VLA Council Meeting, February

submitted by Terry Long

The highlights of the February VLA Council Meeting held at Twin Hickory Library in Henrico County were:


• VLA ended the year with a surplus in their treasury.

• Advertising for current Virginia Librarian was sold out.

• Membership is strong – 153 new members as of year end

• VLA Paraprofessional Forum will be held May 19-21 at the Holiday Inn Koger center in Richmond; programs and registration will soon be available from the VLA web site.

• VLA Annual Conference will take place a month earlier than in the past; it is September 25-27 at the Williamsburg Hotel and Conference Center.

o Two new types of programs will be offered this year adapted from ALA:

1. "An unconference is a participant-guided experience that harnesses the unstructured conversations people usually have between conference sessions into the conference itself. Unlike most conferences where talking heads and group leaders decide what is important, unconferences are organized by the crowd. Unconferences are about sharing the knowledge and passion we have for our profession and taking what we learn into the world to make a difference. Everyone has something to share. Everyone has something to learn. We can all change the world."

2. "Battledecks is not for the faint of heart. It is a nerve-wracking event where those competing must create a coherent presentation from a deck of slides that they have never seen before. This is truly the perfect way to end your conference experience as these courageous individuals compete for the glory of being crowned the next champ."

Farewell Sally Wambold!

Sally Wambold at her retirement party at the University of Richmond Law School Library

VALL bids a fond farewell to Sally Wambold, who will be retiring from her position as technical services librarian at the University of Richmond Law School Library, on Feb. 28. She has worked at the library for over 30 years. “It was my dream job,” Sally said fondly.

Sally who was born in Norfolk, but spent most of her life in Richmond, obtained her BA from Old Dominion University, and her MLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She previously worked at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and the University of Virginia before settling into her position at the University of Richmond.

VALL will miss Sally who has been an active member of the association and has chaired the preservation committee multiple times, and also wrote a regular column for the VALL Newsletter called Preservation Junction. She was also a member of the American Association of Law Libraries, and the Southeastern Association of Law Libraries where she has served as secretary and also as treasurer.

And while Sally may not be waking up each morning for a nine to five job, she will be busy testing out new vegetarian recipes, container gardening, reading, singing, playing the piano, and “trying to herd” her two cats, Sunflower and Sweet William.

Sally’s future plans include finding an agent for a friend’s book, and also writing a book or two of her own! We look forward to hearing about Sally’s new adventures and we wish her “Fair winds and following seas …”

 

Sally and Carl Sorenson, associate vp for human resources

The Osher Institute Community Choir singing "What a Wonderful World"

Photos: Courtesy of Carl Hamm

Meet the Candidates VALL 2013/2014

 Vice President/President Elect:

Benjamin Almoite:

Ben currents holds the position of librarian at the Virginia Supreme Court. He previously worked at Keller & Heckman as a reference librarian; at the Catholic University of America as an acquisitions assistant; and at the San Diego County Public Law Library as a branch assistant.

He received his BA from the University of California, San Diego, and his MS in Library Science from the Catholic University of America.

Ben has served on and chaired multiple VALL committees including the Colloborative Communications Committee, Membership Placement, and is currently serving as VALL Secretary.

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Treasurer:

Linda Tesar

Linda is the head of technical services at the College of William & Mary, Wolf Law Library.

She previously worked at Vanderbilt University, Alyne Queener Massey Law Library, where she was technical services/systems librarian for over 21 years.

Linda received her BA from Austin Peay State University; her MA & MLS from Vanderbilt University.

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Director:

Catherine Lemann

Cathy is the circuit librarian at the US Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit.

Before coming to Virginia, she was state law librarian  for the Alaska Court System. And previous to that she was associate director of the Law Library of Louisiana. 

She received her BA from Carleton College, her JD from Tulane University Law School and her MLIS from Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.

Cathy was secretary of the American Association of Law Libraries from 2002 - 2005, and was president of AALL from 2009 - 2010.

VALL Candidates for Executive Board 2013/2014

Vice President/President Elect: Benjamin Almoite, Virginia State Law Library


Treasurer: Linday K. Tesar, William & Mary Law School, Wolf Law Library

Director: Catherine Lemann, US Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit Library

If there are further nominations to be considered, they may be sent to Anthony Brown Ikwueme, chair of the Nominating Committee, at acikueme@liberty.edu Additional nominations must be delivered no later than February 15.