Many years ago librarians in resort towns got together to compare issues and share practices particular to serving communities with the seasonal population fluctuations. A few of us think it is time to rejoin forces and compare notes. Wednesday, July 16 at 9:30 we are meeting at the Sherburne Library in Killington and invite you to join us as we share our experiences and questions over coffee.

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“Genealogy and Local History for All: Services to Multicultural Communities” will take place in Ottawa, Ontario on August 6 and 7 at Library and Archives Canada, and will include tours of the Canadian Genealogy Centre and Gatineau Preservation Centre. For full details, please see the conference website at http://www3.telus.net/public/cv910081/GenLoc

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The next JASNA-Vermont Chapter meeting on June 22… any questions, or you would like a copy of the complete flyer for posting in your library, please email Kelly McDonald at jasna-vt@hotmail.com. We have also started a blog for the chapter and invite you to visit! [it is just in its infancy with lots more to add, so come back often…] http://janeausteninvermont.wordpress.com

The VLA Annual Meeting took place on May 13, 2008 at the Vermont Library Conference in Burlington. The results of the election are:

• Vice-President/President Elect - (1 year each) John Payne

• Treasurer (2 years) - Wynne Browne

• NELA Representative (2 years) Kip Roberson

The approved minutes of the May 2007 Annual Meeting and the Year End Budget Report 2007 have been posted (under Publications - Meeting minutes). The ballot for the Proposed Constitution and Bylaws changes will go out next week. Those members with email addresses on file will receive their ballot electronically. All other members will be sent a paper ballot. The deadline to vote is June 10th. VLA sections will be posting their annual reports soon if they have not done so already. The Government Relations Committee Report and the Intellectual Freedom Committee Report have already posted theirs.

Mark your calendars for July 24, 2008 when Law for Librarians, a project of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom will be held at the Sherburne Memorial Library in Killington. Co-sponsored b VLAIFC and Sherburne Memorial Library, the day-log seminar, 9 a.m. to 3p.m., will feature presentations by national library leaders in intellectual freedom, Dr. Carrie Gardner and Kenton Oliver as well as VLA IFC members Paul Donovan and Gail Weymouth. It is designed for the lay person to acquire a basic understanding of the principles, laws and practices guiding library policies and service our community. Read the rest of this entry »

I have received a few emails asking to have the evaluation form available online.  So here it is  Conference Evaluation

Please make sure your evaluation form is returned by June 1st. 

You can send it by fax : 802-438-5364 or US mail to

Anne Blake
287 Pleasant Heights
West Rutland, VT 05777

Advance your career with a degree from Drexel University Online.  For details see:  vla-drexel-discount.pdf

It’s been an exciting and productive year for the Intellectual Freedom Committee.  Following is a link to a report of our accomplishments for 2007-2008.

 Annual Report, Intellectual Freedom Committee

Some of you around the state may have heard word of a group of libraries working together to create a customized “Vermont” version of the open source integrated library system (ILS) Koha.

It’s true, and the group is more than happy to welcome new members who are interested in the development phase of the project as well as those who might be interested in joining a consortium model ILS down the road. If you are unhappy with your current system, looking at a forced upgrade, or looking to automate, the Vermont Koha Project might be of interest to you. Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday, May 13, Governor Douglas signed into law S. 220, “An Act Relating to the Confidentiality of Library Patron Records.” The new law will take effect July 1, 2008.

To see text of the bill, click: S. 220
To see how your representatives voted, click : House Journal, April 28 (Scroll more than half-way through the document; or search “library” using the “Find on page” feature of your browser.)
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