Virginia Library Association Council Meeting highlights (June 8, 2018)

submitted by Terry Long, VALL liaison

·         Membership is at 770; some members have yet to pay their dues.

·         National Library Legislative Day went well with over 30 Virginia librarians participating. They met with staff of senators, Kaine and Warner, and several of the representatives’ staff.

·         Jobline revenue is on target.

·         Logo has been freshened up by deepening the color.

·         Travel grants have been made from VLA to two librarians to attend the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color in conjunction with ALA this summer.

·         The executive director of VLA, Lisa Varga, and the executive committee are going to be more intentional about offering networking opportunities and programming for people of color.

·         A Code of Conduct for VLA events is being developed.

·         The VLA Professional Associates Conference in May had 178 attendees. The location in Williamsburg is popular but other locations that are perhaps more centrally located are being explored. The Professional Associates forum is also trying to think outside of the box for changes in how, when and for how long the conference is held.

·         The annual conference for VLA will be held September 26 to 28 at the Williamsburg Lodge. Lisa hopes registration will be up by the end of June. There will be sessions for different learning styles. There are 65 vendor booths available; all but 4 have been sold. Something new this year will be an introvert lounge and an extrovert lounge.

·         The good news this year for Virginia’s public libraries is that state-aid to libraries was increased – a real miracle in light of the General Assembly’s battle over the budget.

·         Library of Virginia will have a booth at the State Fair this year and are asking for librarians to volunteer to staff it.