The Vermont Library Conference committee would like to thank everyone that took the time to answer our recent survey. A bit over half of the respondents were from public libraries, 34% from academic and the remainder other.
As to the question of preference for future conferences, Burlington area took 39% of the vote, while central was at 19%, southern 6% and move every year 14%. Comments largely followed the numbers. While several stated they preferred Burlington, they would be willing to drive to central Vermont to be “fair.” The two campuses most frequently cited as desired locations were St. Michael’s and VTC in Randolph.
The second question addressed priorities for upcoming conferences. The majority were focused on programming. It was neutral on vendor exhibits. There was mild opposition to paying more for a different venue and strong opposition to extending the conference to two days. In comment summary, Michele Gorman received praise as a keynote speaker. There were suggestions for next years conference including that more popular sessions be repeated during the day. It has been noted that the popular Book Awards and Rapid Review sessions be scheduled in different sessions to make it possible to attend both.
In general comments and suggestions, there was a great deal of well-deserved praise for Jane, particularly her handling of the keynote scheduling issue. There were positive comments from those who enjoyed the closing reception and book cart drill teams and hopes that they will become a regular part of the conference.