jobs a reality.
However, in order to put on a fantastic conference, we need your help. We are operating with a much smaller conference planning committee than in years past, and have identified areas in which we need your support. If you are interested in any of the jobs listed below, please contact me as soon as possible. You will be given all the information you need to fill these jobs – please don’t feel like you can’t volunteer for lack of experience. We will make sure you have all the support you need to do the job.
“Isn’t the Internet going to put public libraries out of business?â€
“Why do we need school libraries when everything is online?â€
“Why do we need a campus library when students can do their research on the Internet?†(Library Advocate’s Handbook, ALA).
Library advocates must adapt to a changing and not always sympathetic political and social environment. We need to be able to explain the role of libraries in the 21st century in order to maintain funding, to be a voice for policy issues ranging from intellectual property to intellectual freedom and protection of privacy.
It is our hope that the 2009 Conference will offer programs that give us the tools and knowledge to explain the importance of libraries to our communities, legislators and funders. We would like to build our own strength as advocates, and also help others – boards, friends, principals, administrators, and community members – to become strong advocates for libraries.
The VLA Annual Meeting took place on May 13, 2008 at the Vermont Library Conference in Burlington. The results of the election are:
Treasurer (2 years) – Wynne Browne
NELA Representative (2 years) Kip Roberson
The approved minutes of the May 2007 Annual Meeting and the Year End Budget Report 2007 have been posted (under Publications – Meeting minutes). The ballot for the Proposed Constitution and Bylaws changes will go out next week. Those members with email addresses on file will receive their ballot electronically. All other members will be sent a paper ballot. The deadline to vote is June 10th. VLA sections will be posting their annual reports soon if they have not done so already. The Government Relations Committee Report and the Intellectual Freedom Committee Report have already posted theirs.