The VLA Jobline, located on the VLA web page, is an excellent place to advertise or search for a job. The Jobline is updated frequently and includes many different job opportunities in a variety of library settings. To submit new job listings, please contact Linda Hahne at the VLA office at (757) 583-0041 or hahne@bellatlantic.net. To search for a job, see the VLA web site at http://www.vla.org.

The VLA Council held its first meeting of the year in Charlottesville on Friday, February 12. VLA President Sandy Heinemann welcomed newcomers and continuing members of Council and thanked all for the time and energy they volunteer to the Association. Introductions followed and the minutes from the October meeting at the Annual Conference were approved.

Linda Hahne, Executive Director, reported that 748 current VLA members renewed their membership for 1999 while 114 new members joined the Association. Postcards were sent as reminders of membership renewal; however, at this time 473 past members have not renewed for this year.

Treasurer, Terry Sumey, distributed copies of the 1999 budget. This year a balanced budget was presented. The goals of the Finance Committee now are to pre-fund next year's legislative expenses and to build a reserve of one year's operating expenses. Sandy Heinemann applauded the excellent money management skills of both Terry Sumey and Linda Hahne.

Sandy then distributed copies of both the 1999 designated agenda and the strategic plan. The designated agenda focuses on four areas: advocacy and access, continuing education, finances, and membership. The specific goals for advocacy and access include developing a preliminary 2000 legislative agenda that includes carryover issues from 1999, determining additional ways to recognize legislators who have supported legislation to enhance libraries and library services, and initiating a process to research and publicize information on salaries and comparable worth issues for library personnel. Continuing education issues include studying the form, content, timing, costs and effectiveness of the annual conference, and assessing the effectiveness of the VLA Leadership Workshop and Program Planners' Workshop. Matters of finances include exploring ways to create an endowment to provide funding to support scholarships for members to attend library school, assisting the Legislative Committee in developing a strategy to pre-fund VLA's legislative liaison one year in advance, continuing to work towards securing a reserve contingency equivalent to one year's operating budget, and developing a coordinated effort to secure advertising in VLA publications. Membership issues concern establishing an ad hoc committee to explore short term activities and long term goals for membership recruitment and marketing, and strengthening the election process by encouraging VLA members to run for offices.

In her report for the Membership Committee, President-Elect Carolyn Barkley presented statistics and graphs about the demographics of VLA. This information can be used to help recruitment and retention efforts. The Committee then held a short brainstorming exercise as part of their One Minute for Membership program. Council members formed small groups and rotated through different stations to give ideas about membership recruitment, services, benefits, and retention.

Mary Mayer-Hennelly, chair of the Conference Committee, reported on this year's conference at The Homestead, titled Virginia Libraries: Values and Visions for the 21st Century. The conference will feature ALA President Ann Symons, entertainers Linda and Robin Williams, and authors David Baldacci and Lucinda Roy. Mary distributed concurrent session proposal forms and encouraged all to submit ideas for programs at the conference.

Continuing Education Committee Chair, Louveller Luster, reported that the Program Planners' Workshop in December had 26 participants and received an overall rating of excellent. Gail McGovern's book, Program Planning: Tips for Librarians, was used at the workshop. Several copies of this book are available on loan from the VLA office.

Janis Augustine, co-chair of the Legislative Committee, reported on the many activities of the House and Senate. The Committee's priorities this year are to maintain good relations with legislators, support efforts for library capital and construction, and help public law libraries.

Second Vice President, Stella Pool, thanked the members of the Administrative Services Committee for their hard work revising the VLA Manual. Replacement pages were distributed to Council members. More revisions will be received soon following the membership vote on changes to the VLA Bylaws.

Unit announcements followed, including plans for upcoming programs, and the meeting was adjourned. Council will meet next on April 9.

The VLA Paraprofessional Forum's 1999 Conference will be held on May 17-18 at the University of Richmond. This year's conference theme is "Mastering the Challenges of the 21st Century."

The Forum is proud to announce that Dale Henry will be the keynote speaker for Monday morning's opening session. Dr. Henry is a well-known seminar leader and key speaker who persuades his audience to strive toward higher achievements. His sessions are always lively and filled with humor and provide useful information. He will challenge us with his presentation entitled, "Do You Sizzle, or Do You Fizzle?"

We are also excited to have Harriett Edmunds, Special Events and Volunteer Coordinator for The Library of Virginia, as our Tuesday morning keynote speaker. She is a delightful individual who will inspire the audience with her keynote speech entitled, "What Are Challenges? Just Opportunities in Costume."

Conference attendees will have the option of attending four of the twenty-four sessions being offered that will include a variety of topics including computer-related technologies, readers' advisories, storytelling, and communication skills. Roundtable discussions will be held after lunch on Monday and will offer each attendee an opportunity to network and share ideas with colleagues on a topic of common concern.

Sunday evening arrivals may choose to attend a picnic to be held on the grounds of the University of Richmond. This picnic provides an enjoyable meal in a casual setting and gives Sunday evening arrivals an opportunity to begin networking.

On Monday evening, conference attendees may attend a tee-shirt social that will include refreshments, door prizes, a D.J., and dancing. We encourage those who are attending the social to wear their most outstanding or unusual tee-shirt in order to join in the fun of the tee-shirt contest. Those in last year's contest modeled their library tee-shirts, shirts with environmental messages, and shirts from far away places, such as Australia.

After the buffet luncheon on Tuesday afternoon, our closing speaker will be Connie Elliott. Ms. Elliott is the Director of Tourism for Anderson County, Tennessee, and she is a member of Toastmasters. It seems only fitting that her session should be entitled, "What Have We Learned and Where Do We Go from Here?!"

The VLAPF members feel that this year's conference will provide many opportunities for professional development, and we invite each of you to join us at the University of Richmond on May 17-18. For more information you may contact Suzanne Leacy at (703) 361-8211 (slleacy@aol.com) or Don Socia at (703) 284-1642 (don.socia@marymount.edu).

Goal 3 of VLA’s Strategic Plan is "to extend and enhance appropriate and relevant services in support of the membership, publicize those services and strengthen the organizational framework of the Association." The 1999 Designated Agenda, approved by Council at its February meeting, establishes an ad hoc committee under the leadership of Carolyn Barkley, Vice President/President-Elect to "explore both short term activities and long term goals for membership recruitment and marketing."

Carolyn formed the Ad-Hoc Membership Committee in January. The committee includes the six region chairs, the chairs of the Academic, Public and School Library Sections, the co-chairs of the Paraprofessional Forum, the chair of the New Members’ Forum and the Second Vice President as chair of the Administrative Services Committee.

The committee’s first report at the February Council meeting launched the 1999 Membership Drive program: One Minute for Membership: Be a Member/Get a Member. The Ad-Hoc Committee is focusing first on short term activities to increase the membership by 5 % over the 1998 total of 1,220 members. Committee members are researching the potential pool of members and describing the current membership in order to detail specific plans and strategies to increase membership. In addition, the members are developing the list of activities that will move us from the current reality of our membership to our vision for membership by October. The April Council meeting will feature a final presentation outlining activities for the 1999 One Minute for Membership campaign.

The final focus for the Committee will be a strategic membership recruitment and retention plan in order to sustain annual membership growth.

What can you do right now?

• Find a membership form – if you don’t have one, contact Linda Hahne, Executive Director

• Find a colleague or friend who would like to share in the benefits of VLA membership
• Send that form to the VLA office!

Freedom of Information Day is a national celebration of both the birthday of James Madison and the ideals of open access to information. Every year, on March 16th, the Intellectual Freedom Committee represents VLA at a wreath laying ceremony at Madison's grave in Montpelier. Along with other presenters, including an honor guard representing the President of the United States, we lay a wreath at Madison's grave to commemorate him and his commitment to intellectual freedom.

James Madison, known as the "Father of the Constitution," was a central figure in the early government of the United States. Madison had an instrumental role in the creation of the Virginia Constitution, which helped to provide the framework and guiding principles of the United States Constitution. In public service, Madison served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and was later elected to our newly formed Congress. As a member of Congress, Madison authored the Constitution's Bill of Rights, whose First Amendment supports our freedom of information. In 1809, Madison succeeded Thomas Jefferson to become the fourth President of the United States, an office he held until 1817.

In a letter to W. T. Barry on August 4, 1822, Madison wrote "A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

Freedom of Information Day honors James Madison and his belief in the public's right to know. Libraries serve as a major conduit between the public and the information vital to their citizenship. That citizens should have an unfettered right to governmental information is a fundamental ideal that has been held for over two hundred years of our nation's history. As our society changes, and as ways to access information multiply, it is our responsibility, as keepers and providers of information in all forms, to ensure that all citizens retain their right to access and that their government continues to provide open access to information created and maintained at taxpayer expense. The belief that citizens have the right to be made aware of, and to obtain for their own review, government information is critical in sustaining an electorate armed with knowledge of its own representatives' actions and which can then act responsibly in shaping its own society.

Since the early 1900's the libraries of America have collected, organized, and served as depositories for government documents. The Intellectual Freedom Committee invites you all to celebrate this proud tradition on March 16, 1999. Virginia libraries can be especially proud of our support for Madison's ideals, our historic commitment to the open access of information, and of the fact that we are able to claim Madison as one of our own.

The Library of Virginia Board met in Richmond on January 22. Much of the meeting was devoted to background information and discussion concerning budgetary and legislative amendments that would affect the operations or governance of the Library of Virginia. There are two budget amendments that appear to have widespread acceptance; one would fund the operations of the Records Center, on schedule to open on July 1, 1999, and the other addresses the Y2K computer problem. The fate of a third amendment that addresses the archival backlog problem is still unclear. Two other budget amendments have already been introduced. The first proposes an additional $2.8 million to fund the second year of the Legislature's 3-year commitment to fund fully the State Aid formula. The second asks for funding for the first phase of Infopowering the Commonwealth, the public library technology plan.

The proposed legislative bills include the following:

• House Bill 1043 deals with local acceptable use Internet policies.
• House Bill 1115 deals with securing the benefits of access to information technology for blind or visually-impaired individuals.
• House Bill 1501 would repeal Code of Virginia Section 42.1-53 that allows the Library of Virginia to recover costs of administering State Aid up to 30 percent.
• House Bill 1561 mandates the immediate use of computer hardware and software to inhibit library patron access through library computers to obscenity, pornography, etc.

One additional bill, House Bill 2402 and Senate Bill 1261 (a joint bill) would establish as a Legislative agency an 11-member commission on the Library of Virginia. The Library Board sees potential problems with this commission because the wording leaves it unclear as to what the commission powers and prerogatives would be vis-à-vis the Library Board. On the other hand the Library Board views as a positive development the interest of the legislature in problems of the Library of Virginia.

In other business it was reported that total visitation in 1998 was 151,223, more than three times the number of just a few years ago, and that the average monthly conservation and preservation budget of nearly $28,000.00 surpasses the annual yearly total of four or five years ago. Pat Muller, the new Children's Consultant, was introduced to the Library Board. The new edition of "Planning for Library Excellence" is in the comment stage and will probably be submitted to Public Library Development in the fall. SNUAB has two new members: Fran Freimarck of Pamunkey Regional Library will represent small public libraries, and Loretta O'Brien Parham of Hampton University will represent private academic libraries.

The Library of Virginia will mount a new display in April, a cartographic exhibit entitled "Mapping Virginia." The annual fund drive of the Library of Virginia Foundation is on track. Nolan Yelich, the state Librarian, reported on the greatly improved relations that exist between the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Genealogical Society. He also announced the formation of an LSTA advisory committee that will provide guidance as to how LSTA funds will be allocated in the future.

The next Board meeting will be on Monday March 22, probably in Charlottesville.

--Alan M. Bernstein, VLA Observer to LVA Board.

The Virginia Association of Law Libraries is hosting a debate between Virginia Delegate Robert Marshall and Law Professor Rodney Smolla on the censorship issues involved in placing filters on public access terminals in the public libraries. Frosty Landon, Executive Director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government will serve as the moderator of what promises to be a lively discussion. The debate is scheduled for Saturday, March 27th and is part of the VALL Annual Meeting to be held in Charlottesville on March 26-27 at the University of Virginia Law School Library.

The Friday programs include discussions on employer monitoring of employee e-mail, copyright issues in cyberspace and electronic access to Virginia court records. For more information contact, VALL president-elect, Gail Zwirner, Reference/Research Services Librarian, University of Richmond Law School, gzwirner@uofrlaw.richmond.edu, (804) 287-6555.

Laura Turner has joined the staff of Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University as Technical Services Librarian and Assistant Professor. She is a recent graduate of the University of Texas, Austin library school with prior paraprofessional experience at the College of William and Mary.

Mary H. Sawyer, formerly Adult Services Director at the Williamsburg Regional Library, is the Head of Access Services at the Earl Gregg Swem Library of the College of William and Mary.

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

The next Board meeting is scheduled for: March 22.

Debate on Internet Filters

Sponsor: Virginia Association of Law Libraries

Place: Charlottesville

Contact: Gail Zwirner

National Library Legislative Day

Washington, D.C.

Sponsor: Region 2

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

VLA Annual Conference

The Homestead