At the Materials Review Sessions, Youth Services Consultant Grace Greene orally reviews about 75 recently published books and also displays hundreds more titles that have been favorably reviewed by volunteer Vermont reviewers or, in the case of nonfiction, the review media. All books, with the reviews taped inside, are available for perusal so librarians can see what they are getting before they order. Grace will do two “live” sessions of Materials Review this spring, one in Northfield and one at the Georgia Public Library (in lieu of Milton which is renovating), and three sessions on DVD. RETN will record the Northfield presentation, and that recording will be shown in the other three locations. The books, with the reviews inserted in them, will accompany the DVD, so participants at all sites will have access to all the books. The schedule is as follows:
Wednesday, March 23 – Brown Public Library, Northfield LIVE!
Thursday, March 24 – Georgia Public Library LIVE!
Tuesday, March 29 – Northeast Regional Library, St. Johnsbury
Thursday, March 31 – Kurn Hattin, Westminster
Tuesday, April 5 – Sherburne Memorial Library, Killington
All programs begin at 9:00 a.m. Registration is not required. There is a formal part to the program and then plenty of time to examine all the books. For those who cannot attend any of the programs, the presentation will be streamed live on the RETN website http://www.retn.org/and the accompanying bibliography will be on our website: http://libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/cbec/mrs
The Department of Libraries will be looking carefully at its Materials Review program this spring to see if changes are in order. Attendance is down, especially at the two southern locations, and the fact that people can now see the video at any time, thanks to The Regional Educational Technology Network (RETN), means that attendance at an event is not necessary to hear the reviews. Librarians will be asked to give their input through a survey later in the year, and any changes will be announced before school begins in the fall.
Grace Worcester Greene
Youth Services Consultant
Vermont Department of Libraries
109 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05609
Tel.: 802-828-6954
Fax: 802-828-1481
Email: grace.greene@state.vt.us