The membership of VLA will elect two new officers this year during the fall election: Vice President/President-Elect and Secretary. The Nominating Committee will accept recommendations for each office through May 15. The selections of the Nominating Committee will be announced in the May issue of the VLA Newsletter.

To submit recommendations for nomination or to receive a nomination form, please contact: Lis Chabot, Chair, Nominating Committee, (540) 887-7085, fax (540) 887-7297, email: lchabot@cit.mbc.edu.

The Library of Virginia Board met in Richmond on February 23. Nolan Yelich, the State Librarian, reported that the Strategic Plan planning process for the years 1998-2000 has begun and that a draft should be ready by early May.

The Executive Committee reported that the Library of Virginia is working under extremely tight budget constraints and is seeking solutions to this problem.

The Library of Virginia Foundation Committee has set the annual fund drive goal at $75,000.00.

Alison Paige Landry, an Assistant Attorney General who is the Board’s legal representative, discussed some of the legal issues that fall under the purview of the Automation and Networking Committee. She stated that on a philosophical basis the Commonwealth supports the preservation of regional (as opposed to nationwide) decision making when it comes to issues such as internet access, filtering of web sites, etc. The Commonwealth believes that the State or the localities should deal with such issues, rather than the Federal government or the Federal judiciary. She also stated her belief that the issue of library filtering will not go away soon, and if the State or the Library of Virginia wants to participate in a lawsuit (such as the one in Loudoun County) they should do so in a friend-of-the-court capacity rather than as a part to the lawsuit.

The Friends of the Library Special Committee reported that 78 public libraries have Friends groups.

The Library Volunteers Special Committee presented a report from Kate Wanderer, Director of Volunteer Programs at Fairfax County Public Library, on its extensive volunteer program.

The Recognition of Outstanding Libraries Committee reported that the Virginia Library Association felt that it was inappropriate for it to identify or publicize outstanding libraries.

The meeting ended with a lively discussion dealing with supporting or opposing Senate Bill 561. This bill, which was carried over until 1999, deals with changing the powers of the Library of Virginia Board to make it a supervisory rather than a policy board.

The next two meetings of the Board are April 6 and May 18. -- Alan M. Bernstein, VLA Observer to LVA Board.

The theme of this year’s National Library Week, held on April 19-25 and sponsored by ALA, is "Kids Connect @ the Library." It will focus on the role of libraries in connecting their communities with the books, computers and other resources they need to live, learn and work in a global society. This marks the 40th anniversary of the event which was first observed in 1958 with the theme "Wake Up and Read." In addition to programs for the public, ALA President Barbara J. Ford is urging librarians, trustees and Friends of Libraries to make a special effort to invite local, state and federal lawmakers to visit during National Library Week to see for themselves how libraries serve their constituents.

The SLA 89th Annual Conference will take place on June 6-11 in Indianapolis. This year’s theme is "Leadership, Performance, Excellence: Information Professionals in the Driver's Seat." Stan Davis, noted author and business consultant, is the featured speaker at the Special General Session. He will focus on how to build knowledge-for-profit companies that produce "smart" products and services. Some of the programs planned for the conference are "Copyright for Knowledge Managers," "Electronic Serials in the Future," "Librarians & Unions," "Proposal Writing," and "In-House Library Marketing." Featured continuing education courses include "Building the Corporate Intranet Knowledge Center," "Benchmarking for Strategic Performance Improvement," "Team Concepts for Emerging Organizational Architectures," and "Guidelines for Successfully Teaching the Internet." For more information about the conference, email meetings@sla.org or visit the SLA web site at http://www.sla.org.

The 1998 Council on Library/Media Technicians Conference will be held at the Washington Marriott Hotel in D.C. on June 24-27. This year’s theme is "Support Staff Building for the Future: the Blueprint, the Tools, the Power." American Library Association President-Elect Ann K. Symons will deliver the keynote address on the subject of intellectual freedom. Other program topics will include team building, public speaking, cultural diversity in the workplace, and the changing roles of professional and paraprofessional librarians in the coming millennium. The conference will conclude with a Library of Congress tour of the Jefferson Building. For additional information, contact Diane S. Welsh, (202) 434-6242.

ALA will hold its conference "Global Reach... Local Touch" from June 25 through July 1 in Washington, D.C. Renowned author Amy Tan will speak at the Opening General Session. In addition to the wide variety of programs offered by the many divisions and round tables during the conference, several preconferences will take place on Thursday and Friday. The All Conference Reception will be held in the recently restored 1897 Thomas Jefferson Building. The Main Reading Room, also newly restored, will be open for tours. Many library schools will participate in the Cooperative Library & Information Studies Alumni Reunion and several schools will hold separate reunions. For more information about the conference, contact the American Library Association Conference Services at (800) 545-2433 or visit the ALA web site at http://www.ala.org.

Ann Symons, ALA Vice President/President Elect, has worked with a subcommittee of the presidential advisory group to draft an intellectual freedom statement for the 21st century. The draft, titled Libraries: An American Value, can be found on the ALA web site at http://www.ala.org/alaorg/pe/statement.html. The ultimate goal of the subcommittee is to circulate the document as widely as possible, gather input from members, edit the draft, seek endorsements, and forward the document to the ALA Council for approval at the 1999 Midwinter Meeting. The subcommittee encourages ALA members and others to discuss the draft statement and to send comments or suggestions prior to the ALA Annual Conference in Washington D.C. in June. An email comment form is included on the statement’s web page.

The Children’s Book Council recently debuted its newly revised web site CBC Online at www.cbcbooks.org. Featuring a dynamic home page by children’s book artist Max Grover, special interest pages for parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, authors, illustrators and publishers, and three new monthly online columns, the refurbished site offers something for everyone with an interest in children or children’s books.

On April 1, 1998, the Virginia Historical Society will release the latest in a series of guides to its manuscript collections. Virginia’s Civil War: A Guide to the Manuscripts at the Virginia Historical Society contains an extensive listing of Civil War-related letters, diaries and military records in the Historical Society’s holdings. Among more than a thousand collection entries are those that provide access to the papers of prominent military leaders, such as Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. Stuart, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, and Jubal Early; important political figures, including Jefferson Davis, Henry A. Wise, and R. M. T. Hunter; numerous Union and Confederate prisoners of war; and the countless men and women whose experiences help define this important event in American history.

Kimberley K. Armentrout is the new director of the Powhatan Public Library. She received her M.L.S. from Syracuse University, and her B.A. in English from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She has worked as Head & Resource Librarian at the International School of Stavanger in Norway and was a Reading Instructor at the Holloman Air Force Base Library in New Mexico.

Althea Aschmann has accepted the position of Principal Cataloger at Virginia Tech. She received her M.L.S. from Kent State University and her Bachelor of Music from the University of Kansas. She has been the Head of Technical Services at Emporia State University in Kansas for the last three years.

Kelly McBride, Assistant Director of Public Services at the John Cook Wylie Library at Clinch Valley College, and Jane Sullivan, Library Manager at Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg, participated in a recent librarians’ study tour of Northern Ireland. The tour, sponsored by the British Council, included visits to public and university libraries and archives as well as the Ulster American Folk Park and the Seamus Heaney Poetry Center in Bellaghy.

Maryann Bork, president of the Friends of the Tellico Village Library, received the FOLUSA/HarperCollins Publishers Award in Honor of Barbara Kingsolver. The $10,000 award will be used to purchase books for the library.

The Loudoun County Public Library in Leesburg is the 1998 recipient of the Facts On File Grant, presented by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of ALA. The $2,000 grant is given to a library for a proposal that makes current affairs more meaningful to an adult audience.

VLA Council meetings will be held in Charlottesville at the Central Library, McIntire Room on April 3 and the Northside Library on June 12 and September 11.

The next Board meetings are scheduled for April 6 and May 18.

Sponsor: LAMA and Williamsburg Regional Library

Place: Williamsburg, VA

Contact: Susan Pitard

(757) 259-7737

spitard@mail.wrl.org

Sponsor: College of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland

Place: Richmond, VA

Contact: Robin Albert

(301) 405-2057

ra67@umail.umd.edu

Sponsor: College of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland

Place: College Park, MD

Contact: Robin Albert

(301) 405-2057

ra67@umail.umd.edu

National Library Week

Sponsor: College of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland

Place: College Park, MD

Contact: Robin Albert

(301) 405-2057

ra67@umail.umd.edu

National Meeting of the Center for the Book, Washington, DC

National Library Legislative Day, Washington, DC

Sponsor: CYART

Place: Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, Charlottesville

Contact: Scott Phillips

(540) 372-1160

sphillip@crrl.org

Sponsor: TSAR

Place: Library of Virginia

Contact: Elizabeth Sudduth

(804) 752-7258

esudduth@rmc.edu

Sponsor: VLA Paraprofessional Forum

Place: University of Richmond

Contact: Mary Fran Nash

(804) 395-2450

mnash@longwood.lwc.edu

or Lydia Williams

(804) 395-2432

lwilliam@longwood.lwc.edu

Sponsor: Local History, Genealogy & Oral History Forum and NMRT

Place: Library of Virginia

Contact: Gail Tatum

(804) 692-3558

Sponsor: College of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland

Place: College Park, MD

Contact: Robin Albert

(301) 405-2057

ra67@umail.umd.edu

Sponsor: Region IV

Place: Virginia Commonwealth University

Contact: Sally Jacobs

(804) 828-1101

saljacob@hsc.vcu.edu

VLA/VEMA Annual Conference, Virginia Beach