VTLIB Presents at VLA Conference, May 21 

The Vermont Department of Libraries will have a robust presence at the Vermont Library Association Conference this year, with six VTLIB staff speaking at seven different programs during the May 21 conference at St. Michael's College.

Kicking off the first session, Assistant State Librarian Christine Friese will lead a panel discussion on Digital Literacy and Public Libraries. The discussion will define what "digital literacy" is and will look at the current state of digital literacy in Vermont. Current needs and programs for digital literacy will be examined, and strategies for ongoing enhancement of digital literacy in Vermont will be discussed.

Grace Greene, VTLIB Youth Services Consultant, will co-present Vermont's Child-Selected Book Awards with Kat Redniss of the Brownell Library in Essex Junction. This first session program will present these wonderful children's books through multimedia.

Also part of the first session, VTLIB Collections and Digital Initiatives Librarian Tom McMurdo will join Vermont Cataloging Roundtable colleagues Amber Billey (UVM), Helen Linda (Goddard College), and Christine Webb (Fletcher Free Library, Burlington) in presenting an RDA Boot Camp. This boot camp will give the audience an understanding of RDA and provide the basics for creating RDA cataloging records.

VTLIB Continuing Education Coordinator Mara Siegel will be part of an afternoon presentation that asks What's a Makerspace? Joining Mara will be Sam Maskell and Emily Zervais from the Rockingham Public Library in Bellows Falls. Many of us have heard the word "makerspace" over the last couple of years. This presentation will frame the term and will show us what kinds of awesome things are happening in Vermont makerspaces.

Tom McMurdo will co-present Chronicling America / Chronicling Vermont: Historic Newspapers at the Library of Congress with Birdie MacLennan and Erenst Anip from UVM, and Chris Kirby of the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury. This presentation will showcase some of the interesting historical topics that are available at your fingertips in the massive, free online historical newspaper database Chronicling America.

Later in the afternoon, VTLIB Regional Consultant Amy Howlett will be part of the popular Rapid Reviews session. Other reviewers are Ernie Drown, Selene Colburn of UVM, and Ed Graves from the Rockingham Public Library in Bellows Falls. Rapid Reviews gives participants a chance to share some great reads with the VLA audience. We look forward to seeing what these reviewers will bring us this year.

In the final session, April Kelley, VTLIB Assistant for the Children's Book Exhibit Center, will discuss her experiences as a recent graduate of an online MLIS program as part of Online MLS Programs: A Survey. Joining April will be Jimmy Allen, Coco Zephir, and Dan DeSanto of UVM, Cindy Weber of the Stowe Free Library, and Joy Worland of the Joslin Memorial Library in Waitsfield. The panel will talk about several online MLIS programs.

VTLIB is proud to be a partner with the Vermont Library Association and we will all look forward to seeing you at the conference.

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Learned Grants Awarded to 10 Public Libraries

Ten libraries were awarded grants from the Winnie Belle Learned Fund of the Vermont Public Library Foundation to improve services to youth. Topics covered range from collection development to science centers to eBook readers. The Winnie Belle Learned Fund was established in 2006 by Dr. Burnett Rawson of Essex in honor of his benefactress, Winnie Belle Learned, a Vermont educator. Dr. Rawson's goal for the fund is to help the public libraries of Vermont "foster literacy, love of learning, critical analysis and intellectual exploration in their communities among children of all ages and their families."

The libraries and their projects are as follows:

Alburgh: $850 to spruce up the YA section with materials requested by the teens.

Barton: $450 to create early literacy backpacks, each one focusing on a different early literacy skill, and containing books, activities, materials, and information on the skill featured.

Bradford: $1,500 to develop themed kits, many of which will be related to this summer's theme of Underground.

Castleton: $2,000 to create science discovery centers and "wonder boxes" for children to explore various aspects of science on their own.

Georgia: $1,454 to create preschool themed bags to be loaned to childcares.

Moretown: $600 to buy audio books for family use.

Newbury: $2,500 to begin comprehensive early literacy services for preschoolers, both in the library and through outreach.

Orwell: $1,000 to develop the easy reader collection.

Pittsford: $1,900 for a series of after-school teen programming.

Springfield: $1,084 to purchase eBook readers and load them with children's fiction and nonfiction.

 VT Children Choose Favorite Picture Book for 2013   

Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene won this year's Red Clover Award for The Princess and the Pig, a tongue-in-cheek fractured fairy tale about a piglet and a princess who were switched as infants. A total of 22,583 children in grades K-4 voted this year. Here are the vote totals:

The Princess and the Pig     4,928

Three by the Sea     4,811

Blackout     3,604

Grandpa Green     2,330

Me Jane     1,383

Swirl by Swirl     882

All the Water     601

The annual Red Clover conference will be held at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee on Tuesday, October 2. James Solheim, winner of the 2012 Red Clover Award for Born Yesterday,and Vermont illustrator Eileen Christelow will be the speakers. The Vermont Center for the Book will send out registration materials at the beginning of the school year.

Center for Cartoon Studies Awards Teen Scholarship 

The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction is fabulous for many reasons, including their programs, students, and faculty. In addition, a few years ago they started an annual program with the Department of Libraries (VTLIB) to award a full scholarship to a Vermont teen to attend the week-long Create Comics workshop held in the summer. This spring VTLIB publicized this opportunity through schools and public libraries, and many teens entered the contest. This year's winner is Kristen Deutsch, a senior at Hartford High School.

Kristen has been fascinated by the world of comics since she was seven years old. She says, "Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga seamlessly combine my two passions, storytelling and art. Marvel's X-Men, as well as DC Comic's Watchmen and Justice League were my early favorites. Iconic characters and storylines such as those continue to inspire me and ultimately influence my work."

Kristen started out drawing and painting, but in high school her artistic repertoire expanded to include Photography, Digital Illustration, Animation, Web Design, Painting, Logo Design, Ceramics, Stone Carving, and more. In the fall she will go to Massachusetts College of Art and Design where she will do a double major in illustration and animation. Ultimately, she hopes to have a career in game design, concept art, animation or illustration. Perhaps this summer course will have an influence on which career she chooses.

 

What Nurses Know: PTSD, by Mary Muscari. Demos Health, 2012. ISBN 9781936303069.

A holistic overview of the disorder describing symptoms, causes, and currently available treatments while providing tips for managing stress, discussing the situation with a doctor, and finding sources of help.

Beating Combat Stress: 101 Techniques for Recovery, by John Henden. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. ISBN 9780470974803.

Handbook of 101 field-tested techniques and strategies designed to help service personnel and veterans deal with the psychological effects of combat and live life to the fullest. The book equips readers with helpful tools, coping mechanisms, and techniques.

Coping With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Guide for Families (2nd ed.), by Cheryl Roberts. McFarland, 2011. ISBN 9780786449743.

A user friendly discussion of PTSD as it affects individuals and families. New to this edition is information regarding Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and the new policies and treatments in use as well as information about women war veterans, who are a newer demographic for combat PTSD

Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress, by Bob Delaney and Dave Scheiber. Sourcebooks, 2011. ISBN 9781402263552.

Powerful and inspiring stories-marked by perseverance and personal courage-about an array of people who have suffered directly or indirectly from PTSD. PTSD education and awareness leader Bob Delaney introduces you to medical experts who have developed groundbreaking methods in dealing with the disorder, and profiles one-of-a-kind programs around the country devoted to assisting PTSD sufferers.

When Someone You Love Suffers from Posttraumatic Stress: What to Expect and What You Can Do, by Claudia Zayfert and Jason DeViva. Guilford Press, 2011. ISBN 9781609180652.

Highly practical guide packed with information, support, vivid stories, and specific advice. Readers learn to navigate the rough spots day by day and help their loved one find a brighter tomorrow.

Trauma Essentials: The Go-to Guide, by Babette Rothschild. Norton, 2011. ISBN 9780393706208.

Clearly-written and accessible book for anyone suffering from trauma-related disorders, and for their therapists. Covers psychological effects of traumatizing experiences (especially PTSD), introduces several approaches and adjuncts to treatment, and helps individuals determine how to tell if a treatment works for them.

For more in-depth information, try PILOTS (Published International Literature on Traumatic Stress), a free database from the National Center for PTSD. Although sponsored by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, PILOTS also includes information on PTSD in individuals who are not affiliated with the military.