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.
