The current issue of the Dept. of Libraries newsletter (No. 143, June 2009) is available for reading and printing (PDF format).

The University of Vermont’s College of Medicine has announced that Burnett S. Rawson, M.D., a 1939 graduate of the College, will receive this year’s prestigious Service to Medicine and Community Award.

Vermont public libraries are now circulating free day-use passes to Vermont State Parks.

The May 19, 2009 broadcast of "Vermont Edition" checked in with VT Libraries to see how the bad economy has created more demand for their resources.

Two staff members from the Department of Libraries, Grace Greene and Amy Howlett, were honored at the Vermont Library Conference on May 12. 

In conjunction with the Community Business Connections program announced today by the Secretary of State Deb Markowitz, Vermont librarians will be among those trained to assist their communities' local economic development efforts.

Michael Roche, the Northeast Regional Library Consultant for the Dept, of Libraries, received the Sarah C. Hagar Award from the VT Library Association.

On May 12, 2009, six librarians were awarded Certificates of Public Librarianship at the Vermont Library Conference.

State Librarian Martha Reid is requesting that Vermont public library directors participate in a nationwide survey of library patrons.

She hopes that your libraries across the state will participate in a web survey in conjunction with a nationwide library study being conducted by the University of Washington Information School. The IMPACT study web survey for library patrons is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and has been endorsed by the Vermont Department of Libraries. The IMPACT web survey will extend the results from an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) supported study also being conducted by the University of Washington on the impact of public access computing in the lives of library patrons, families, and communities. This information will help public libraries across the U.S. evaluate and improve the ways they provide access to computers and the Internet. You can learn more about the IMPACT studies at: http://impact.ischool.washington.edu.

Over 600 libraries were randomly selected (including 4 libraries in Vermont) for participation but we hope additional libraries will join the survey. If you agree to participate, you will be asked to install a small piece of code on your library’s website that will create a link to the survey website and make it possible for your patrons to fill out the survey online. The Information School will provide you with detailed instructions, technical support, informational materials for patrons, and suggestions for increasing participation. As an incentive for your participation, they will also provide you with a personalized report of the data collected through your library.  The web survey will be linked to libraries during assigned two-week periods through June 20.

This is the first nationwide effort to collect information directly from our patrons about how they use public access computing resources. The study will analyze the impact of public access computing in seven key areas: civic engagement, eCommerce, education, eGovernment, health, employment, and social inclusion. The results from this research will help us do our work better by demonstrating the importance of public access computers (PAC) to funders and policymakers and helping us better match our services with the needs of patrons. The project will also help establish the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of web surveys for patron-level library research.

The Vermont Department of Libraries is wholeheartedly behind this project and urges all Vermont public libraries! Please contact Samantha Becker, the IMPACT project manager, at srbecker@u.washington.edu with questions or your agreement to participate in the study.

     The Department of Libraries has compiled a Lake Champlain Bibliography, listing resources available in the Department of Libraries' collections. We hope libraries will use this during 2009 as we celebrate the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial. Among the items included in the Lake Champlain Bibliography are works about: Samuel de Champlain and his explorations; underwater archaeology sites, geology, geography, history, environmental studies and concerns, transportation, Champ, the Lake Champlain monster, and fiction.

Additional resources for celebrating the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial may be found at http://www.celebratechamplain.org