Fall 2023 Professional Development Grant Deferred to Spring 2024

The Vermont Library Association (VLA) Scholarship and Awards Committee did not receive any applications for the fall 2023 Professional Development Grant. Considering the recent flooding in Vermont, and the added pressures it is putting on libraries and their communities, the committee has decided to defer these funds to the spring 2024 Professional Grant Funding opportunity. The committee may award up to $250 for a Vermont Library Association member to attend a workshop, conference, or continuing education course. Therefore, in the spring, the committee will award two $250 grants. We sincerely hope that by then library staff will have the capacity to apply for these funds.

Thank you, thank you,

Pamela Cartier (she/her)
VLA Scholarship and Awards Committee Chair

Apply Today for the Fall Professional Development Grant

The Vermont Library Association’s Scholarship and Awards Committee is accepting applications for the fall round of their professional development grant. Up to $250 is available to attend a workshop, a conference, or a continuing education course.  The deadline for applications is Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, with the awardee notified by September 1.

To be eligible, applicants must:

  • Be an active VLA member;
  • Live in Vermont and/or work in a Vermont library; and
  • Not have received a scholarship from VLA in the past two years.

For complete details and to apply, visit the VLA Professional Development Grant web page.

If you have additional questions, please contact Pamela Cartier, chair of the Scholarship and Awards Committee, at pcartier@vermontlaw.edu.

Librarian Kelly McCagg

VLA President’s Letter

Whether we like it or not, the world in which we are currently living—sore throat, mask, test, repeat—is not going to change in the foreseeable future. So, it is up to each one of us to make this “new normal” better than before. What does this mean in the library world?

Hopefully, COVID has taught us to be more accessible—or at the very least, loosen our requirements for access. Maybe your library initiated an online registration tool or simply mailed paper registration forms to patrons’ homes. Is it feasible to keep these accommodations? Doubting Debbie (I mean no disrespect to anyone named Deborah) will say, “The library is back to its full schedule of hours. There is no reason why we need to keep offering this service.” But what if your pre-COVID hours didn’t work for the person’s schedule? They may work multiple jobs or lack reliable transportation. However, once they have their library card they can access all your online resources when their schedule allows. Do a cost vs. reward analysis to see if it is worth keeping. My guess is if you have chosen librarianship as a profession, you will find a way to efficiently offer this service to your community.

On the flip side, look for processes, programs, or policies that can be updated or weeded—“because we’ve always done it that way” no longer holds water. Are you still keeping paper copies of patron information already stored electronically? Does your program lineup look similar to that from the 1950s? Do you offer a virtual option for meetings and programs? Does your cell phone policy limit use to certain areas due to fear of disturbing other users? Are your bathrooms still gender specific? Be brave enough to be uncomfortable and your patrons will thank you!

Our communities, whether they are large universities, bucolic towns, or tiny hamlets, are all composed of smaller sections that need to work together in order to create a dynamic, cohesive unit. That means we all need to put our egos aside, and maybe even that argument that happened three town managers ago, to find a way to work together. Take the initiative and sit next to the person who rubs you the wrong way at the next meeting. You may discover some small similarity on which you can build a relationship that will benefit not just the library, but the community at large. Now can be a considerable time of growth. It will require very little, if any money, but a great deal of dedication and enthusiasm.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.”
–Mark Twain

Kelly L. McCagg
Vermont Library Association President
Director, Burnham Memorial Library
president@vermontlibraries.org
November 2022
(This letter was first published in the November 2022 VLA News email newsletter, sent quarterly to Vermont Library Association members.)
Natacha Liuzzi, a smiling white woman with gray hair, and Erin Davison, a smiling white woman with curly hair, standing behind a stack of books.

Professional Development Grant Winners Fall 2022

The Vermont Library Association (VLA) Scholarship and Awards Committee is pleased to announce two winners for the Fall 2022 VLA Professional Development Grant.

Natacha Liuzzi (left in picture), Children’s Specialist at South Burlington Public Library, will attend “The Newbery Medal: Past, Present and Future,” a six-week Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) online course. The class will give participants a solid grounding in the history of the Newbery Medal and how it has changed over time; an opportunity to read, discuss, and consider past and present Newbery winners; a chance to talk to former Newbery Committee members and a Newbery author; and suggestions for programming using Newbery-winning books. The VLA grant will help defray the cost of the class.

Erin Davison, Youth Services Librarian at Norwich Public Library, will attend the New England Library Association (NELA) 2022 Annual Conference from October 23 through 25. The conference will give her the opportunity to connect with and learn from librarians in the region as she navigates rural librarianship for the first time in her career. The VLA grant will help defray the costs of the conference.

VLA’s Professional Development Grant, managed by the Scholarship and Awards Committee, provides the recipient with up to $250 for a professional development program such as a workshop, conference, or continuing education course. Applications are accepted twice a year (deadlines are May 1 and August 7), and priority is given by monetary need, library involvement, leadership, and commitment to Vermont libraries. Grant recipients are required to write a brief account of their professional development opportunity for VLA News, our quarterly email newsletter. For more information, and to apply, visit the Vermont Library Association Professional Development Grant webpage.