Call For Proposals – Vermont Library Conference

It’s time to submit your proposals for the Vermont Library Conference on May 20th at St. Michael’s College. The theme our conference this year is Story Time : Advocate, Celebrate and BE HEARD with Keynote Speaker Marci Merola, Director of ALA’s Office for Library Advocacy! We want to hear your library advocacy success stories.

What kind of advocacy has your library done?
Have you completed any unique or innovative projects that got the attention of your patrons or trustees?
Do you have exciting ideas that you just want to share?

Then submit a proposal today! Presentation proposals are due by Feb. 14, 2014. To submit a proposal fill out this form: http://bit.ly/VLC2014_submissions

Don’t forget that all presenters get into the conference for free! The committee will be reviewing submissions on Feb. 15th, so late submissions will not be accepted. Thank you in advanced for all your great ideas!

Cheers,
The VLC Committee

Vermont Library Conference

SAVE THE DATE for the 2014 Vermont Library Conference on Tuesday, May 20th at St. Michael’s College! Mark your calendars!

Get ready for the most exciting annual library event in Vermont! Folks passionate about libraries from across the Green Mountain State will gather to share ideas, network, and celebrate our important work. More information coming soon!

Adjunct Faculty Librarian – Mason Library, Keene State College (Keene, NH)

The Mason Library at Keene State College is seeking a part time adjunct faculty librarian to join our team for the spring 2014 semester in providing instruction and reference service. The semester commences January 21, 2014 and ends May 9, 2014. The position is non-benefited, approximately 20 hours per week; salary will be $7,500 for the semester.

VLA Technical Services Section Meeting

Save The Date! The VLA Technical Services Section formerly the Cataloging Roundtable) will be meeting on January 15th, 2014 from 10:00-noon at Midstate Regional Library in Berlin.

Please email section president Christine Webb (cwebb@burlingtonvt.gov) with topics you’d like to discuss.

Library Advisory Council of the Special Services Unit Meeting

What do your visually-impaired patrons want from your library? What do you as a public librarian want from Special Services?

The Library Advisory Council of the Special Services Unit will discuss these issues at its next meeting, Thursday, Nov. 21, 10am to noon, at the Vermont Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired building, 60 Kimball Ave. (near Comcast), South Burlington.

Public librarians are invited to attend, or to send questions or comments to Amy Olsen, Lanpher Memorial Library, hyde_park@vals.state.vt.us.

Health Information Round Table (HIRT) Meeting

The newly formed Health Information Round Table (HIRT) will be holding its first general meeting on December 11th 1:00-3:30 PM in the Allen House on Vermont Technical College’s Randolph Campus.

VLA HIRT is a library group founded to discuss health-related information and services in Vermont’s public, academic and hospital Libraries, and to meet and network to identify topics, collaborations and needed resources.

The tentative agenda is :

Vermont Health Connect – A panel discussion including representatives from Vermont Health Connect, Vermont public, academic and hospital Libraries.

Stephanie Friree, Outreach Coordinator with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine New England Region, will talk about “NLM Resources and Health Literacy”.

VLA HIRT Meeting to discuss next topics of interest including planning a program for VLA in spring 2014.

Questions ? RSVP? Contact : Jane Kearns or Marianne Burke.

VHS Library Open House Tuesday

The Leahy Library at the Vermont History Center in Barre will be having an open house for people interested in the library’s manuscript collections on Tuesday, October 15, from 5:00 until 7:00 pm. Historian Jill Mudgett will be speaking at 5:30 on “Searching for Indian Joe: Using the collections of the VHS to teach college history.” We will have some selected manuscript collections available in the reading room to help generate ideas for research. Refreshments will be served (but not next to the manuscript collections!). Stop by and help us celebrate Archives Month, then visit one of Barre or Montpelier’s fine restaurants for dinner!

Vermont Public Library Trustees & Friends 2013 Annual Conference

Saturday November 2 9:00 am — 3:00 pm
Vermont Statehouse State Street Montpelier, VT

Registration is now open: http://libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/trustees (DEADLINE October 25)

Plan to join us at the Statehouse for an energy-filled day of inspiring and informative speakers and networking to help the board, staff and Friends with effective governance, fundraising, advocacy, social media and more.

Keynote Speaker:
Stuart Comstock-Gay, President and CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation.

Breakout sessions for trustees and friends (and librarians!) on a variety of topics throughout the day, including:

Paul Gillies on Vermont libraries and the law. One of the authors of The Law of Public Libraries, former Deputy Secretary of State and a Montpelier attorney, Mr. Gillies has many years’ experience in municipal law and is well-versed in topics of interest to public library trustees and directors.
Rob Fish of the Vermont Council on Rural Development and the Vermont Digital Economy Project on social media tools for libraries.

And wait, wait, don’t forget the Annual Trivia Contest with prizes!

And of course there will be coffee, lunch, networking with your peers from around the state and more.

20% discount for each attendee when 3 or more attend from one library

Vermont Public Library Trustees & Friends 2013 Annual Conference

Saturday November 2 9:00 am — 3:00 pm
Vermont Statehouse State Street Montpelier, VT
Registration is now open: http://libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/trustees (DEADLINE October 25)
Plan to join us at the Statehouse for an energy-filled day of inspiring and informative speakers and networking to help the board, staff and Friends with effective governance, fundraising, advocacy, social media and more.
Keynote Speaker:
Stuart Comstock-Gay, President and CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation.

Breakout sessions for trustees and friends (and librarians!) on a variety of topics throughout the day, including:

Paul Gillies on Vermont libraries and the law. One of the authors of The Law of Public Libraries, former Deputy Secretary of State and a Montpelier attorney, Mr. Gillies has many years’ experience in municipal law and is well-versed in topics of interest to public library trustees and directors.
Rob Fish of the Vermont Council on Rural Development and the Vermont Digital Economy Project on social media tools for libraries.

And wait, wait, don’t forget the Annual Trivia Contest with prizes!

And of course there will be coffee, lunch, networking with your peers from around the state and more.

20% discount for each attendee when 3 or more attend from one library
Read more→

UPDATE: Call to Action! Advocacy for School Libraries & Librarians

This is an important message from the Vermont School Library Association (VSLA) about the public hearings that start today for the Vermont State Education Quality Standards. Secretary of Education Armando Vilaseca has stated that the language that VSLA proposed for the new standards will be included in the new document. Here are his exact words:

“I wanted to make sure that the librarians that you all come in contact with understand that we agree that the current language of not including librarians in the initial rules was not correct. We (AOE) also agree with the language suggestions you and others made at our meeting.”

This means that VSLA no longer needs librarians and library advocates to state their argument or plea to add wording to the Vermont Quality Education Standards.

If you do choose to come out and support school librarians in Vermont at the upcoming public hearings, here’s a supportive script:

My name is _____ and I work at _____School. I am representing the ___ librarians, ___ teachers, ___ parents and ___ community members that are here tonight. We would like tothank you for providing these important Education Quality Standards for the students in Vermont schools and for accepting the language that Vermont school librarians have suggested be included in the standards. We are happy that you have acknowledged our contributions to the Vermont education and we will continue to celebrate the good work we do with the students in our schools. Thank you.

Please keep it short and positive!