Over the past few years the planning and preparation that makes the Vermont Library Conference a major continuing education opportunity for library staffs across the state have been carried out by relatively small teams of VLA and VSLA members whose hard work has compensated for there never quite being enough hands available for the amount of work involved in this project. In the past couple of years it has been extremely difficult for the VLA board to fill leadership and other positions key to mounting the Conference.
The Vermont Library Conference is facing a critical juncture and we need your help. We need volunteers to provide help with planning and preparing for this year’s conference. For instance, one of the areas most in need of help is creating an electronic list of vendor contact information, including email addresses.
Just as importantly, we also need volunteers to assume leadership roles for the 2010 Conference. Planning for the 2010 Conference should already be taking place as I write this. Thus far we have been unsuccessful in recruiting the leaders necessary to making the 2010 Conference a reality. The VLA Board is deeply concerned that if we do not have leadership in place by the end of November, the 2010 Conference will be in serious jeopardy.
Please consider serving on the conference committee. While leadership roles are volunteer in nature, the VLA and VSLA boards have committed funds so that these positions carry a stipend. If you have questions, feel free to contact me or anyone on the Board to discuss the opportunity, along with the rewards and challenges and other specifics. There are many exciting changes underway for the 2009 Conference. With committed leadership, the 2010 Conference will look equally promising.
Judah S. Hamer, jshamer@gmail.com