The Local History and Genealogy Forum's program "Expand Your Genealogy Service

Without Expanding Your Budget" was cancelled on September 16 due to the effects of Hurricane Floyd. The Forum has rescheduled this program for Thursday, November 18, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Contact Gail Tatum at (804) 692-3558 or gtatum@vsla.edu for more information.

The Library of Virginia Board met on Monday, September 20, 1999, Bobbie B. Hudson presiding. The board was invited to stand and observe a moment of silence in honor of past board chairman Roy Cabell. New board members were welcomed and given a briefing of their responsibilities by Allison Landry from the Justice Department. After approving the agenda the public was invited to address the board. Ann Friedman, president of VPLDA, spoke to the board about two issues of great importance to the public library community; full funding of the state aid formula and Infopowering. She stated that she would keep the board informed of our progress in these two areas and asked for the board's support in the coming months. VLA president Sandy Heinemann spoke of how the cooperative efforts of the past year have helped achieve the common goal of creating the best libraries for all Virginia citizens. Bill Thomas, Vice President of Friends of the Archives, announced their annual meeting, coming October 23, 1999, in Richmond. SNUAB chair Cindy Church brought the only action item to the attention of the board when she announced that it was the recommendation of SNUAB to formally dissolve VLIN by December 31, 1999.

The Archival and Information Services Committee reported that 152,000 visitors came to the library last year, with most coming from Virginia, Texas, Maryland and California. The legislative committee looking into reorganization of the Library of Virginia submitted its final report, noting that the library was a "true treasure" with broad support. The great need for more microfilm readers was stressed, there being 30 readers with lengthy waits for patrons who are then allowed only two hours use of a machine.

The Collection Management Committee reported that the LVA budget includes $500,000 for materials and it is the goal to bring that to $1,000,000 a year. Also reported was the need to rewrite the collection development policy which was written in 1992. Current collection development policies exist for each department and there is a need to incorporate all these into a single institution-wide policy. Committee chair Leona Wilkins also said she wished to augment the committee with citizen members.

The Budget and Finance Committee reported that the 2000-2002 budget would be sent to the state budget office Monday the 20th and that this was the first time that the library was allowed to request full funding for state aid and money for Infopowering. The library was asking for six non-general fund positions and three general fund positions as well as $1,000,000 for collection development and for money for the 2007 celebration, which would include three positions. The committee requested that the board give its endorsement to all the budget decisions, which the board did unanimously.

The Public Library Development Committee again reported that VLIN would terminate as of December 31, 1999. The first rounds of LSTA grants had been accepted, those for assistive technology and for matching enhancement grants. The LSTA committee will meet and make recommendations by November. To date, a little more than $900,000 had been awarded in E-rate grants to Virginia public libraries. Projected state aid grants were distributed but it was stated that these were most definitely projections. The committee chair asked that Ann Friedman and Bess Haile be reappointed to the committee as citizen members. At this time the board voted unanimously to dissolve VLIN.

The Publications Committee reported about the upcoming 2007 events. The library plans to publish Governor Sir William Berkeley's papers. In other news, Warren Billings from the University of New Orleans has written a history of the General Assembly of Virginia from 1619-1700. He has offered it to the library for publication. This offer comes essentially without strings and the board was asked to authorize the publication of this work. In a unanimous vote the board did so.

The Records Management Committee spoke of the coming dedication of the Records Center and on how the new center is functioning. Staff has prepared a site orientation handbook that is heavy on safety procedures and will be rewriting the regulations this fall. A records retention schedule for governor's papers is being developed with help from the present administration to make this a more smooth procedure in the future.

The Library of Virginia Foundation reported that they had met their annual fund goal of $83,000. In her report from the chair, Bobbie Hudson praised the foundation for their work, especially the Virginia Author's celebration and expressed excitement and enthusiasm about the coming year.

State Librarian Nolan Yelich congratulated Ms. Hudson on her reappointment and praised library staff, which stands now at 210. He spoke of Roy Cabell and his genuine love and concern for the library, the collection and the staff. He spoke in praise of Secretary Bryant who allowed the library to present to the governor, for the first time in a long time, the real issues and needs of the institution. He spoke of Celebration 2007, saying that the governor's budget will determine much of the scope of the celebration but he was pleased to say that LVA will take a leadership role in the project.

Under new business the board set the schedule for the coming year. There was also a proposal to change the by-laws to require a minimum of 5 meetings a year. This constituted announcement of a by-law change, to be voted on in a future meeting. In another action item, Mr. Gilbert Butler presented a new compensation policy for board members. The per diem of $50 is to be for regular scheduled board meetings only and the procedure for board members to attend other meetings will be that the board member will seek permission form the LVA Board Chair. This procedure was adopted unanimously by the board.

The schedule of meetings for the coming year was set as follows: November 15, 1999, January 20, 2000, March 13, 2000 in Danville, Virginia, and June 18-19, 2000.

--Bess Haile

The $2,500 American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) Collaborative School Library Media Award, sponsored by Winnebago Software Company, recognizes and encourages collaboration and partnerships between school library media specialists and teachers. To apply for the award, applicants are expected to have met educational goals outlined in "Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning" through joint planning of a program, unit, or event in support of the curriculum and using media center resources. Applicants must be AASL personal members. The deadline for applications is February 1, 2000. Applications for this and other AASL awards are available on the AASL website at www.ala.org/aasl/awards2000.html or by calling the AASL office at (800) 545-2433, ext. 4383.

The Business Reference and Services Section (BRASS) of ALA/RUSA is seeking nominations for the first annual BRASS Dun & Bradstreet Public Librarian Support Award. This is an award of $1,000 to attend the 2000 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Public librarians who have performed outstanding business reference service and who require financial assistance to attend the conference are welcome to apply. Candidates must be members of BRASS/RUSA (there is still time to join). The recipient shall have a demonstrated interest in pursuing a career as a business reference librarian and the potential to be a leader in the profession. Nominations are to be made in writing by December 15, 1999 to committee chair Susan Goshorn, Allen County Public Library, 900 Webster Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, phone (219) 421-1216, fax (219) 422-9688, email sgoshorn@acpl.lib.in.us. Nominating letters should describe why an individual should be recognized for the award. For more information, see the BRASS website at http://www.ala.org/rusa/brass/dbpl.html.

The notice section of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II Regulations (35.106) requires that all public entities, including public libraries and library districts, inform employees and the public of the ADA's applicability to their governmental activities, programs, and services, and of the protections against discrimination assured by the ADA. To meet the requirements of the ADA, each library should provide notice and offer the information in forms accessible to individuals with disabilities. To simplify compliance, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is offering ADA Notice Kits which contain ADA notices in print, large print, Braille, audio cassettes and computer diskettes. The kits contain information on local government program accessibility, reasonable accommodation, effective communication, employment practices, and information resources, as required by law. The text in the kits has been reviewed by the ADA Technical Assistance Center, Region V. For information about ordering and prices, call toll free (877) ADA-KITS (877/232-5487), fax (877) 640-1430 or write ADA Kit - ICMA Project, 56 Salem Lane, Evanston, IL 60203.

Todd Elliott, children's librarian at the Norfolk Public Library, has been promoted to branch manager of the Park Place Branch. Elliott was the librarian for the Bookmobile and the Barron F. Black Homework Center. Prior to joining Norfolk Public Library, Elliott was reference librarian at Tidewater Community College and worked in children services, technical services and outreach at the University of South Carolina. Elliott earned a BA in history and an MLIS from the University of South Carolina.

Norfolk Public Library welcomes Rene Perez-Lopez as the new branch manager of the Jordan-Newby Branch. Perez-Lopez retired from Virginia Wesleyan College where he was library director and vice president for information systems. Prior to joining Virginia Wesleyan, Perez-Lopez worked for the Norfolk Public Library for 15 years. He has a BA in Inter-American Studies from SUNY, an MA in political science from Case Western Reserve, and an MLS from SUNY.

Josephine Schaffer joins the Norfolk Public Library as branch manager of the Janaf Branch Library. Schaffer was a children's department manager for the Chesapeake Public Library. Prior to this, she was a branch manager with the Petersburg Public Library. Schaffer earned a BS in English at Old Dominion University and an MSLS at the University of Kentucky.

Joy Suh is the new Government Documents/Geography Liaison at George Mason

University. Suh will be responsible for reference and instruction services encompassing federal and state documents, as well as maps and GIS. Prior to working at GMU, she held the position of Government Publications/GIS coordinator at Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, since 1996. Suh holds her MLS from the University of Iowa and an MA in Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is originally from Seoul, South Korea.

Matt Wier has joined the Documents Staff at the Library of Virginia as State Documents Librarian. He has a newly minted MLS from the University of Missouri, Columbia. Wier will serve as the primary state agency contact for the Virginia State Documents Depository Program and will work with state documents depository staff around the state. He will also have reference duties in the Documents Reading Room at LVA.

Gladys Roberts Caywood, 68, died on October 10, 1999. She was born in Sneedville, Tennessee and retired in 1991 as a supervisor of Library Media Services of Newport News public schools after 27 years of service. She was a member of William and Mary Education Alumna, Virginia Educational Media Association, Virginia Library Association, Southeastern Library Association, International Association of School Librarianship, Newport News Public Library Board, and the book chairwoman of Friends of Newport News Public Libraries.

More than 38,000 children attending public schools in Norfolk received a new library card in September as part of the library's "Card for Every Kid" campaign in honor of National Library Card Sign-Up Month. Each student received their inactivated library card during school, along with library information and a registration form. Partnership with the school system enabled the library to reach every child in grades K through 12.

Board meetings are scheduled for November 15, 1999 and January 20, March 13 and June 18-19, 2000.

Sponsor: Local History and Genealogy Forum

Place: Library of Virginia

Contact: Gail Tatum

(804) 692-3558

gtatum@vsla.edu

VLA Legislative Day

Friends of Virginia Libraries (FOVL) Annual Meeting

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Place: Central Rappahannock Regional Library

Contact: Bill Whitesides