To: Vermont librarians and library staff (especially directors, youth services staff, and those involved in collections, programming and resource sharing in academic, public and school libraries),
As you probably know, the Library Services and Technology Act’s (LSTA) program provides federal funds to each state library agency, including the Vermont Department of Libraries (DOL). The amount of funding received by Vermont is based on a population-driven formula; in FFY2011 the DOL received $929,254. In order to qualify for these funds, each state is required to submit a plan every five years that outlines how this funding will be used within the state to fulfill specific purposes outlined in the Museum and Library Services Act. You can read the Vermont LSTA 5-Year Plan, 2008-2012 at:
http://libraries.vermont.gov/sites/libraries/files/lsta/vtlsta5yrplan2008-2012.pdf
Under the federal Act, each state is also required to conduct an evaluation of its implementation of the Grants to States program every five years. Our evaluation covering the period 2008-2012 is due to the Institute of Museum and Librayr Services (IMLS) in March 2012. Our new five-year plan (2013 – 2017) must be completed by the end of June 2012.
Over the past few months we have been gathering input from Vermont’s library community about the success of the Vermont LSTA program through a series of focus groups and phone interviews. But, because we want to reach as many library employees as possible, we are also using a web-based survey.
Below is a link to the web survey, conducted by independent evaluators Himmel & Wilson Library Consultants. They will be collecting and analyzing the survey data for their evaluation report.
The survey will take 10 minutes or less to complete. Please help us as we try to improve our LSTA program to best meet the library and information service needs of the people of Vermont. Click on the hot-link below to start the survey.
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/779545/Vermont-LSTA-Survey
Survey deadline: January 31, 2012.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Martha Reid
Vermont State Librarian