James H. Douglas, Governor  •  Sybil Brigham McShane, State Librarian
No. 136 • Fall 2006

REPORT SHOWS LIBRARIANS SATISFIED WITH SERVICES

Are Department of Libraries services keeping up with the demands of today's public libraries and their customers?   Will they be adequate in the future?    In what direction should our services be moving?    The Department felt it wise to conduct an impartial study to help determine if changes should be made and what priorities it should set.   University of Vermont Library Associate Professor Trina Magi conducted a survey of Vermont public and academic library directors earlier this year, and found that

Overall satisfaction with the Vermont Department of Libraries is high . . .

Overall satisfaction with DOL does not vary by area of Vermont…[nor] by whether or not library directors have formal training in librarianship…

Directors of public libraries believe interlibrary loan is by far the most important DOL service…[but] thirteen DOL services were rated "essential" by a majority of respondents.

Another goal of the study was to gather information about the strength and weaknesses of Vermont's libraries.   The survey found that

When asked about their library's greatest strength, respondents most frequently listed "the collection."   But many also listed "collection" as their library's greatest weakness . . .

Both public and academic library directors are concerned about their library buildings . . .

Funding is a source of concern, especially for public library directors.

State Librarian Sybil Brigham McShane said that she is   "pleased that so many librarians gave the Department's services high marks and grateful for their thoughtful responses to the survey."   She noted that "In the best of all worlds, all libraries would be highly satisfied with all of the Department's services. That is an achievement towards which we will continue to strive."   Suggestions about future directions will be incorporated into the Department's next five year plan whenever possible.   Copies of the report are available at:   http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/libraries/misc/vtlibdirsurvey06.pdf.
 

ROSENTHAL RE-ELECTED CHAIR OF BOARD

The Vermont Board of Libraries held its regular meeting on Tuesday, August 15 at the Midstate Regional Library, Berlin.    John Rosenthal of Charlotte was re-elected Chair of the Board, and David Brown of Shelburne was elected Vice-Chair.   State Librarian Sybil Brigham McShane offered the results of a recently completed survey of public library directors' satisfaction with Department services.    She noted that most of the responses were extremely positive and that librarians generally feel the Department is heading in the right direction.

Public Library Support Services Director Marianne Kotch discussed her recent calculations of public libraries' return on investment based on a South Carolina study and gave an update on the Vermont Library Association's Government Relations Committee' ongoing state aid initiative.

The Vermont Board of Libraries serves in an advisory capacity to the State Librarian and also is the state's hearing board for geographic name changes.   Members include David E. L. Brown (Shelburne), Susan Roush Bruce (St. Albans), Joan Rahe (Bennington), John Rosenthal (Charlotte), and Linda Williamson (Hartland).   It generally meets on the third Tuesday of the even-numbered months at 10:30 am at the Midstate Regional Library, Berlin.   Agendas and minutes of the meetings are posted at the Board of Libraries website:   http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/www5/libraries/bol/bol.html.
 

DENISON JOINS LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES

Gerrie Denison of Montpelier has joined the staff at the Department of Libraries in Montpelier and will split her time between the law library, interlibrary loan, and the Technical Services Unit.  Most recently, Gerrie worked at Gary Library of the Union Institute and University's Vermont College campus in Montpelier.   She received her MLS from the University of Arizona (Tucson) and has worked in various types of libraries in Vermont and Massachusetts as well as Bear Pond Books in Montpelier and the Vermont Institute for Science, Mathematics, and Technology.
 

PUBLIC LIBRARIES RETURN $7.41 FOR EVERY $1 INVESTED

Vermont's 189 public libraries provide a wide variety of services to their communities, including information in a variety of formats, tools for lifelong learning, recreational reading, community meeting spaces, programs for all ages, and internet access.    Some tangible benefits of local public libraries might be measured by the number of people who obtain new jobs or learn new skills, or by the number of families that read together regularly due to library programs.

Vermont towns appropriated $12,049,932, or $19.39 per capita (based on the estimated 2004 state population of 621,394) in 2004-05.    Is there any way to estimate the monetary value that public libraries bring Vermont communities?

In June, 2006, data submitted by public libraries to the Department of Libraries for FY2004-05 were analyzed using the methods used by the South Carolina Public Library Economic Impact Study conducted by the School of Library and Information Science of the University of South Carolina (Daniel D. Barron, director) and published in January, 2005.   The following significant data was discovered:

• The direct economic impact of all Vermont public library expenditures is $16 million

• The existence of Vermont public libraries brings to the state from federal and private sources almost $5.5 million each year that it would not otherwise have.   This figure excludes funds received directly by the Vermont Department of Libraries and the Vermont Public Library Foundation.

• The value of loans and use of books, videos, cassettes, CDs, newspapers, magazines, etc. to Vermont public library users each year is approximately $43.6 million.

• The value of public library reference services to Vermont public library users is approximately $420,000.

• The total direct economic impact of Vermont public libraries is estimated at nearly
  $66 million, while the actual cost of these services to state and local governments is only $12 million. This means that for every $1 spent by state and local governments on Vermont public libraries, the return on investment is $5.34.

• The indirect economic impact of Vermont public library expenditures – wages, supplies, books and other materials, construction, etc. – on the state's economy is approximately $25.6 million.   This means that for every $1 expended by Vermont public libraries, the state receives $2.07 in indirect economic impact.

Thus, total direct and indirect return on investment for every $1 expended on the state's public libraries by Vermont state and local governments is $7.41.

A copy of the Vermont study is available at:   http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/www5/libraries/misc/plvalue.pdf.   Look for updated figures in February, 2007.
 

TRUSTEES FOCUS ON ECONOMIC VALUE

Are public libraries still relevant in today's society?   How can trustees justify increasing local tax revenue to support them?   These and more questions were raised and discussed from many angles at the annual statewide conference for trustees sponsored by the Vermont Library Trustees Association with help from the Department of Libraries on October 29 in Montpelier.

Introduced by David Brown of the Vermont Board of Libraries, morning speaker John E. Arnold, former chair of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), shared his "personal journey" of trusteeship and advocacy for public libraries.   "Public support reflects the perceived value of the library to each taxpayer, family, and community," he said, noting that most public libraries in his state receive around 1% of their town's budget.    Sharing a model based on The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine and James H. Gilmore (Harvard Bus. Sch. Pr., 1999), Arnold pointed out that, not only do public libraries provide goods and services, but they also provide experiences and transformations.   It is the latter that give libraries relevance ("Is your library a place that people want to visit?") and offer suggestions for improving them.

Slides of John Arnold's talk are available on the MBLC website at: http://mblc.state.ma.us/advisory/trustees/economic_value_20041101.pdf.   For those who want to delve further, copies of The Experience Economy are available on interlibrary loan from Midstate Regional Library.

Over lunch, small groups discussed a number of questions raised by Arnold's talk, as did an afternoon panel of reactors who talked about library services in the future.   The Vermont Library Association's Government Relations Committee shared its recent activities, and VLA Trustee of the Year Kim Cushman of North Bennington offered a humorous but realistic overview of "What One Trustee Can Do."   The conference was planned by the VLTA Steering Committee which is now making plans for trustee workshops at each of the spring Town Officers Educational Conferences.  
 

NEW VOL CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS UNDERWAY

State Librarian Sybil Brigham McShane announced on November 6 that the committee of librarians evaluating the bids/proposals received in response to the Vermont Online Library database request for proposal (RFP) issued this summer has selected Thomson Gale with which to negotiate a final contract for general periodical, health and business databases. McShane hopes to have contract negotiations completed by January 1.  The old contract which ends December 1 will be extended for thirty days to ensure coverage.   The database package and pricing will be announced when contract negotiations are completed.   There are a number of other databases ranked as lesser priorities by libraries in last spring's VOL survey still under consideration.   Details about the new VOL contract will be sent to all libraries via email.

STANDARDS PROGRAM CONTINUES

Copies of minimum standards, the 2006 Public Library Report form, and an application form based on the 1986 minimum standards were mailed to Vermont public and community libraries in mid-September for a November 15 deadline.   Any Vermont public or community (joint school-public) library may apply for standards, and libraries must apply every year in order to meet standards.   All public libraries, whether they are applying for standards or not, should complete and return the public library report.  

Last year, 139 public libraries met standards and are, therefore, eligible for free cataloging through the Vermont Centralized Cataloging/MARC Service as well as for any grants that the Department of Libraries may offer, such as the recent Resource Sharing Grants.   Libraries that are close to meeting standards are eligible to receive technical assistance if they wish, and they will be considered as meeting standards during the year they are working with the Technical Assistance Team.    For details about standards, contact Marianne Kotch, Director of Public Library Support Services, 828-2320, marianne.kotch@dol.state.vt.us.

Libraries will receive notification that they meet standards around December 31, 2006.   Those that are found not to meet standards will have until January 30 to file letters of appeal for discussion by the Board of Libraries at its regular meeting on February 17.   The State Librarian will make a final decision and notify those libraries by February 27.

DEPARTMENT MIGRATES TO SIRSI/UNICORN AUTOMATION SYSTEM

After many months of planning, on August 24, 2006, the Department of Libraries "went live" with its new SirsiDynix/Unicorn Automation system, replacing its aging DRA Classic system first installed in 1986.  While the change did not affect most public and library users of the Department's services, many behind-the-scenes routines have changed.   Regional library staff started using the new system to register patrons, check materials in and out, and place holds on items.   Since most staff members had been training for months in anticipation of changing to a windows-based system, by the end of the first day, one was able to say, "this is fun!"  Technical Services Unit (TSU) Head, Lorraine Lanius, and her staff worked very hard to prepare for all of the changes they are experiencing. They have had to learn new ways of doing all of the complex and detailed work that they do.  Though it understandably took some time to get up to speed on the new system, TSU is adapting well and though they may not quite be ready to say that the new system is fun, they are finding ways to take advantage of some of the improvements afforded by the new system.

August 24 also saw a slightly different public catalog.   A new website for the catalog – http://web2.libraries.vermont.gov/ – shows that the former three buttons (Midstate, Northeast, Reference/Law) have been replaced with one button labeled "catalog."   Clicking on that button takes one to the main screen for searching the DOL catalog (DOLCAT).    In the top banner of this search page, instead of seeing a link to "Multiple Library Search," there is a square button with the label "Other Libraries."   That link will take one to the familiar screen for searching all VALS databases.   After that everything is pretty much the same, though some colors and fonts may be different.   In the coming months we will be working on changes to Web2 that can take advantage of some of the new features available with the new Unicorn system.  We are currently testing changes such as creating a "kept list" or search hits and emailing search results.   Our goal is to make sure that none of these changes interfere with the current request system, so we are testing carefully to make sure that adding a new feature does not break anything that already works.  If all goes well in the process, we also hope to add the display of "content" such as book jackets, summaries, reviews, and excerpts.

The VALS changes that libraries experienced most directly were the change in the electronic mail system.  The need to learn new ways of accessing and organizing email was a challenge for all and we appreciate the time and energy that VALS users put into the process.   Many DOL staff members are also using the web-based email system now, as evidenced by the new email addresses for the regional libraries (e.g., MRL@mail.dol.state.vt.us and NERL@mail.dol.state.vt.us).

Please note that we all share your pain with the SPAM situation.   Though we are managing to block a lot of SPAM (averaging nearly 6,000 messages blocked per day, with these blocked messages representing at least 70% of all of the messages that are sent to VALS email users each day), we know that receiving any percentage of the spam messages directed at you is not what we want.  We continue to seek ways to make improvements and hope that the pending installation of new hardware will speed up users' interactions with the mail server and give us more options for blocking spam.  We are always willing to work with VALS users individually to address particularly severe cases of SPAM overload.   The first step in that process is to contact Dan Morse (dan.morse@dol.state.vt.us 828-6952) to determine a good time when he can consult with you about your VALS email issues.
 

TIPS FOR MAKING THE LIBRARY SAFER

Recently there has been an increased concern for safety and security in Vermont libraries.   Department of Libraries consultants have come to feel that there are some simple and relatively inexpensive steps that libraries might take to improve safety for librarians and patrons.   These include:

• Insuring that there are two people, either staff or volunteers, working in the library.   This is particularly important during evening hours and at closing time.
• Installing or implementing an alert or alarm system that will quickly bring emergency personnel to the library in an emergency.
• Adopting emergency policies or procedures which will clarify the steps to be taken and responsibilities of library workers in the event of an emergency.   Library staff should be presented copies of these policies and procedures and, if possible, some rudimentary familiarization training might be attempted.
• If renovations or construction is being considered or performed on the library building consider:
  • Installing "crash" or "panic" bars on all exit doors;
  • Improving exterior lighting;
  • Insuring that there are clear sight-lines inside and outside the library, to minimize nooks and crannies.
• Requesting a familiarization visit from local police and other emergency personnel.

Department of Libraries regional consultants are also available to help with walk-throughs, miniworkshops, and discussions with staff.   We believe that Vermont libraries provide a very safe and friendly place for our citizens.   Nonetheless, if there are easy and inexpensive steps which will improve this level of safety, we can probably all agree that now is the time to take them.   We don't need to wait for an untoward incident to force us into taking more difficult and expensive steps later.

                                                             Robert Geiszler
                                                                       Regional Consultant
 

DEPARTMENT PREPARES FOR NEW LSTA PLAN

State Librarian Sybil Brigham McShane announced recently that the Chief Officers of State Libraries in the Northeast (COSLINE) has contacted with Himmel and Wilson, Wisconsin-based library consultants, to evaluate several state agencies' Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) five year plans.   The evaluation is required by the Library Services and Technology Act and will be submitted to the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).   It is an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of each agency's programs and services.   The evaluation should also assist each agency in developing new five years plans for submission to IMLS in June, 2007.

Ethel Himmel and Bill Wilson traveled to Vermont in early September to meet with McShane and Department staff to review goals and achievements in the plan covering 2003-2007.   Himmel returned in late October to conduct a series of focus groups with public, school, and academic librarians.   Telephone interviews with selected librarians are also planned.   A final report is due March 31, 2007.   A copy of the current plan is available at:  
http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/www5/libraries/lsta/vtlsta2003-20075yrplan.pdf.
 

REGIONAL LIBRARIES HAVE SETS OF GMBA BOOKS

The Midstate and Northeast Regional Libraries have sets of Green Mountain Book Award (GMBA)   books for public and school libraries.    Cosponsored by the Department of Libraries, the Vermont Library Association, and the Vermont Educational Media Association, the GMBA is a new book award designed to encourage students in grades 9-12 to become lifelong readers through the introduction of great books.

The GMBA list has 15 books representing various genres and interests.   In spring, 2006, any high school student who has read at least three of the titles may vote for the winner.   To encourage as many Vermont teens to read the books, the Department of Libraries has purchased multiple copies of each title which will be available for loan.   There are two types of sets:

• GMBA sets of   one copy of each title – request these from the Northeast Regional Library, St. Johnsbury (email:   NERL@mail.dol.state.vt.us)
• Discussion sets of 15 copies of each title – request these from the Midstate Regional Library, Berlin (email:   MRL@mail.dol.state.vt.us)

Any public or school library is eligible to borrow any of the sets for up to 60 days.   Because the sets are paperbacks, they can be easily mailed.

For a list of the books, see the GMBA website:   http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/www5/libraries/gmba/gmba.htm.   There is also an online forum related to GMBA at Vermont's section of WebJunction – http://vt.webjunction.org.    Registration to participate in the online discussion is free and takes just a few minutes.
 

RECENT OPINIONS AFFECT PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARDS

Vermont Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz issues a monthly Opinions newsletter with news and answers to questions encountered in the course of working with towns and other government entities.   A number of opinions offered in the October, 2006, issue may affect public libraries and their boards:

• Municipalities should have policies on use of public buildings. It is a best practice for the selectboard, school board, or other public body that owns buildings, to adopt a policy outlining its requirements for use of town or school property by other groups. It is constitutionally permissible for a board to prohibit any and all use by outside groups. However, it is not good policy, and may cause discrimination claims, to allow use of the buildings by certain categories or types of groups and not other groups, unless there is a real difference in the type of use being requested. For example, it is reasonable and acceptable to limit use of certain rooms or spaces to groups of less than 30, or to meetings ending not later than 9 p.m. However, it may be discriminatory to allow the Boy Scouts to meet in a room, but to turn down a political caucus or a religious organization.

• Board may only discuss town business at publicly announced meeting. Anytime a quorum of a board is together discussing the business of the town it must be within a publicly announced meeting (with the exception of the deliberations of quasi-judicial boards). Board members who see each other at a social gathering must be sure not to talk about town business! 1 V.S.A. § 312.

• Emails are public record. Emails between selectboard members and other local officials are public record. They must be retained as though they were correspondence. If you don't already have a retention schedule you should contact the public records division of the department of buildings and general services to determine when you can delete these emails. Municipal retention schedules are available at http://www.bgs.state.vt.us/gsc/pubrec/infospec/schedules/municipal.pdf.

Even if your library is an incorporated public library, it is wise to have a meeting room policy, to avoid discussing board business outside of meetings, and to view email as public.   To sign up to receive Opinions by email or to view past issues, go to the Secretary of State's website http://sec.state.vt.us/.
 

  WHAT'S OUR STATE-WIDE LOSS RATE?

I had an interesting reference question a few weeks ago that made me wonder about a long-held belief that a 1% loss rate is considered "good."   Where did this number come from?    Is it some library folklore I've just been carrying around or can we count on it?   The questioner, the father of a former employee, called out of curiosity to find out approximately what the loss rate of public libraries in Vermont is.   "Are people stealing the taxpayers' books?" he asked.    I couldn't really tell him what the loss rate for Vermont public libraries is, but what I found satisfied him anyway.

Colleagues at the ALA Office for Research and the Colorado Library Research Service could offer no hard facts, so I turned to the Vermont Online Library's databases.   In the 1980's Patsy J. Hansel conducted a study of libraries and estimated that somewhere between 6 and 11 million library items become long-term overdues every year, a loss rate that may exceed $200 million in value.   Her book Managing Overdues (Neal-Schuman, 1998)   offers some suggestions for solving this problem.

Richard W. Boss estimated in 1999 that about 3% of library items are lost each year, but he noted that all of the information about loss rates is purely anecdotal and that there are no reliable facts.   His assertion in "Security Technologies for Libraries:   Policy Concerns and a Survey of Available Products" ( Library Technology Reports , May/June, 199, pp. 271-356) was that Hansel's estimate was as good as any.

The 2005 compilation of public library data nationwide by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that public libraries nationwide own approximately 797,190,000 books.   If 6 million of these are lost this year, the loss rate would be approximately 0.7%.   If one uses the 11 million figure, the number would be 1.4%.    So the 1% figure appears to "split the difference," and, based on Boss' work, is a fairly decent guideline.    If your library has done a study of loss rates, I would love to hear about it.  

Marianne Kotch
                                           Director, Public Library Support Services

AVAILABLE…

Resources…

…The Americans for Libraries Council recently announced that free DVDs of To the Contrary: Health and Public Libraries are available by sending email directly to tothecontrary@hotmail.com, with your library name, number of copies, and how you might use the copies.   To The Contrary: Health and Public Libraries is a PBS program that aired in April, 2006, and shows how ordinary, hometown public libraries are bridging the gap between the medical community and patients.

…A new We the People bookshelf of 15 titles, with the theme of "The Pursuit of Happiness" will be available to 2,000 public and school libraries nationwide through a joint project of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association.    Details about the competitive grant program are available at http://www.wethepeople.gov/bookshelf, and the deadline is January 31, 2007.  Programs promoting the titles should be conducted between May 1, 2007 and April 30, 2008.

…The VT Historical Society and Earnest Productions present A Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity . . . by Ethan Allen, performed as a dramatic reading by Jim Hogue.   This reading is an unabridged, two CD collection, with notes, glossary, and an Introduction by Vermont historian and biographer of Ethan Allen, John Pell.  Questions: Please call Jim Hogue at Earnest Productions at 802-456-1123.  Prices:  wholesale $12, retail $16.   Jim Hogue, Earnest Productions, 492 Tucker Road, Plainfield, VT 05667.

…The Department of Geography at Keene State College has produced a Vermont Atlas suitable for 3^rd and 4^th graders.  For more information and to see sample pages, go to:  http://www.nhga.net/atlas.htm.   To request a copy of the atlas, write to Dr. Klaus Bayr, Dept. of Geography, Keene State College, 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03431-2001 or contact Klaus Bayr at 603-358-2507 or kbayr@keene.edu. The cost is $7 each, which includes shipping and handling. Checks should be made out to Keene State College, with 'VT Atlas' in the memo line.

Continuing Education…

…A wide variety of free, online courses are available through WebJunction (http://vt.webjunction.org) - learn to create a website, use Microsoft© Excel, and much more – sign up for free and explore online discussion groups, too.

…There are still a number of online courses and weekend courses available through Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science this fall.  Some will be held in northwestern Massachusetts.  For details, see http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/continuinged/workshops.

…Registration is now open for the Public Library Association's Spring Symposium, March 1-3, 2007, in San Jose, CA.  Participants may choose between six workshops -  Demonstrating Results: Using Outcome Measurement in Your Library; Right People, Right Time, Right Work: HR Trends and Tools; Customer Service in Public Libraries, 21st Century Style; Refresh, Recreate, Redesign, Remodel, Retail; Advocacy @ Your Library; Mining Gold in the 21st Century: Strengthening Your Library with Literacy Services.  For details, visit http://www.pla.org/.

Websites to Explore…

…Vermont children's book author, Sheri Amsel, has created a website which has a k-8th grade database that includes more than 1,000 animals in topics ranging from mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects to scavengers, carnivores, arctic animals, poisonous animals, rainforest animals, plants, trees, biomes, the human body, nature movies, zoo vet, etc. The teacher section includes lesson plans, activities, and mini-lectures on topics like; habitat studies, erosion, classification, food webs and life cycles.  If you wish to look at the site it is located at: http://www.exploringnature.org (for member login use username and password: science).

…The American Library Association's Washington Office maintains a "Grants" page for libraries which is updated frequently.  See:   http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/WOissues/washfunding/grants/grants.htm.

*COMING EVENTS*

Tues., Dec. 6, 9:30 am – Interlibrary loan workshop, Midstate Regional Library, Berlin.  Repeats Tues., Dec. 6.   Contact:   Vance Asselin, 828-3261, dol_ill_mail@mail.dol.state.vt.us.

Tues., Dec. 19, 10:30 am – Vermont Board of Libraries meeting, Midstate Regional Library, Berlin.  Contact:   Sybil Brigham McShane, 828-3265.   Snow date:  Dec. 20.

Mon., Dec. 25 and Mon., Jan. 1 – State holidays.  Department of Libraries central offices and regional libraries closed.

===>Miniworkshops are available on demand, either in your library or at a central location in your area, for librarians, trustees and library staff members.  For details, please contact your regional consultant.
 

YOUTH SERVICES NEWS
by Grace W. Greene, Children's Services Consultant
828-6954; grace.greene@dol.state.vt.us

Spring, 2007, Materials Review Sessions…

As always, there will be two "live "sessions of Materials Review this spring, and three sessions on videotape. This time, besides Northfield, the live session will be in Milton. RETN (Regional Educational Technology Network) will videotape the Northfield presentation, and that videotape will be shown in the other three locations.   The books, with the reviews inserted in them, will accompany the videotape, so whichever site you choose you will have access to all the books.  The schedule is as follows:

All programs begin at 9:00 a.m.  There is a formal part to the program and then plenty of time to examine all the books.

Directions to the Brown Public Library in Northfield : From the North, take I89 to Exit 8 (Montpelier) and follow Route 12 South; from the South, take I89 to Exit 5 (Northfield/Williamstown) and take Route 12 North. The library is located on Route 12 (Main Street) in downtown Northfield. Parking is available in the library parking lots and in the United Church parking lot directly across the street from the library. The library telephone number is 485-4621.

Directions to Kurn Hattin:   Take exit 5 from I-91 (the Westminster/ Rockingham exit). Just down the hill from the exit, take the first right onto the Westminster Heights Road. Travel two miles. Just before the campus, the road goes over route 91. Take the first entrance on your right, "Kurn Hattin Home," drive up the hill and park in the Upper Parking Lot. The program will be in the Mayo Center, with coffee and snacks available in the lobby just inside the main entrance.

DCF Conference…

The fifth annual DCF Conference will be held on Friday, May 4, 2007 at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont. The keynote speaker will be Vermont's own Karen Hesse The endnote will be delivered by Anita Silvey, author of several books on children's literature, including her new 500 Great Books for Teens   (Houghton, 2006). In addition, there will be workshops on various aspects of reading; on ways to run a DCF program; on how to read a graphic novel, and suggestions for promoting and discussing books with kids.   Books (both those on the 2007-2008 DCF master list and ones by Hesse and Silvey) will be for sale. Registration forms will be sent out to all libraries and schools in February.  Please alert all the 4^th -8^th grade teachers that you know, too!

Summer Materials…

Since we have joined a multi-state collaborative, the materials will be available earlier than usual. We will be sending the manuals and order forms out in January, rather than March, so you will have two extra months to plan your summers. The theme this year is mystery, and the slogan for kids is Get a Clue@ Your Library, and for teens it is YNK @ Your Library (YNK=you never know).  
 

  Department of Libraries, 109 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-0601