Call now to support library funding!

Please call your Representative in Washington today and ask him/her to sign onto two letters circulating around Congress. The deadline has been extended to March 17, and it is critically important that they sign-on to this letter in the next forty-eight hours.

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Posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 11:26 pm in the ALA, Urgent Action, Youth Librarians category.

SPACE STILL AVAILABLE – REGISTER TODAY AT http://www.ala.org/oif/onlinetrainings

“Controversial Materials in the Library: Supporting Intellectual Freedom in Your Community”

OIF is partnering with the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF) to present three one-hour webinars in February for library trustees on the topic of controversial materials in library collections.

The webinars, entitled “Controversial Materials in the Library: Supporting Intellectual Freedom in Your Community,” are intended to help trustees understand the basics of intellectual freedom in libraries. They will cover information on collection development policies, procedures for handling challenges to library materials, and tips on responding to controversies that may arise. Angela Maycock, OIF Assistant Director, will lead the webinar series.

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Posted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 3:58 pm in the ALA, Educational Ops, IFC, Public Libraries, Trustees category.

URGENT MESSAGE TO LIBRARY ADVOCATES:

Please call both of your U.S. Senators to ask each of them to request that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND),  include the hiring and retaining of librarians in the $18 billion “Jobs Bill” as well.

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Posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 12:26 pm in the ALA, Advocacy, Funding Ops, GRC, News, Public Libraries, Urgent Action, Youth Librarians category.

With the end of the year, American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (ALAOIF) is  compiling the yearly list of most frequently challenged books.  ALAOIF collects information for the  challenge database from media reports and from reports submitted by individuals especially State IFC chairs.  I would greatly appreciate if you could send me any information on challenges in your institution during 2009.    Challenges reported to ALA by individuals are kept confidential and any report can be cross-checked with existing entries in the database.  You may report challenges by filling out and submitting OIF’s database form (available at http://tinyurl.com/ya4ehpp) or you may simply email me the details of the incident and I can fill out a form on your behalf.  If you have any questions at all, please let me know.

Thank you for your help.
Gail Weymouth
VLA IFC chair
gail@sherburnelibrary.org

Posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 9:50 pm in the ALA, Advocacy, C&SL, IFC, Public Libraries category.

Forwarded message from Danielle Mincio, Member of IFLA Governing Board on the status of Haitian libraries.

Dear Colleagues,

The National library is not collapsed but strongly damaged. Patrimonial architects are going to examine the state of the building to know it will be possible to intervene. The analysis of the cultural buildings are analysed after those absolutely essential (hospital, etc.)

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Posted on Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at 11:37 pm in the ALA, Advocacy, News category.

The ALA Public Programs Office and the National Endowment for the Humanities are pleased to announce a new grant opportunity for public libraries that received the NEH’s Picturing America collection of American artwork.  Grants of $2,000 will be distributed to 30 public libraries to support public programs that highlight the Picturing America collection.  Applications will be accepted though March 31 at www.programminglibrarian.org/picturingamerica.

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Posted on Sunday, January 24th, 2010 at 11:31 pm in the ALA, Educational Ops, Public Libraries category.

Greetings from cloudy Boston! I am beginning my second term as your ALA Councilor. I am honored to have this opportunity to represent Vermont at our national organization.

Yesterday I attended a Chapter Relation Committee meeting where I was surprised and pleased to hear that the Washington Office of ALA has included the cost of databases for all libraries in a recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus funds). We will need to wait to see if the grant is funded.

Today I am at my first council meeting where we are hearing about budget issues, endowment reports, and introduction of the ALA 2015 strategic plan draft.  After breaking into small groups we have had a chance to comment on and suggest changes to the strategic plan.  You may view the draft plan here.  Please let me know if you have any comments on the draft.

As might be expected income for the organization has fallen, but some cutbacks in activities have made the loss less than it may have been.

The Executive Director presented his report this morning. American Libraries magazine is now online.

Later today I will attend a council forum and hear Yohannes Grebregeorgis who founded Nigeria Reads speak at the President’s program.

I will write more tomorrow.

Nancy Wilson

Posted on Sunday, January 17th, 2010 at 12:20 pm in the ALA category.

Act NOW to Include Libraries in the Jobs Bill!

As you know, libraries are helping unemployed Americans get back to work not only by helping them acquire needed job skills, but also by offering no-fee access to the Internet for online job searching, computers for working on resumes, resources for building small business plans, and much more. Unfortunately, these very services are threatened by budget shortfalls in state and local funding; due to these budget cuts, many libraries may be forced to cut services that are so incredibly necessary during these tough economic times.

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Posted on Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 9:12 am in the ALA, Advocacy category.

Crossett Library director Oceana Wilson is one of 10 winners in ALA’s  “I Love My Librarian” contest.

Librarian Honored with National Award (Rutland Herald)

Lovely Librarian (Bennington Banner)

Posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 12:59 pm in the ALA, Awards, C&SL, News category.

Hello all,

planning on going to ALA Midwinter this January in Boston? ALA has offered the Green Mountain Library Consortium access to a discounted rate, depending on the number of people entering into this group pricing.

If you are going, please let me know by replying to me at schase@stowelibrary.org by Monday, December 7; if we have enough folks interested in going in order to access the pricing, I will let you know ASAP. Let me know of your interest even if your library is not currently a GMLC member library — academic librarians, especially.

Thanks!

–
Stephanie Chase
Director
Stowe Free Library
Post Office Box 1029
90 Pond Street
Stowe, Vermont 05672
802.253.6145

Posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 10:43 am in the ALA, Conferences, GMLC-blog category.