Greetings from the ALA Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia!
Case Statement for State Aid (updated 1/16/08 with examples)
Make the case for state aid with your representatives on Legislative Day. See the VLA Case for State Aid to Vermont’s Public Libraries Handout (with examples)
Also see State House Protocol (tips for finding and meeting with legislators).
Flyer for Legislative Day — Please Post!
In order to help alert patrons, trustees, friends, and librarians to the Legislative Day for Vermont’s Public Libraries event on January 18th, the VLA Advocacy Committee is asking that everyone please post this flyer in their libraries. If possible, we would love to see them go up in communities outside the library as well. Of course, feel free to encourage your community in other ways as well!
Library Legislative Day Flyer – 98K PDF
If you have any difficulty opening this file, please let me know and I can try to get it to you another way. Thank you so much for your help and see you on the 18th!
Helen Linda
CAYAL Program 2008: Call for Ideas
    Hello fellow CAYAL members,
 As many of you know from my previous e-mails, we the CAYAL section of the VLA are responsible for at least one annual program, the purpose of which is primarily to explore new concepts and/or further develop skills in a specific area of children’s and young adult services (the secondary purpose, to be blunt, is to generate enough revenue to refill the CAYAL coffer so that we will return to a balanced budget at year’s end).Â
Webcast of top children/teen literary awards
ALA to provide live Webcast of top children/teen literary awards
announcement Monday, January 14
Read more
State Librarian Position Input
The VLA and VSLA are hosting three meetings for library staff from all types of Vermont libraries. The purpose of these meetings is to provide input for the State Librarian position search committee. What do we need, hope for or expect from the State Library Leader position?
The first meeting was held at Middlebury College on January 4th, with David Brown, chair of the search committee, and twelve public and academic librarians.
The second meeting will be Thursday, January 17, 10:00 A.M. to noon at Brattleboro’s Brooks Library. All librarians and library board members are invited.
The third meeting will be held at St. Johnsbury Academy on Friday, February 8 (snow date February 15) in the Grace Orcutt Library on the Academy’s grounds at 10:30 A.M. A complimentary box lunch is offered to all who are attending – just let us know if you would like one. I have provided the link to the Academy web site to point you to directions to parking that is behind the gym. http://www.stjacademy.org
Library Confidentiality Bill Introduced in VT Senate
We are delighted to announce that Senator Claire Ayer of Addison County has introduced S. 220, “An Act Relating to the Confidentiality of Library Patron Records,” in response to VLA’s request for a stronger and clearer law protecting the confidentiality of our library patrons. Read more
Book Discussion: Creating the Customer Driven Library
Ever hear about a newer service model, but don’t know much about it? Want to make some changes in service at your library, but not sure how to do it? Need some other librarians to bounce around new customer service ideas with?
Join other librarians for a discussion of “Creating the Customer Driven Library: Building on the Bookstore Model” by Jeannette Woodward at Mid-State Regional Library on March 10 from 9:30-11 a.m. Coffee will be available at 9 a.m.
Legislative Day for Vermont’s Public Libraries
Legislative Day for Vermont’s Public Libraries
Friday January 18, 2008, 8:30 am – 11:30 am
Statehouse in Montpelier
Come to the Statehouse on January 18th for an important kick-off to our state funding initiative! We will meet in the Card Room, on the second floor. (The Card “Room” is really the hallway before you enter the cafeteria.)
Arrange to meet with your lawmakers and ask them to support state funding for public libraries and the statute that enhances library patron confidentiality. The best way to do this is to contact your lawmakers in advance and set up a time to meet them in the cafeteria. Read more
Hidden Gems Celebrated for Readers
University of Vermont Associate Library Professor Karl Bridges’ 100 Great American Novels You’ve (Probably) Never Read was recently published by Libraries Unlimited. Intended as a resource for both libraries and general readers, Bridges’ work features novels written between 1797 and 1997 by a diverse set of authors such as Francine Prose, Chester Himes, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Horatio Alger. More…
The book was written during Karl Bridges six-month sabbatical from the University of Vermont’s Bailey/Howe Library, where he works in the Department of Information and Instruction. “What really impressed me as I developed this book was the breadth and depth of American writing and reading culture,” Bridges writes in his preface. “I routinely haunted bookstores in a variety of cities. I was never in a bookstore, independent or chain, that was not packed with people all enjoying themselves immensely. The people who go on and on about the death of reading are wrong.” The 100 featured novels were chosen for their ability to represent the breadth of American writing. Some entries will introduce readers to obscure authors; others will acquaint them with lesser-known works of prominent writers. For each selection, Bridges provides a brief extract, a synopsis, a biographical sketch of the writer, a list of selected works by the writer, and recommendations for further reading.
