Message From the President

Greetings, VALL Members,

It’s hard to believe that six weeks have passed since our spring meeting. Around here, those six weeks have flown by with exams, commencement, and now summer construction projects; meanwhile, many of you find yourselves with new summer associates and clerks. Regardless of your clientele, I hope that you are working on interesting summer projects (along with some fun vacation plans).

Our spring meeting in April was a great success with over fifty attendees. Members learned about exciting innovations at the Law Library of Congress from David Mao, Andrew Weber, and Tina Gheen; and the University of Virginia’s digital team of Loren Moulds and Elizabeth Ladner shared details of their digitization project of the Tavenner Tokyo War Crimes Trial Papers and unveiled their new website. Jean Wenger, AALL Vice President, spoke of AALL activities and developments, including changes for future AALL annual meetings and programs. Committee members also met to transition and discuss goals for the coming year.

We welcomed new members of the Executive Board: Amy Wharton as Vice President/President-Elect, Ben Keele as Secretary, and Heather Casey as Board Member. Many thanks to Anthony Brown Ikwueme and David Knight for their years of service on the board and to Michele Gernhardt for her tenure as President.

I recently heard a colleague speak of 212: The Extra Degree. At 211 degrees, water is hot; at 212 degrees, water boils and produces steam. That single extra degree makes a substantial difference. As we enter a new year for VALL, I will strive to light a fire so that each of you can give the extra degree. Work with your committees to strengthen our membership and outreach; talk with your colleagues about what VALL can contribute to the greater profession; and participate in VALL activities – and partner with VLA and SLA when possible. Michele made great strides on VALL’s leadership and growth during her tenure. Let’s build on her hard work to make VALL even stronger.

Membership Renewals:

Christina Vassey, our Membership Committee Chair, will be sending out membership renewals soon. We hope to have a new process for current members to renew without having to redo the entire membership form, which should streamline the renewal process. If you know of other librarians or students who might benefit from VALL membership, please let us know! It would be wonderful to have members from the next generation of law librarians.

VALL at AALL:

If you are attending AALL in Boston, please attend the VALL lunch on Monday, July 23 from noon to 1:15 at Vlora Boston Back Bay Restaurant at 545 Boylston St., a 9 minute walk from the Convention Center. The registration fee is $15 for VALL members, $20 for non-members.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, July 18. For a registration form, please visit the VALL Wiki at http://vall.pbworks.com/ or contact Amy Wharton at amywharton@virginia.edu.

If you haven’t yet registered for AALL, do so by June 15 to save $100 on the registration fee!

Grants:
Evelyn Campbell (South University) and Marie Hamm (Regent University) were awarded grants to attend AALL in Boston. Congratulations!

Leadership Handbook:

Edits are rapidly progressing on the leadership handbook and a new edition should be available shortly.

Suzanne

VLA Council Report

by Terry Long, VALL Representative to VLA

The VLA Council met June 8, 2012 at Henrico County’s Twin Hickory Library.

A Presidential Citation has been awarded to Sen.Thomas Norment for his assistance to have public library funding restored to its current amount in the state budget; it had been reduced in the governor’s budget.

We had a presentation entitled “cool tools” about various web tools that aid in collaboration, aid in organization, or are social media; i.e. Evernote, Jing, Pinterest, Webclipper, and more.

VLA has purchased a one year license for GoToWebinar. This is available for the use of VLA committees, in hope of increasing the availability of programming to more members.

There has been an increase in membership.

The 2013 Legislative agenda is:

1) Oppose cuts to state funding for public libraries.

2) “New Age, New Library” – a plan to meet the needs of the 21st century library users.

This initiative will provide Virginia public library users with contemporary digital library materials including e-books, audiobooks, streaming media and electronic databases.

3) Support the Library of Virginia

VLA will support the Library of Virginia’s legislative and budgetary priorities and oppose budget cuts for the Library of Virginia at the 2013 session of the General Assembly.

Candidates for VLA are:

President: Todd Elliott (Portsmouth Public Library)

Kevin Smith (York County Public Library)

Secretary: Shawna Hunter (Hampden-Sydney College)

Marilyn Scott (VCU)


Attendance from Virginia was down at ALA’s Legislative Day.

ALA has created a Digital Content and Libraries Work Group http://connect.ala.org/node/159669


The VLA Conference will be October 24-25 at the Williamsburg Hotel and Conference Center.

Over 100 program proposals were received.

27 booths have been sold.

Library Journal has expressed interest in sponsoring the conference.

The paraprofessional conference held in late May was successful.

Randolph-Macon College’s library will host a workshop on RDA in February 2013.

Farewell Message from Outgoing President

I still remember the call from Theresa Schmid that started it all. Theresa, a member of the 2009-2010 nominating committee, called and asked me to consider running for VALL Vice President/President-Elect in 2010. Shocked, flattered, and flabbergasted, I asked for a little time to consider. I stepped out of my office and sought counsel from Frosty Owen. As my supervisor and a former VALL President, I took his advice to heart. He told me, “if there’s any way that you think you can manage it, do it. It’s a wonderful experience.”

Frosty was right. This has been an incredible experience for me; an educational experience and a humbling experience. Participating in board meetings, planning events, communicating with members. Each exchange and experience was so very valuable to my professional growth. I feel I have gotten so much more out of these past two years than I have put in. Honestly, it all happened so fast that I feel I’ve now just figured out how things work.

I hope that our efforts this past year have contributed to the creation of an environment where VALL members and the association can thrive. We accomplished some very important tasks this past year. First and foremost, updating the Leadership Handbook. I found the Handbook to be an invaluable tool. I consulted it regularly to ensure that I was performing every necessary task, and to gain a greater understanding of the roles each board and committee member played in the successful administration of this great association.

We have also made great progress towards the digitization of all VALL and RALLA newsletters. Progress has only been held back by my schedule, which I pray has cleared enough to successfully complete this project during my year as immediate past president. I am also proud to be able to say that our list-serv has been updated and is now regularly maintained; many thanks to Chris Vassey for so willingly adding this to her duties as membership committee chair. And finally, I am very proud at the level of participation by each member of the Executive Board. Each scheduled conference call was well-attended and full of active participation and idea exchange. We communicated regularly, both informally, to ensure all VALL business was conducted in a timely manner.

To the members of the Executive Board and every committee chair and member, thank you. I could not have asked to serve with a better, more talented group of individuals. Suzanne, your coordination of the Spring meeting was positively divine. I so admire your professionalism, determination and creativity. VALL is in excellent hands. Amy, thank you for everything you have done and continue to do as Wikimaster, Secretary, and now Vice President. It has been a pleasure. Patricia, thank you so much for your diligence and responsiveness. Anthony, Greg and David, thank you for your support, advice, encouragement, dedication and enthusiasm. Evelyn, thank you for your ongoing commitment to the Board and VALLTalk. I am a grateful beneficiary of your well-reasoned counsel, and well-placed reminders. Thank you, each and every member who has donated their time, talents, or knowledge to VALL.

I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as VALL President. I look forward to continuing to serve the organization throughout my entire career in law librarianship.

Best wishes for a successful year to come.

Michele

VALL Lunch at AALL

The VALL lunch will be on Monday, July 23, from 12 - 1:15 at Vlora Back Bay Restaurant, 545 Boylston Street (about a nine minute walk from the convention center).

The cost is $15 for VALL members and $20 for non-members. Please make checks payable to "The Virginia Association of Law Libraries" and mail to:

Amy Wharton
University of Virginia Law School Librar
580 Massie Rd
Charlottesville, VA 22903

Please RSVP by Wednesday, July 18. For registration form click here: VALL Lunch Registration Form

Virginia State Law Library Celebrates NLW 2012

The Virginia State Law Library collected over 86 books for the Children's Book Bank of  Richmond as part of its National Library Week 2012 celebrations. State Law Librarian Gail Warren said that the library's NLW celebration also included a virtual scavenger hunt with the all-correct entry winning a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card. The library held an open house where cake and light refreshments were served.

 What's a celebration without cake?

Visitors to the State Law Library enjoying the cake and refreshments



Part of the collection for the Children's Book Bank of Richmond



L - R: Librarian Benjamin Almoite with Joan Mielke, winner of the B&N gift card, and library technician Janet Holland

Highlights of the VLA Council Meeting, April 20, 2012

Terry Long

 Sen. Warner contacted VLA leadership to participate in a conference call with him. He wanted to learn about library issues. Those who participated were pleased with how candid he was. Among the topics discussed were: e-rate, provisions of a security bill that will give more access to library records and broadband access in rural areas.


 Phil Abraham, VLA’s lobbyist, reported on the recent session of the General Assembly and its many challenges. The governor’s budget initially cut state aid to libraries by 2%. He and library supporters worked to get it restored. The Library of Virginia had funding cut for its public records project, it has been restored. Though the General Assembly has finally passed a budget, the Governor still can make changes; Phil thinks he won’t in these areas.

 Betty Dillehay, director of Matthews County Public Library, received a citation from VLA for her work as co-chair of the Legislative Committee.


 The VLA Conference this year will be held October 24-26 in Williamsburg; the 2013 conference will be held there, too, but at the end of September.


 VLA’s Paraprofessional Forum Conference is May 20-22 at the Koger Center in Richmond; there are 45 registrants.


 This year’s annual VLA Conference will have two noted speakers, Nancy Dowd and Hillary Jordan. Nancy Dowd is author of Bite-Sized Marketing and is the Director of Marketing for the NJ State Library. Hillary Jordan won the 2006 Bellwether Prize, established by Barbara Kingsolver to recognize literature of social responsibility, for her first novel, Mudbound.

Welcome, Catherine!

Catherine Lemann took up the position of Circuit Librarian at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on April 1, 2012.

Cathy comes to Virginia from the Alaska Court System where she was state law librarian from 2006 - 2011. Before that she was associate director of the Law Library of Louisiana from 1991 - 2006.

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 welcomes Cathy to Virginia and looks forward to seeing her at VALL meetings.