Libraries and Ken Burns' "The National Parks"
Join the excitement around the Vermont Public Television premiere of Ken Burns’ new series, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea on September 27, 2009.
- Schedule a community preview and discussion of The National Parks. Get the 45-minute preview DVD of the series, electronic invitations, template press release and flyers to promote the event from outreach@vpt.org or
1-800-639-3351. - Link to the VPT website http://parks.vpt.org from your website so people can see information about the film series and the State Parks photo contest.
- Schedule a Ranger from Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park or one of the Vermont State Parks to participate in the preview. For National Park Rangers, contact Tim Maguire, Chief of Visitor Services, at 802-457-3368 x18 or by e-mail: Tim_Maguire@nps.gov. For State Park Rangers, contact Nate McKeen, Chief of Park Operations, at 802-241-3664 or by e-mail:
nate.mckeen@state.vt.us. - List events related to the Ken Burns premiere on the Public Television website by contacting outreach@vpt.org or 1-800-639-3351.
Amy Howlett
VT Department of Libraries
Alliance for Response Forum Deadline Approaching
The deadline for registration for the Vermont Alliance for Response Forum on August 31 in Woodstock is fast approaching. This is a free event, but we need registration in advance. This daylong session will emphasize the importance of working with your communities’ emergency responders in preparing your emergency plan for saving heritage collections in the event of an emergency or disaster. Nationally recognized speakers on disaster and emergency response will make it clear why planning is important and provide you with information on how to get started with your own plan. The Vermont Historical Society, in cooperation with Heritage Preservation, is hosting this statewide initiative to bring together cultural heritage institutions and first responders.
Go to www.vermonthistory.org for the link for online registration.
Here’s the original post on the VLA website about this event.
Cultural Facilities Grant Workshops
Old library building needs work? Here’s an opportunity.
The Vermont Arts Council will be hosting three Grant-seeker Workshops for
the Cultural Facilities program. Vermont organizations interested in funding
to revive or refurbish historical buildings are strongly encouraged to
attend one of these sessions. All workshops will take place from 3 to 5
pm. If you plan to attend, please notify Susan McDowell at
smcdowell@vermontartscouncil.org or by calling 802 828 0152.
- Tuesday, September 1 at Jamaica Town Hall
- Thursday, September 3 at Middlebury Town Hall Theater
- Tuesday, September 8 at Danville Town Hall
Photo Preservation Program in September – Philadelphia
Historic photographs and negatives need special care. Learn how to best preserve these complex collections materials.
Focusing on Photographs: Identification and Preservation presented by the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts Philadelphia, PA – September 22 & 23, 2009
For more information and to register online, go to http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Summary.aspx?e=8ce68ab3-6dac-4cb4-ad3b-ec8110133946 or go to our Education Program Calendar at www.ccaha.org.
This two-day program will focus on the fundamentals of identifying and caring for photographic collections. Using lecture and hands-on demonstrations, topics will be intertwined over the course of the program to give participants a holistic view of identifying photographic materials, caring for these collections, developing appropriate handling procedures, and establishing safe storage environments.
Check out the VLA Travel Wiki
Most libraries in this economy are experiencing level funding, budget cuts, even job loss. Professional development and travel reimbursement funds have been slashed if they existed in the first place. But don’t despair! What better way to meet new librarians or reconnect with old friends than carpooling, sharing a hotel room, and saving big money all at once. It can be hard when we’re spread out all over the state and may be the only person we know going to an event to find someone to split those travel expenses with. That’s why you should check out the VLA Travel Wiki. It’s a place for finding people. Editing the wiki is as easy as writing an email. There’s a lot fun to be had in it, too, and plenty of tips and tricks to get you started. If you are interested, click through and request to be added or contact me and I’ll get you started.
Enjoy!
Helen
helen.linda@goddard.edu
Center for Rural Studies Website Focus Groups
The Center for Rural Studies has re-developed its website (not yet launched), which is the gateway to many online community data resources, including Vermont Indicators. Whether we have achieved our goal of making it more user-friendly will be up to you to decide! We would really like to get the opinion of those working in libraries throughout the state before we finalize and launch the new site. Please email or call Anna to let her know if you would be available to participate in one of the scheduled focus groups:
Important information about ARRA funding for libraries
Please make sure that this information gets to your library director immediately:
The Department of Libraries is working with other organizations at a fast pace to submit two applications to ARRA (for federal stimulus broadband funds) by August 14.
Libraries who want to be included need to act immediately. Please read below.
eVermont: the Vermont Community Broadband Project Deadline 8/5
I am sending out an invitation to libraries that serve rural communities to pre-apply for participation in eVermont: the Vermont Community Broadband Project. This project is the result of a collaborative effort to secure ARRA (“stimulus”) funding via the Broadband Sustainability and Adoption program for the state of Vermont, and we need to hear from interested communities by August 5, 2009. [Please note that grant awards will not be announced until sometime after November 2009, so these are not funds that will be immediately available. In addition, there is no guarantee that our project will receive funding. That’s why we need your help NOW.]
VOKAL, The Vermont Koha Project
Hello all,
As many of you know, for the past 18 months, a group of 30 libraries have been working on installing, modifying, and developing our own version of the open source integrated library system Koha. Named vokal (Vermont Organization of Koha Automated Libraries) and administered by the Green Mountain Library Consortium, this project is working to bring the benefits of open source and the Koha ILS to Vermont by bringing libraries together to pool resources and support.
The group is currently entering the end of Phase I, the initial development phase. By the end of the summer, 11 libraries in the group are planning to be running individual installations of the vokal Koha ILS, testing it and creating documentation. It is our plan that, at the end of this phase, we will have a version of Koha easily accessible to libraries in Vermont. We hope this will be the case by the end of 2009.
State Parks Contests Deadline Extended
“Have you and your family ever visited one of Vermont’s national parks, state parks or historic sites? If you answered yes, then you undoubtedly have a lot of terrific photos that captured these moments.”
Vermont Public Television is sponsoring a photo contest to involve individuals of all ages in celebrating the outdoors. State parks, libraries, and historic sites will be handing out information this summer. The contest deadline, originally set for mid-August, has just been extended to October 9, 2009.