VLA Diversity and Inclusion Forum Seeking Officers for 2017

The time has come to seek new officers for the Diversity & Inclusion Forum for 2017. Our goal is to gather two or more candidates for each position and hold an election. The elected officers will take over the positions at the October 2016 conference. The past officers will continue as advisors until December 31, 2016. Please submit your nominations to [email protected] by April 15, 2016. The following positions are open for nominations:

• Vice-Chair (2 years, 2nd year as Chair)
• Secretary/Treasurer (1 year)
• Programming Chair (1 year)
• Conference Chair (1 year)
• 2017 Graphic Novel Diversity Awards Committee Chair (2 years overlapping)

For more information about the VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Awards, please click here.

Registration for The Innovative Library Classroom opens March 14, 2016

Please join us for The Innovative Library Classroom (TILC), winner of the 2016 Beta Phi Mu Conference Support Award. The conference will be held at the campus of Radford University in Radford, Virginia, on Thursday, May 12, 2016, 9 am to 4:30 pm. We will host a preconference social, which includes the poster sessions, on Wednesday evening.

This year’s theme is Bringing Balance To Our Success.  Keynote speaker Donna Lanclos, Associate Professor for Anthropological Research at the J. Murrey Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte, will explore active learning practices and the library’s role in promoting active learning. TILC is supported by the Virginia Chapter of the Association of College & Research Libraries (VLACRL) and a number of Virginia institutions, including Radford University, Virginia Tech, and Hollins University.

Your $40 registration fee includes lunch and snacks.

Registration will open at 10 am EST on Monday, March 14. Register through the Innovative Library Classroom's Registration Page. 

Space is limited to 75 attendees.

Full details about TILC, including accepted proposals, can be found at The Innovative Library Classroom website.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

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2016 VALLA Participants Announced

Congratulations to the 2016 class of the Virginia Library Leadership Academy! Angela Spranger and Andrew Sanderbeck will lead the participants in a two-day, intensive leadership training at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel in Staunton, April 18-19.

The list of 2016 VALLA participants, selected by members of the VLA Leadership Development Forum, are:

• Nandhitha Agaram, Appomattox Regional Library System, Hopewell
• Christine Carlson, Salem Church Branch; Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg
• Cedric Clark, Hampton Public Library-Phoebus, Hampton
• Katherine Dow, Alexandria Library, Beatley Central, Alexandria
• Deborah Fry, Loudoun County Public Libraries: Rust Library Branch, Leesburg
• Aimee Gangai, Handley Regional Library, Winchester
• Jessica Hartley, South Norfolk Memorial Library, Chesapeake
• Haven Headley, Mathews Memorial Library, Mathews
• James Hudson, Chesterfield County Public Library-Meadowdale, North Chesterfield
• Ursula Juarez-Wall, Montclair Community Library, Dumfries
• Tracy Kallassy, Montclair Community Library, Dumfries
• Beth Land, York County Public Library - Tabb, Yorktown
• Michele Lawrence, Suffolk Public Library, Suffolk
• Eva Newton, Prince William County Public Library System - Central Community Branch, Manassas
• Lucinda Rush, Old Dominion University Libraries, Perry Library, Norfolk
• Genelle Schuler, Ellen Coolidge Burke, Alexandria
• Danielle Tarullo, Chesterfield County Public Library Meadowdale Branch, Chesterfield
• Samantha Thomason, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg
• Elizabeth Trop, Suffolk Public Library, Suffolk
• Elizabeth Walraven, Eastern Shore Community College Learning Resources Center, Melfa
• Heather Williams, Loudoun County Public Library -- Ashburn, Ashburn
• Elaine Wood, Pamunkey Regional Library, Hanover
• Elizabeth D. Woodard, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk
• Katara Wright, George Mason University: Fenwick Library, Fairfax

VALLA is an opportunity for library staff — including paraprofessionals, faculty, administrators and others — to participate in a two-day workshop focused on what it means to be a leader in libraries, and to work on a self-directed project to benefit libraries and our communities throughout the coming year. VALLA began in 2010 and is held every other year.
VALLA 2016 is co-sponsored by BCWH Architects and Jeffrey M. Hoover, AIA, of Tappé Associates.

VLA Statement on HB 516

The VLA Executive Committee, Legislative Committee, and Intellectual Freedom Committee have been communicating with various stakeholders, including ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and various educators’ associations, regarding HB 516. To our knowledge, the Virginia Education Association has not, to date, made an official statement about the bill; the Virginia Association of Teachers of English (VATE), an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English has drafted this statement in opposition to the bill: http://vate.org/official-position-on-house-bill-516/ . The bill has been receiving a great deal of press and an article about it is featured on the front page of today’s Washington Post: . It has passed the House and is scheduled to go before the Senate today.

• We believe the concerns that led to the drafting of HB 516 would be better addressed through local Board of Education policy rather than prescribed by law of the Commonwealth of Virginia, both to protect the interests of all stakeholders and to provide for flexibility when necessary.
• We support parents being actively involved in their children’s education; at the same time, we believe labeling places the weight of responsibility wrongly on teachers to make judgements about what a diverse range of parents may or may not deem “sexually explicit.”
• We believe institutional labeling of books or media (by policy or law) is a form of censorship. We believe parents, students, and teachers can work together to make the best choice when there is a disagreement about what is age appropriate for an individual student.
• We believe this legislation could turn institutional labeling into self-censoring by educators or others in an effort to avoid the conflicts and challenges intended, thereby depriving students the opportunity to be exposed to a wider range of viewpoints to choose from in developing their personal opinions. Decreasing the range of viewpoints discourages the promotion of diversity and diminishes intellectual rigor.

We encourage all of our members to read the bill (http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?161+ful+HB516) and to contact your legislators if your conscience directs you to do so.
Sincerely,
The VLA 2016 Executive Committee,
The VLA Legislative Committee and
The VLA Intellectual Freedom Committee
February 25, 2016

Listen to VLA President Martha Hutzel's interview with Saraya Wintersmith of the Community Idea Stations, March 2, 2016