“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.

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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For an update on the work of the committee this past year (2007-2008), see the committee’s report: vla-grc-report-may-2008.pdf

The Personnel Committee is meeting

Monday, May 12th, 10am-noon at the Midstate Regional Library in Berlin 

to begin planning its next project: a survey of Vermont public librarians’ wages and benefits. The Committee welcomes volunteers to help draft, administer, and analyze the survey.

 Contact Chair Amy C. Grasmick for more information:

Kimball Public Library
kimball_acg@hotmail.com
728-5073