The Vermont Department of Libraries is hosting A Day for Friends, Saturday, October 2 at the Aldrich Library in Barre. We hope to bring together Friends from every corner of the state for a day of inspiration, education and idea-sharing. Come for financial issues and 501c3 information, fundraising, and event planning. Come for fun and camaraderie.

Sign up online at http://evanced.info/vtdol/evanced/eventcalendar.asp If you haven’t sent in Friends information for the Vermont Friends Directory, please do so:

Town:                                       Library:

Name & address of president/chair:

Email contact for the Friends group

Website if it includes Friends information:

Recent successes:

Questions? Send an email or call (802) 463-0142.

Amy Howlett
Vermont Department of Libraries

Posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 8:17 pm in the DOL, Events, FOL, Public Libraries category.

Description: This introductory webinar on the proposed cataloging rules, Resource Description and Access (RDA), will highlight the critical differences between the current cataloging rules, AACR2, and RDA. It is designed as a primer for both front line catalogers and library administrators in all types of libraries who need to learn how bibliographic and authority records will change when RDA is implemented. The session would be an excellent introduction to record changes for both original catalogers and copy catalogers.

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Posted on Wednesday, August 18th, 2010 at 10:54 pm in the C&SL, Educational Ops, Events, Public Libraries, Technical Services category.

Within Reach: A Live Free Videoconference Connecting All Parts of Vermont to Each Other and the World.

September 21, 2010
1:45 – 3:45 pm
At all VIT sites

We invite library directors, library staff, library trustees, and library Friends to come to this informative and live, interactive presentation. The more the merrier!

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Posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 2:07 pm in the C&SL, Educational Ops, Events, FOL, Funding Ops, News, Public Libraries, Support Staff, Trustees category.

More information coming soon.

Within Reach: A live videoconference connecting all parts of Vermont to each other and the world.

September 21, 2010
1:45 – 3:45 pm
At all VIT sites

Learn how videoconferencing brings the world to your library. Be prepared to be excited and engaged by the possibilities that videoconferencing affords.

Learn about funding opportunities. Discover how you can take advantage of available sources including help with grant writing.

Learn about videoconferencing from a librarian who has been connected for years. Meet with inspiration from Wilma Kakie Glover-Koomson The reference librarian/IT manager Haverstraw King’s Daughter Public Library, Garnerville, New York.

Learn about the connection to the Library of Congress. Experience how programs will benefit your community from Judy Graves, Digital Projects Coordinator- Library of Congress.

Come discover how the future for your library is… Within Reach.

*For directions to the VIT sites visit www.vitlink.org

Posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 1:44 pm in the Conferences, Educational Ops, Events, Funding Ops, News, Public Libraries, Technology, Uncategorized, VCAL category.

Ilsley Library in Middlebury looks for storytellers (Rutland Herald)

Posted on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 1:35 pm in the News, Public Libraries category.

Did you know that small non-profit organizations that are recognized by the IRS as non-profit (501(c)(3) organizations) must file a tax return with the federal government?  Even organizations that have gross receipts of $25,000 or less must file a very short tax return.  A number of Vermont libraries and Friends groups are in danger of losing their 501(c)(3) IRS recognition, because they have not filed this required annual informational return.  This is a tax return, of sorts, but there is no tax to be paid.  IRS simply wants to verify the continuing status of the organization.  In particular, they want to have current contact information and verification that the gross receipts are $25,000.or less.

The following information is taken from the IRS website, http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=169250,00.html :

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Posted on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 3:03 pm in the Public Libraries category.

State Library Agencies: A Special Issue of Libraries & The Cultural Record

Libraries & The Cultural Record, a peer-reviewed journal of history published by the University of Texas Press, invites submissions for a special issue devoted to exploring historical perspectives on state library agencies in the United States. Contributors are encouraged to consider the topic in diverse ways. Possible themes might include (but are not limited to):

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Posted on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 12:27 pm in the DOL, News, Public Libraries, Publications category.

The Routledge/Taylor & Francis peer-reviewed Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Electronic Reserve (JILDDER) has merged with Resource Sharing & Information Networks and is now accepting articles for  Winter and Spring publication.  Of particular interest to JILDDER are articles regarding resource sharing, unmediated borrowing, electronic reserve, cooperative collection development, shared virtual library services, digitization projects and other multi-library collaborative efforts including the following topics:

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Posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 12:51 am in the C&SL, Public Libraries, Publications category.

Sisters in Crime-New England members know the difficulties that New England libraries face these days, and we want to help. Enter to win a $250 grant to buy library books. Just send us a photo of an exhibit of at least three books by authors who are members of Sisters in Crime-New England. Your library will be entered for our quarterly drawings for a $250 check—PLUS autographed books from our SinC-NE members! Get details at www.sincne.org.

Who are we? We’re Sisters in Crime-New England, the regional chapter of the nationwide organization, Sisters in Crime.

In 1986, women wrote 40% of the mysteries and got 15% of the reviews in the New York Times. That year Sisters in Crime was founded to “combat discrimination against women in the mystery field, to raise awareness of the contributions of female authors, and to promote the professional advancement of women who write mysteries.” We are authors, agents, booksellers, editors, librarians, critics, and readers. Brothers in Crime are welcome. The national organization now boasts over 3000 members, including authors, fans, librarians, booksellers, and pre-published writers.

The New England chapter, Scarlet Letters, holds educational meetings for its more than 170 members, writers, readers and mystery fans at various locations throughout the year, and offers networking advice and support to published and pre-published mystery authors. The chapter also offers a Speakers Bureau that can provide individual speakers or groups of writers for libraries and other interested organizations. To find out more about our Speakers Bureau, click here.

This year we’ve added something new: the New England Library Lottery. We’re so excited about the national Sisters in Crime “We Love Libraries” $1,000 monthly lottery that we’ve decided to add a New England version.

All a library has to do to enter is send us a photo of an exhibit of at least three books by authors who are members of Sisters in Crime-New England and the library will be entered for one of our quarterly drawings for a $250 check—PLUS autographed books from our SinC-NE members! You can find a link to SinC-NE’s published members as well as other details on our website, www.sincne.org.

The prize must be used to purchase books, but won’t be restricted to the mystery genre or to those by Sisters in Crime members. What’s more, any New England library scheduling a SinC-NE Speakers Bureau event will be entered in all the quarterly drawings an additional 10 times. The first drawing will be held on September 1st.

A library can use the same photo for the national SinC lottery, so there will be two chances to win! For more information about the national contest, see We Love Libraries.

SinC-NE will be sending this announcement to all New England libraries, and we hope that you will encourage them to enter. And if you have any ideas for other ways that Sisters in Crime-New England and New England libraries can work together, please let me know!

Sheila Connolly, Library Liaison
Sisters in Crime-New England
sheila328@aol.com

Posted on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 2:48 pm in the Blogroll, Funding Ops, News, Public Libraries, VCAL category.

Hello Everyone,

Ever wonder if the time you take to complete surveys is of any benefit?  Is it worth it? Does this effort just disappear?

Last fall you probably completed the “Public Library Funding and Technology Access Survey,” sometimes called the “Plinter Survey.” It took some time to do.  Remember all those questions about whether you offer public internet access or do you have a maintenance schedule for your computers or what factors influence your decisions about adding computers or how do you receive IT support?

The results are out.  Here’s the announcement from John Bertot, who’s the guy who created and administered the survey:

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Posted on Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 at 3:50 pm in the DOL, Funding Ops, News, Public Libraries category.