November 2000 issue
Newsletter Welcomes New Editor
The Publications Committee is pleased to announce that Helen Quam Sherman will be the new VLA Newsletter editor in 2001. Helen is currently a Reference Librarian at the Marine Corps University Library, Marine Corps Research Center in Quantico. Prior to that, she worked as a Reference Librarian and Circulation Manager at Richard Bland College of the College of William and Mary in Petersburg. Helen will begin a new job in November as Librarian for the DTIC Technical Reference Library at the Defense Technical Information Center, located at Fort Belvoir. Helen will serve as guest editor of the upcoming December issue.
VLA Council Report
The final meeting of the 2000 VLA Council took place at the Kirn Memorial Library in Norfolk on October 18th. Minutes from the previous meeting were approved as amended. Jeanette Friedman, VLA Treasurer, presented the budget. She proudly pointed out the fact that the Paraprofessional Conference made in excess of $15,000 to support the work of VLA. In addition, the Annual Conference in Norfolk seems well on the way to realizing a revenue to support future VLA endeavors. Jeanette also pointed out that VLA purchased Capital Wiz, a legislative tracking service. This should be an excellent resource for VLA members to keep abreast of what our national and state legislators are doing.
Linda Hahne gave a very encouraging conference report. To quote Linda, "It's finally here, thank God." 565 people pre-registered, 75 booths were sold. [See box for final Conference statistics.]
Sandy Heinemann, past president, reported that Iza Cieszynski was elected Vice President/President-Elect, and Janis Augustine was elected Secretary. She thanked Chuck Koutnik and Keith Weimer for standing for office.
Morel Fry, Conference Chair, reported that the Conference seemed to be on track, and anticipated it being successful. She also thanked her excellent Conference Committee. Barbie Selby, Publications Committee Chair, announced that Helen Quam Sherman will be the new editor of the VLA Newsletter. Susan Kellor, Chair of the Awards and Recognition Committee, presented gifts to out-going President, Carolyn Barkley, and Secretary, Nancy Newins. Carolyn and Linda Hahne presented recognition certificates to 2000 Council members.
Finally, Dale Henry spoke to the 2000 and 2001 Council members about working with people to make them, and yourself, better after every experience. He stressed the importance of "waking up" and not letting life just slip past.
Conference Statistics
Total number of attendees: 626
Representing:
Public Libraries 391
Academic 158
School 13
Special 37
Other 27
Total number of vendors: 75
Bravo, Well Done!
Like other attendees of the 2000 VLA Annual Conference, I made a point of visiting the exhibits and talking to a number of our exhibitors. I am happy to report that when I returned to several booths on Friday they pretty much uniformly reported that traffic in the Exhibit Hall had been good this year. Most of the vendors said they were pleased with the numbers of conference goers who stopped by to learn about their products and services.
That's GOOD news. Vendors are an extremely important part of any successful conference. We want to ensure that they feel that participation in the VLA Annual Conference is a worthwhile and rewarding experience.
There are any number of ways that VLA members can thank exhibitors for their participation. Visiting each and every booth and actually saying "thank you" is certainly one way. Some vendors contribute above and beyond a booth purchase. We can and should try to thank them for their extra support. DRA helped support the cost of the box lunches in the Exhibit Hall on Thursday. I hope you each thanked them. If not, why not write an email to sales@dra.com and say "thanks."
Advertisers in the Conference Program included Gaylord, Mid Atlantic Bookbindery, and Capcon. Such advertisements also help support our Conference. Blackwell North America and Information Access Company generously support the VLA Scholarships. For a full list of this year's vendor participants, please see the insert in this issue of the Newsletter.
Here are some additional ideas for "saying thank you:"
- Keep a file of VLA vendors' cards. When you have a purchase to make, refer to the file to see if someone you spoke to at the VLA Conference might be able to fill your order.
- Buy materials at the Conference. I can almost never leave the John F. Blair booth without being weighed down by one or two additional wonderful regional books.
- Email your vendors. Email your sales representative and say thanks.
- Talk to them. My husband worked for the Michie Law Publishing Company for years, and staffed many a booth at conferences. He doesn't bite, and neither do any of our exhibitors. Be sure to go in and TALK to them. It's boring to just stand there all day. Just say "Hi" and chat a bit.
- Recommend them to others. Remember the file of exhibitors cards? When another part of your library system or another library has a purchase to make go back to your file and see if one of our exhibitors could supply what's needed.
The Conference Committee did a great job this year in organizing registration and events so that we could all easily visit the Exhibits. We apparently did our job and visited them. Our challenge is to do an even better job next year in Richmond!
--Barbie Selby, Chair, Publications Committee
The Scoop on Scope
VLA was told only three weeks before the Annual Conference that the Scope meeting rooms would be under construction and unavailable. In order to accommodate all the sessions scheduled, makeshift rooms were set up. These rooms (in the Exhibit Hall) were unacceptable, but had to be used or the sessions would have had to be cancelled. VLA recognizes the problems speakers had and deeply apologizes to these speakers. We knew going into the conference that it was not the best situation but there were no other solutions. We will not take another conference to Scope.
--Linda Hahne, Executive Director
VLA Awards and
Recognition
The Awards and Recognition Committee would like to congratulate the following award winners for all their hard work, time and effort. The award recipients were recognized at the Annual Conference.
The George Mason Award is awarded to Nelson Worley, Director of the Library Development and Networking Division at the Library of Virginia. Nelson Worley, virtually alone, created the new Planning for Library Excellence: Standards, Guidelines, and Planning Profiles for Virginia Public Libraries, ... 2000. It is an entirely new approach to evaluating public library services in Virginia, and as such it will substantially contribute to the improvement of public library and information services. Planning for Library Excellence... will be an integral part of public library planning activities. Used in conjunction with the Public Library Association’s planning models it will offer a means for evaluating a public library’s progress, setting targets for future development and providing benchmarks for evaluating the library’s accomplishments.
The Friends of the Library Award is awarded to the Friends of the George Mason Regional Library. Through their book sale, they raised and donated funds to the Friends of the Carrollton Public Library, to assist with the rebuilding of the new Carrollton Public Library after Hurricane Floyd (September 1999). The Friends of the George Mason Regional Library contributed $30,000 to the renovation after the hurricane. This money purchased shelving, end panels, children’s room equipment and books to replace those destroyed in the flood. Helping another library in such great need is in the true spirit of the award.
The Trustee Library Award is awarded to George M. Van Sant, Vice Chair of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library Board of Trustees. George Van Sant was appointed to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library Board in 1985. During his tenure, the library evolved into a sophisticated regional system with seven branches linked with the latest in network technologies, bookmobile service to geographically remote areas and an outstanding commitment to public service. He has used his extensive civic connections to facilitate the library’s building partnerships with area agencies and cultural organizations. During this time he has been a strong, active advocate for full funding and has been a particularly loyal Friend to Virginia Libraries, making repeated local contact with our regional delegates and senators and traveling to Richmond to forcefully advocate the importance of state library funding. He was also an original founding member of the Friends of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library and has remained a Friend for years.
Minimum Starting Salary
for Librarians
The VLA Administrative and Management Forum was asked by VLA Council to investigate and recommend a minimum starting salary for new MLS librarians in the state. The recommendation was due at the September 15, 2000, VLA Council meeting. Nancy Newins at Randolph Macon, Heather Hannan at George Mason, and Libby Lewis at the Library of Virginia worked on the study throughout the summer reviewing how some of the other states determined their minimums and conducting a survey.
The following information was presented and approved by the VLA Council on September 15:
Recommended minimum starting salary for Virginia libraries: $32,500 plus necessary adjustments in urban areas of 10%.
|
Type of Library |
Salary Ranges |
Estimated Average |
|
Public Schools |
$27,000 - 32,000 |
$29,500 |
|
Public Libraries |
$12,779 - 36,850 |
$28,615 |
|
Public Academic (4 year) |
$31,000 - 34,000 |
$32,175 |
|
Private Academic (4 year) |
$20,000 - 42,000 |
$29,984 |
|
Community Colleges |
$30,000 - 35,000 |
$32,500 |
|
State Agencies |
$28,000 - 30,000 |
$29,000 |
Reports were analyzed from 51 public libraries for salary range of entry level MLS positions. Information was also requested on salaries paid to new hires with recent MLS credentials. Of the new hires, the lowest paid received $24,384 and the highest paid received $37,848.
It was very difficult to obtain exact information on new MLS hires in the public academic and community college libraries due to their ability to attract experienced staff. The figures given reflect ranges advertised.
A verbal recommendation was made to the VLA Council to review the minimum salary statement on a regular basis.
VLA Legislative
Action Center
The VLA web page is
sporting a new library resource tool-- a link to the VLA Legislative Action
Center. From
this customized legislative web site hosted by Capital Advantage you can:
·
Check
on legislation important to libraries,
·
Find
your legislators (search by ZIP code, or browse the legislative directory),
·
Write
your legislator(s) via e-mail,
·
Look up
Virginia members of Congress (includes a complete guide to the Virginia members
of the 106th Congress with biographical information, photos, and staff
members),
·
Use the
guide to the media (find contact information for media organizations in your
area, or view the complete media guide),
·
Check
issues and legislation that the VLA Legislative Committee is tracking for you,
including current bills and other important issues,
·
Check
Election 2000 for information on candidates, election dates, links and more,
·
Find
information on Virginia's Governor.
Please check
the Legislative Action Center often to keep up with the fast pace of library
issues both in Washington D.C. and in Richmond. This exciting new legislative service was approved at the
September VLA Executive Committee meeting.
PLA Consumer Health
Program
The Public Library Association, the National Library of Medicine and the Medical Library Association are sponsoring "The Public Library and Consumer Health: Meeting Community Needs Through Resource Identification and Collaboration." This two-day conference will be held January 10-11, 2001, in Washington D.C. immediately preceding the American Library Association's 2001 Midwinter Meeting.
The conference will introduce librarians and library staff to health information resources and collection development and provide training in searching health and medical information databases. Presentations of current collaborative projects, grant writing assistance and specific funding opportunities for consumer health education projects will be provided. In conjunction with this event, the NLM will offer tours of its Bethesda facility on Friday, January 12.
Onsite registration is not available for this conference. Registrations must be received by mail or fax by December 22. For more information contact PLA at (800) 545-2433, ext. 5PLA or visit the web site at http://www.pla.org.
For the first time in 15 years the United States has the honor of hosting the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) Council and General Conference. IFLA’s 67th meeting will be held next year in Boston, August 16-25, 2001. IFLA 2001 provides a chance for librarians in the United States to meet, interact, and learn from librarians from around the world, as well as an opportunity to showcase your library and library services to the global library community.
“Libraries and Librarians: Making a Difference in the Knowledge Age” is the theme for IFLA 2001, and programs and workshops will explore how libraries and librarians become effective players in the Knowledge Age of the 21st Century.
For more information on IFLA 2001 (including registration, housing, and volunteering) please visit the IFLA 2001 web site at http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla67/index.htm. If you have other questions about IFLA 2001, please contact the ALA International Relations Office at intl@ala.org, or (800) 545-2433, ext. 3201.
Beta Phi Mu 2000
The Iota Chapter of Beta Phi Mu, the international honor society of librarianship, will hold its annual Business Meeting and Initiation Ceremony on Thursday evening, November 16, 2000, at the Sumner School at 17th & M Streets NW, Washington, D.C. The guest speaker will be U.S. Senate Librarian Greg Harness. The event begins with a reception at 6 p.m. If you were initiated in another city, you may reaffiliate with Iota Chapter just by indicating that you would like to do so. Contact Kee Malesky at kmalesky@npr.org or (202) 414-2356 for more information.
People &
Happenings
Susan Gunter has joined the staff of Longwood College Library as their Electronic Resources Librarian. Before joining the staff, she worked as a Library Assistant at Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri, while completing her MLS degree from the University of Missouri. She received her degree in August 2000.
Margaret Oliver has accepted the Administrative and Program Specialist II position in Acquisitions at the Old Dominion University Libraries, effective October 10th. Margaret comes from the City of Portsmouth where she was an Office Specialist in the Police Department.
Jennifer Walters has accepted the position of Administrative and Program Specialist II in Microforms at the Old Dominion University Libraries, effective October 25th. Jennifer worked as a student assistant in the reference department at Wake Forest University. She has her BA in History from Wake Forest University.
Amanda Hankins and Marta Lee have recently accepted Reference Librarian positions at Regent University Library effective September 1 and October 1 respectively. Both are graduates of the Catholic University of America. Prior to their work at Regent, Amanda served as Homework Center Manager at Norfolk Public Library and Marta as an Assistant Librarian at the Washington Theological Union Library in Maryland.
Vicki Coleman joined the staff of the University of Virginia Library on August 25 as director of the Clemons Library. Vicki began her career as an engineer and worked in the profession for eight years. Prior to joining the UVA faculty, she was head of the Spahr Engineering Library at the University of Kansas.
Susanna Boylston is the new Librarian for User Services in the University of Virginia Library's Science and Engineering Libraries. Susanna served as Reference and Instruction Librarian at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, before joining the staff of UVA on August 25.
Jennifer Gunter has accepted a NHPRC one-year, grant funded position with the Special Collections Department in the University of Virginia Library. Jennifer began work on August 25.
Victoria Hagemeister joined the Norfolk Public Library as manager of the Janaf branch Library. Prior to her arrival in Norfolk, she was the Assistant Director of the Chesapeake Public Library and most recently a media specialist for Norfolk Public Schools. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of California and an MLS from UCLA.
VLA Council Meetings
The VLA Council meetings for 2001 will be held in Charlottesville on February 2, April 6, June 1, and September 7.
Library of Virginia
Board Meetings
The next Board meetings are scheduled for November 13 and January 19 in Richmond.
April 27, 2001
Friends of Virginia Libraries Annual Meeting
Place: Hampton Public Library
Contact: Bill Whitesides
(804) 932-8261