The ballot on VLA's proposed amendments to the bylaws closed on February 27. An overwhelming majority of the votes cast were in favor of the amendments to the bylaws. The amended bylaws will be incorporated into the revised VLA manual which is due out this spring. If you have questions about the amendments or the revision to the VLA manual, please contact 2nd Vice President Stella Pool.

The Region V Steering Committee is developing a series of Brown Bag discussions on the theme: How Technology Has Changed Our World: The Customer, The Collection, and Me. The first in the series of discussions is scheduled for Wednesday, May 26, in the Community Room at the Chinn Park Regional Library, 13065 Chinn Park Drive, Prince William, Virginia. Doors will open at 11:30, and discussion will begin at 12:00, lasting until 1:00 p.m. The focus will be on the customer, and we invite you to join us for a lunchtime discussion that will surely be thought-provoking. Discussion will touch upon such issues as:

• How do we learn the needs of the customer?
• Has our customer base changed?
• Why do they come to the library?
• What do they need that we don't have?
• What do they like that we do have?

In keeping with the theme of the series, future discussion sessions are planned for July and September, 1999. The July event will focus on "The Collection," and is tentatively scheduled for July 20th. The September event will focus on "Me," and will address the impact of technology on library professionals.

Further details regarding these events will be forthcoming. For more information about the May session or the series, please contact the Region V Co-Chairs: Sandra Beeson (sbeeson@nv.cc.va.us, 703-323-3096) or Maggie Zarnosky (nvbruin@nv.cc.va.us, 703-845-6017).

Applications are available for 1999 workshops for the "LIVE at the Library" project sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office. "LIVE at the Library" is a national training project designed to help librarians develop and support programs that bring cultural events, such as author readings, book discussions and performances, to their libraries. It is an initiative of ALA with major support from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Workshops are scheduled for April 20 in Dallas, as a preconference to the Texas Library Association Annual Conference; May 14 in Portland, Oregon; June 25 in New Orleans as a pre-conference to the ALA Annual Conference; September 24 in White Plains, New York, during the "New York Is Book Country" literary festival; and November 12 in Palm Springs, California, as a preconference to the California Library Association Annual Conference.

The training focuses on starting, expanding or sustaining cultural programming at the library; contacting authors, performers and other presenters for programs; planning and evaluating events; and taking advantage of resources that can support programs. Workshops are specifically geared toward individuals working in libraries with responsibility for programs that attract public audiences.

Workshop participants will receive a full day of training, a complete set of seminar materials including a Program Planners Guide and ongoing technical assistance. Participants also will have an opportunity to apply for program funds to support cultural programs through an additional application procedure with a one-to-one required match.

For more information, visit the ALA Public Programs Office Web site at http://www.ala.org/publicprograms or contact Chris Watkins at (312) 280-5412.

The American Association of Law Libraries will hold its 92nd Annual Meeting on July 17-21 in Washington, D.C. The title of this meeting is At the Crossroads: Information Management, Technology, Policy. The meeting will feature more than 70 cutting-edge educational programs covering topics such as the impact of electronic publishing on legal education and legal scholarship; the universal citation system for legal materials; access to information from the federal and state courts; and preservation of federal agency electronic records. Programs are organized into the subject tracks of Management, Technology, Information Access and Policy; Foreign, Comparative and International Law; and Technical Services. For more information about the meeting, contact Timothy L. Coggins at (804) 289-8218 or consult the AALL web page at http://www.aallnet.org

The Virginia Writers Club is holding its first Mid-Atlantic Literary Gathering in Charlottesville on November 12-14. One of the core offerings of the meeting will be the presentation of literary papers, including creative criticism, fiction, non-fiction and poetry, by select attendees. The Virginia Writers Club invites writers to submit manuscripts for review. Membership in the Club is not required and the Club encourages the active attendance of non-members. For more information about the Gathering, contact Sofia M. Starnes at (757) 220-8595 or whsstarnes@widomaker.com.

Elizabeth Hogue has accepted the position of Humanities Reference Librarian at Old Dominion University Library. Previously, she held positions as the Evening Reference and Instructional Services Librarian at the University of Southern Maine, Gorham campus and as a Senior Assistant Librarian in the Reference Department at Clark Library, San Jose State University in San Jose, California. She received her B.A. in Theatre Arts-Drama and her M.L.S. from San Jose State University.

Patricia Pearl Dole, former school and church librarian from Richmond, Virginia, has published an annotated bibliography entitled Children's Books About Religion. It includes almost 700 critical evaluations of books with distinct religious themes for children from preschool to middle school. Coverage ranges from age-appropriate reference materials to folktales, prose, poetry, plays and picture books.

The Richmond Public Library has been named a winner of the 1999 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations award, which recognizes and honors outstanding achievement in library public relations. The awards are sponsored by The H.W. Wilson Company and the Library Administration and Management Association, a division of the American Library Association, and are presented annually to only ten libraries nationwide. Richmond Public Library's winning entry was "Goin' to the Library," a video introduction to its services, facilities and materials for children aged 6-14.

Mainstream Loudoun, a Virginia-based, grassroots organization, has been named winner of the 1999 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award for Intellectual Freedom, presented by the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Round Table. Mainstream Loudoun was selected for its role in Mainstream Loudoun v. Board of Trustees of Loudoun County Library, in which the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the highly restrictive Internet policy imposed on Loudoun County libraries was invalid under the free speech provisions of the First Amendment.

VLA Council meetings will be held in Charlottesville at the Northside Library on April 9, June 11, and September 10.

National Library Legislative Day

Washington, D.C.

Sponsor: Region II

Place: Lynchburg

Contact: Lorry Risinger

(804) 847-1565, ext. 225

risindl@ci.lynchburg.va.us

Friends of Virginia Libraries (FOVL) Annual Meeting

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Place: Bedford Public Library

Contact: Bill Whitesides

Sponsor: VLA Paraprofessional Forum

Place: University of Richmond

Contact: Suzanne Leacy

or Don Socia

Sponsor: Multi-Cultural Forum and Public Services Forum

Place: University of Virginia

Contact: Sarah Wiggins

(202) 994-2092

mlbsaw@gwumc.edu

Sponsor: Region V

Place: Chinn Park Regional Library

Contact: Maggie Zarnosky

(703) 845-6017

nvbruin@nv.cc.va.us

Sponsor: Public Documents Forum

Place: Old Dominion University

Contact: Janet Justis

(757) 683-4169

jjustis@odu.edu

American Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

VLA Annual Conference

The Homestead