Tag Archives: libraries

VLA statement regarding VTSU library closures

The Vermont Library Association (VLA), representing more than 300 librarians, library staff, and trustees in public, school, academic, and corporate libraries, is calling on the leadership of the Vermont State University (VTSU) to reverse their decision to close the physical libraries on its campuses.

The move to “all-digital” libraries announced on February 8 will hurt students, faculty, staff, and the rural communities in which the VTSU campuses are located.

The students of the VTSU deserve access to robust library collections and services. This includes face-to-face and online services, such as reference and course support, and collections in digital and print formats.Read more→

Public Library Statistics now available for 07-08

Public library statistics are available for Vermont on this page. There’s no summary page, but here are a few statistics that might be interesting. Feel free to use the comment section to pull out your own noteworthy statistics.

  • Vermont has 182 public libraries, the largest number of libraries per capita in the US.
  • 174 of these libraries have Internet access; 160 of these have high speed access. Do the math, that’s 14 libraries with dial-up and eight with nothing.
  • Half of the public librarians in the state have MLSes or the equivalent.
  • 73% of Vermont library funding comes from local taxes; 27% comes from other local sources (grants, fundraising)
  • Eleven public libraries filter internet access on all terminals (as opposed to some libraries that offer a children’s filtered option)