October/November/December 2016
People
Appomattox Regional Library System
 BRIAN MANNING has been named as the new Regional Library Director for the Appomattox Regional Library System, serving the city of Hopewell, town of McKenney, Prince George County, and Dinwiddie County. Manning formerly served as Deputy Director of the Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center in North Carolina, a post he held from August 2008 until coming to ARLS in July 2016. Prior to entering the library profession, the graduate of Washington & Lee University Law School was a civil law attorney. He received his MLS in 2006 at North Carolina Central University.
North Suffolk Library
 ASHLEY REED is the new Library Services Coordinator at North Suffolk Library. She will be coordinating programming on their Library2Go vehicle as well as providing direction for adult programming. Ashley attended Old Dominion University and received her Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics. For the past five years, she has worked in various capacities with adults learning English as a second language.
 JILLIAN ZELLER is the new Library Locations Services Coordinator for North Suffolk Library. She will be supervising and coordinating front desk staff, analyzing processes and procedures, and handling any facilities issues when needed at any of their branches. Jillian has been working with the Youth and Family Services department since April doing programming and outreach for Suffolk Families but comes to us with extensive supervisory experience working for a commercial oil company, as a Maritime Center Specialist at Nauticus and as a Recreation Leader in several capacities. She has a Bachelor’s in Human Development from Binghampton University, State University of New York.
Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library
 SALENA SULLIVAN is the new Branch Supervisor of the Christiansburg Library of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library. Before joining MFRL, she worked at Roanoke Public Libraries. She has a Master’s in Library and Information Sciences from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Harvard University.
Northern Virginia Community College
 HEATHER BLICHER, online learning librarian at Northern Virginia Community College, has been named the 2017 recipient of the Routledge Distance Learning Librarianship Conference Sponsorship Award.
This annual $1,200 award, sponsored by Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, and administrated by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Distance Learning Section (DLS), honors an ACRL member working in the field of, or contributing to, the success of distance learning librarianship or related library service in higher education. The award and plaque will be presented at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.
“Heather Blicher has proved her dedication to distance librarianship through many professional contributions and service,” said award co-chairs Rebecca Nowicki of Ashford University and Brandon West of the State University of New York Geneseo. “As a sole librarian at North Virginia Community College, Blicher used technology to coordinate and lead a sustainable embedded librarian program to serve a large student population and was instrumental in the success of the Northern Virginia Community College Open Educational Resources initiatives. We are honored to acknowledge her many contributions to distance learning librarianship.” Blicher received her M.L.I.S. from Florida State University.
Prince William Public Library System
 CONNIE GILMAN retired on October 31, 2016, after 26 years with the Prince William Public Library system. Her experience as a librarian spans 42 years — beginning as a junior high school librarian after graduating from Miami University. She earned her MSLS from the University of Kentucky in 1976. Connie was a middle school librarian in Henrico County, Virginia and in Kirkwood, Missouri.
In 1985, Connie and her family returned to Virginia and she entered the University of Virginia and earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration. Her goal then was to become a dean of an academic library. Connie however, took a part-time position with the Prince William Public Library System and as they write; the rest is history.
After being a part-time librarian for 4 years, she took a part-time administration positon as the Sunday Supervisor at the newly opening Bull Run Regional Library. In 2000 Connie accepted eh position of Branch Administrator at Chinn Park Regional Library. In 2013 she became the Director of the Prince William Public Library System — a goal she had worked toward for a number of years.
Connie has been a member of ALA since 1376 — she served on the Int. F. Com. of the Missouri Public Library Association and served on the Mark Twain Award Committee. Connie has been active in the Virginia Library Association — serving on Int. Fr. Awards Scholarship, Committees — chairing the Awards and Nominating Committee for several years. In 2006 (or 7) she joined the new Leadership Development Forum — helping develop the Virginia Library Leadership Academy.
Connie proudly served as Secretary to VLA and then President in 2012.
Happenings
Loudoun County Public Library Receives National Award for Collaboration with Schools
LOUDON COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY has earned a 2106 Achievement Award in the Children and Youth Category from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for “Journeys of my life / Viajes de mi Vida.” The program was a collaboration between the Loudoun County Public Library and Loudoun County Public Schools that celebrated literacy, creativity, and heritage.
The project blended the themes of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “Latino Americans: 500 Years of History” grant awarded to the Loudoun County Public Library, and the Loudoun Country Public School’s “One to-the World” initiative, which asks students to address a problem, create a product, and connect with the world.
Working in teams with public and school librarians, and teachers from the Art, English, and English Language Learning departments, more than 80 Park View High School students created 17 bilingual picture books under the guidance of award-winning author and illustrator John Parra.
The books have been delivered to Biblioteca Luz, a children’s library in La Libertad, El Salvador by El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States. The books also are on the shelves of branches of the Loudoun County Public Library as well as the preschool at Park View High School.
The NACo Achievement Awards Program recognizes groundbreaking programs and initiatives in 21 service categories, including children and youth, county administration and management, libraries, emergency management and response, and human services.
Virginia Tech University Libraries
Virginia Tech University Libraries had a busy fall semester. Check out these happenings, first published on the Open @ VT blog:
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