In This Issue
VTLIB Staff News
Spotlight On Orchard School Library
Local Vocal
2016 National Library Week
2016 Money Smart Week
Update on Job Hunt Helpers
Destiny Sheeley Wins
Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Book Bag Logo Contest
Destiny Sheeley,
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award
logo winner,
with Annette Goyne,
Library Media Specialist
The Friends of Dorothy Canfield Fisher held a logo contest last fall to find a new logo to represent the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award. The last logo was chosen in 2005. The Friends received more than 50 submissions from students all over Vermont in grades 4-8.

Richford seventh grader Destiny Sheeley won the contest with a colorful and compelling design.
Sheeley's hard work at polishing her design for multiple platforms paid off with her new logo being used on the Friends of Dorothy Canfield Fisher website, letterhead, and Dorothy's List spine labels.

All attendees of the 2016 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference will receive 30 spine labels and a book bag with the new logo. Additional labels are available for sale.

Stay tuned to the website and Facebook page for details!  


The Vermont Library Association
2016 Conference
 will be held on
Wednesday, May 18
at
Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Conference Center.

Check the VLA website
for registration details.

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VTLIB Staff News

Jennifer Johnson has been hired as
Library Assistant in the Library Development Division and will commence work on April 25, providing support across Department services and professional development activities. Jennifer brings seasoned librarianship skills, including CLiF Year of the Book Grant Coordinator.


Amy Howlett

After 38 years of work as Southeast Regional Librarian and Library Development Consultant at the Department of Libraries, Amy Howlett has moved on. Amy's last day at the Department of Libraries was March 31, and the following week she began her new job as Director at the Springfield Town Library.



 
Special Services Unit Interim Director Jennifer Hart and Program Services Clerk Sara Blow represented the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped as exhibitors at the 2016 Technology Fair hosted by the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired on April 6 at Lyndon State College. The annual fair provides opportunities to explore the latest adaptive devices, attend sessions on state-of-the art information, and see the offerings and services of exhibitors, such as those offered by the Department of Libraries Special Services Unit.



Jennifer Hart also exhibited at the State House on Disability Awareness Day on March 23. Organized by the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights, the annual daylong event includes a keynote address, workshops, and opportunities to interact with people with disabilities, their families, advocates, providers, and policymakers.

Look for Jennifer Hart on May 7 at the Living Well with MS Conference, held at Stoweflake Mountain Resort in Stowe. The annual educational conference includes sessions on research, employment, rehabilitation and exercise, and MS updates.  
 


   
The Orchard School Library Media Center website lives up to the concept of virtual experience: on entering, Instructor Donna Macdonald's picture is there to greet, a book with pages turning connects to the online collection, logo graphics link to research tools, and 18 photos--plus a video--tour the entire space, from collections to corners, from maker space to quiet space, tech alley to pet aquarium. Videos and Class Web Pages complete the home page. The virtual tour leaves a distinct impression of a vibrant place with a wealth of resources. Full story 
Local Vocal 
 

Locally recording books for blind, visually impaired, and physically disabled Vermonters has amplified with the Department of Libraries' acquisition of a professional recording booth. A freestanding
VocalBooth was installed in January at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at the Midstate Library Service Center in Berlin, where Vermont volunteers record Vermont books. Full story
A

The 2016 National Library Week theme is Libraries Transform.
Gene Luen Yang will serve as Honorary Chair.

"Gene Luen Yang is an award-winning graphic novelist and the 2016-2017 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. His 2006 book, American Born Chinese, was the first graphic novel to be a
finalist for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association's Printz Award. It also won an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album. Learn more at geneyang.com."

National Library Week in Vermont
On April 11, Across the Fence aired a Salute to National Library Week at 12:10 p.m. on WCAX. Judy Simpson interviewed Amy Howlett, Springfield Town Library Director, and Caitlin Corless, Essex Free Library Youth Services Librarian, who reviewed new book selections.
Click here for a bibliography of the titles.
The episode is archived on the University of Vermont Extension
Across the Fence
website.

Governor Shumlin signed the official proclamation of National Library Week in Vermont:


April 11-16 also is Week of the Young Child, an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which focuses on "early learning, young children, their teachers and families." Let's Grow Kids is "collaborating with libraries across Vermont in offering public presentations on early childhood development during established story times. Each free presentation will commence with a 10-15 minute talk by LGK speaker and other childhood experts followed by Q&A, and some libraries will offer a supervised play area for children while adults attend the event. The website contains the list of participating libraries. "A library is an important community resource that helps families promote the healthy development of their children," said Let's Grow Kids Campaign Director Robyn Freedner-Maguire."

"Created by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in 2002, Money Smart Week� is a public awareness campaign designed to help consumers better manage their personal finances. Programming is offered to all demographics and income levels and covers all facets of personal finance." Check the Money Smart Week website for events, resources, and partners.
UPDATE on Job Hunt Helpers 
The March Newsletter announced the partnership between the Community College of Vermont and the Vermont Department of Libraries to deliver Job Hunt Helper services provided by CCV student interns at six Vermont libraries.

According Eric Sakai, Dean of Academic Technology at CCV, "a lot is happening on the Job Hunt Helper front!" The interns are helping many people and reporting on the types of services requested.

Sakai's interview on March 23 on "The :30" show on WCAX provides an overview of Job Hunt Helpers.

Between March 1 and May 31, the trained Job Hunt Helpers will be available for six hours per week at each of the libraries to offer patrons assistance with job searches, career exploration, and related tasks.

The participating libraries are offering Career Transitions or  LearningExpress Library, online resources that provide career information, interview simulation, and writing samples, as well as skills reviews and practice for academic, entrance, and occupational exams.

LearningExpressLibrary.gif 
 
Each of the libraries has posted information about the availability of its Job Hunt Helper:

Aldrich Public Library, Barre 
John Capitanelli: Mondays 12-3, Wednesdays 5-8 
Ben Howe: Tuesdays 5-8, Thursdays 1-4 
Goodrich Memorial Library, Newport 
Holly Lillis: Mondays 3-5, Thursdays 10-12, Fridays 10-12 
Darrell Hughes: Mondays 12-2, Thursdays 10-12, Fridays 10-12 
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury 
Kim Payne, Mondays 10-1, Thursdays 4-7 
Dodit Tshimbamba Buabua: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 2-4   

ONLY COMPLETE ARTICLES BEYOND THIS POINT

vocallocal
Local Vocal 
 

The VocalBooth at the

Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
in the Midstate Library Service Center building in Berlin
 
Locally recording books for blind, visually impaired, and physically disabled Vermonters has amplified with the Department of Libraries' acquisition of a professional recording booth. A freestanding VocalBooth was installed in January at the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at the Midstate Library Service Center in Berlin, where Vermont volunteers read Vermont books.

The recording program began in 2013, and prior to the installation of the booth, recording at the Berlin site had been done in a former screening room. An office provided by the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired in South Burlington also is used for recording. While the recordings have been of excellent quality, the VocalBooth, with its acoustic foam interior and dual-layer wall, offers the sound control of a professional recording studio.
      
Narrator Monique Signorat communicates with Monitor Cynthia Gardner-Morse
during recording of Stories of My Life by Katherine Paterson,
the first book to be recorded in the VocalBooth.

The local recording program is designed to complement the collection in the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the Library of Congress, which "administers a free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail." The program's unique contributions are in providing recorded books set in Vermont, and/or written by Vermont authors, or on topics of importance to Vermonters, read by Vermont volunteers.
 
Currently, seven volunteers handle the recording: three narrators, three monitors, and a professional sound editor who works out of his home studio in Berlin.

 
  Local recording volunteers Nancy MacDowell and Frederick Barrett
 
Department of Libraries Special Services Unit Interim Director Jennifer Hart and Program Services Clerk Sara Blow coordinate the volunteers, as well as purchase the books and handle the administrative aspects of adding them to the collection and making the recorded books available. Patrons who are eligible for special services can receive recorded books by postage-free mail or by downloading them from the LBPH Braille and Audio Reading Download site.
 
On February 4, the volunteers and staff gathered to celebrate the newest addition to the Library and to train in the new booth.

 
L to R: Sara Blow, Roy Prendergast, Linda Gordon, Jennifer Hart, Monique Signorat,
Frederick Barrett, Cynthia Gardner-Morse, Nancy MacDowell
 
Seven Vermont-related books have been recorded and are in circulation:
 
An historical fiction trilogy featuring Ascutney Civilian Conservation Corps' member Will Ryan and friends by Vermont author Judith Edwards: Invasion on the Mountain, Trouble on the Mountain and At the Top of the Mountain.
 
Dateline Vermont: Covering and Uncovering the Newsworthy Stories That Shaped a State - and Influenced a Nation by Montpelier author Chris Graff.

My Name is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl's Winding Path to the Nobel Peace Prize by Putney native Jody Williams.
 
Vermont Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities and Other Offbeat Stuff by Vermont author Robert F. Wilson,
 
High-Altitude Woman: From Extreme Sports to Indigenous Cultures - Discovering the Power of the Feminine by Stowe author Jan Reynolds.
 
Interim Director Jennifer Hart says, "We are very excited about how much progress we have made with our local recording program since its inception. We now have two working studios and a very dedicated group of volunteers. Seven books are already in circulation and four more are in various stages of production. Feedback from our patrons has been all positive. We are happy to make these recordings available to our Vermont readers with print disabilities, as well as to patrons from other talking book libraries throughout the country."
 
To receive more information or recommend a recording, contact her at

orchardschool


 
 
The Orchard School Library Media Center website lives up to the concept of virtual experience: On entering, Instructor Donna Macdonald's picture is there to greet, a book with pages turning connects to the online collection, logo graphics link to research tools, and 18 photos plus a video provide a tour the entire space, from collections to corners, from maker space to quiet space, tech alley to pet aquarium. Videos and Class Web Pages complete the home page. The virtual tour leaves a distinct impression of a vibrant place with a wealth of resources. 
 
It's a dream-come-true land of real animals, stuffed book characters, even a puppet theater, all coexisting with state-of-the-art equipment: a SMARTboard with ceiling mounted projection, 27 computers, 10 digital cameras, 3 scanners, 2 laser printers, and one $10,000 3-D printer. Students are eager to participate in cutting edge learning activities, such as writing computer code for Finch robots.

Instructor Donna Macdonald, properly known as the Library Media & Instructional Technology Specialist, has a single-minded approach that has served well for the Orchard School Library Media Center's high degree of success.

In a word, connecting is the key. Macdonald offers several strategies for connecting, and her advice is borne out of long experience.

Start small, start local. Use every form available. Work within the school with those who would like to collaborate with you, such as one or two other teachers. Get involved with the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Macdonald has been involved with PTO for over a decade, and when she selected a robotics project from Donors Choose, a website that vets and fulfills classroom project requests, she reached out to the PTO and the community and quickly got fully funded.

Use social media. With nearly 15,000 tweets and over 2,500 followers, Macdonald's Twitter page shows she is constantly connected. Her tweets span everything from participating in the White House Science Fair to digital citizenship, and one fun result of her tweets to Boston Red Sox players was having Ryan Lavarnway and Pedro Ciriaco visit Orchard School in 2012--and she subsequently build a flickr album from it. Likewise, Macdonald says she Skypes all the time. "It lets kids know about the world beyond the four walls."

Connect with authors and publishers. Orchard School has had many popular author and illustrator visits, demonstrating that success builds on success. Sometimes minimal effort is surprisingly rewarded. When Macdonald made a simple contact with a major publisher, she was given 25 gift certificates and children's books just because she expressed appreciation and interest in the publisher.

Stay connected to funding. It is an ongoing process that includes monitoring opportunities, and the engaging Orchard School Library Media Center has benefited from a spectrum of funding, from competitive grants to parents donating stuffed animals and other items to grace the space. Macdonald credits the receipt of the James Patterson Scholastic Reading Club Grant to reading a listserv. Orchard School Library was the only Vermont winner. She's connecting with others in Vermont now to let them know that the grant is open again. Another national-scale example is the $10,000 3-D printer, which was funded by Code.org, an organization "dedicated to the vision that every student in every school should have the opportunity to code." Orchard School received the award after every student participated in the Hour of Code training.

Connection is a two-way street, but as one instance illustrates, it can turn into a major intersection. When a Connecticut colleague read about blog post about Birdbrain Technologies' Finch Robot Loan Program, she invited Macdonald to write a proposal with her. Once accepted, they stayed connected using Google Docs to plan the program. The students in Vermont and Connecticut tweeted their learning so extensively that it caught the notice of EdCamp Global, and subsequently, they were invited to participate in an event that included more than 800 classrooms in 51 countries.

Donna Macdonald does more than connect. She is a distinguished contributor. In 2016, PBS named her a  LearningMedia Digital Innovator. In 2015, she received the Vermont School Library Association Award. In 2014, she was named an IGNITE Educator for her innovative and transformative teaching. She has served on local and international technology teams for decades and has many articles to her credit.

Her professionalism has been a factor in getting the complete buy-in that is essential to achieving such a high degree of success. Her view is instructive for all stakeholders--administrators, associations, parents, teachers, and students--who are interested in supporting creative, active learning by means of 21st century technology within welcoming school library spaces.

To connect with Donna Macdonald and learn more about Orchard School Library Media Center, follow her at:
http://orchardschoollibrary.weebly.com/


Vermont Department of Libraries | 109 State Street | Montpelier | VT | 05609