March 2019 Newsletter
Department News
For State Employees
VTLIB is proud to present another speaker for the state employee speaker series Tuesday Talks. This month the event will be on March 19 from noon through one at the Pavilion Auditorium.
 
The title of the March talk is “Vermont Visions for a Multicultural Future: Unleash Your Creative Authority,” with guest speaker Curtiss Reed, Jr. Demographers indicate the number of consumers of color in the nation will overtake the number of white consumers in a scant 24 years. Business, civic, and town leaders must begin exercising their creative authority to make our communities competitive in a rapidly increasing racially diverse marketplace.
 
Curtiss Reed, Jr. serves as executive director of Vermont Partnership for Fairness & Diversity ( https://bit.ly/2BW6bPw ), an organization that works to strengthen inclusive and equitable practices in Vermont. In addition, Reed serves as chair of the Vermont State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. He is a founding member of Vermont Independent Media, publisher of the award-winning Commons newspaper, as well as founding member of the Brattleboro Community Restorative Justice Center.
 
For more information, please see the event poster here: https://bit.ly/2GPemkH. Please feel free to share the poster and event information in your departments. For more information please contact April Shaw ( April.shaw@vermont.gov ).
 
Tuesday Talks is a speaker series presented by VTLIB during the lunch hour one Tuesday each month. The topic and speaker will change each month, but will always be relevant to events or trends in Vermont that affect State Employees.
Featured Partnership: Vermont Saves Coalition
VTLIB has partnered with Vermont Saves and several other statewide organizations to promote  Vermont Saves Week , held February 25 - March 3!

Vermont Saves and  Vermont Saves Week  are part of the America Saves program ( www.americasaves.org ). During Vermont Saves Week , Vermonters are asked to think about saving money and establishing savings goals or benchmarks this year. The Vermont Saves webpage has additional information and resources, as well as a place to sign up and take the pledge to save:  https://bit.ly/2XpFhIN
 
The VTLIB staff has been sharing some of the fun things we're saving for, like trips to Sweden and Montreal, a new car, and a Golden Retriever! What are your savings goals for 2019? 
Youth Services
Vermont Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo

VTLIB is sponsoring two booths at the Vermont Sci-Fi & Fantasy Expo ( https://bit.ly/2GOTGJK) on April 27-28th to promote the Summer Reading Program. Any Vermont public library that is interested in representing their library is welcome to sign up to work the booth. Come be part of this fabulous promotion and be seen by your patrons! Sign up here: https://bit.ly/2IDo7UR . Cass Mabbott will follow up to confirm times as the event gets closer.

VT9to26 Coalition
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Do you know about the VT9to26 Coalition?
Cass is an active member of the VT9to26 Coalition ( https://bit.ly/2VrOQW1 .) This diverse group of youth and members of agencies from all over Vermont meet monthly to discuss how best to serve and respect youth in Vermont. Libraries play a fundamental role in this service because they act as a “third space” for children and teens. Did you know Vermont has a Youth Declaration of Rights ( https://bit.ly/2UbCpNM ) developed by youth themselves? Learn more about the declaration, “third spaces”, and the Coalition here: ( https://bit.ly/2U7OPWS .) Feel free to email Cass with any questions at cass.mabbott@vermont.gov .
The Listen Up Project
Interim State Librarian Jason Broughton recently joined the advisory board of The Listen Up Project. From the website:

"15 years ago, Vermont learned valuable insights about what was important to its young people through the award-winning Voices Project produced by Kingdom County Productions. The Voices Project, based on months of conversations, poetry workshops, interviews, and submissions from Vermont teens, produced an original script with music composed by youth and cast 20 teens to tour the musical across Vermont. Vermont listened to its youth in a way we never had before. The Voices musical toured to sold-out shows, aired on Vermont PBS, garnered rave reviews, and achieved national recognition. Now it’s time to “Listen Up” again.
 
...The Listen Up Project will produce another original musical that will go to the heart of current youth issues, including mental health, trauma, resiliency, friendship, love, family, community, and issues that affect Vermont and the world."

To view a recent press conference about the project, go here: https://bit.ly/2TkPXsX
For more information about The Listen Up Project, go here: https://bit.ly/2UcJygP
Governance & Management
SAVE THE DATE : Tuesday, May 21 st , 2019 – Trustee and Friends’ Conference at the University of Vermont’s Davis Center in Burlington, VT
 
VTLIB is excited to announce the date of the Annual Trustee and Friends’ Conference. This year, VTLIB has scheduled the conference to occur on May 21 st - the day before the VT Library Association’s Conference (which will be held at UVM on May 22 nd ). The hope is that Trustees, Friends, Library Directors, and Library Staff will be encouraged to attend both conferences and thus amplify their learning over two days of workshops, presentations, and speakers. This year’s Trustee and Friends’ Conference will be held on a weekday, due to the feedback we received from over 100 interested attendees who responded to a Survey Monkey survey sent in January. The workshops and speakers for the conference will cover a wide range of topics, from fundraising to recruiting/retaining board members to roles and responsibilities of Trustees, Friends, Staff, and Selectboards – again, based on the Survey Monkey survey responses.
 
Keep your eyes open for an email soon from Lara requesting volunteers to speak at the conference.
 
Registration for the Trustees and Friends’ Conference will open soon. Lara will send an email on the list servs when registration opens.
Trustee Organizational Tools
In her Trustee Trainings, Lara talks about the importance of “Succession Planning” – i.e. planning for the future governance of your library, no matter who is on the Trustee Board or who is the library director.
 
One element of Succession Planning involves creating a yearly calendar for the Trustees that:
·          Lists what topics the Trustees usually discuss each month of the year,
·          Points out when the Trustees need to start talking about certain items (the budget, for instance) to make sure those items meet deadlines, and
·          Shows when the Trustees can fit additional topics into their meeting schedule (ex: when they will review their bylaws, policies, etc.)

Having a detailed yearly calendar will help ensure that the Trustees do not have to rely on institutional memory and can continue to move forward if a Trustee needs to resign due to health or other reasons.
 
Creating a yearly calendar can be as simple as creating a list of to-do items for each month of the year -and revising that list as you move through the year. Or it can involve a more focused discussion during a Trustee Retreat. Whichever way the Trustees create their yearly calendar, it’s important to store it in a place accessible to any current or future Trustee – in a Trustee filing cabinet at the library or on the Trustees’ section of the library’s website, for example.
 
For more information about creating a yearly calendar, succession planning, or any library governance or management topic, feel free to reach out to Lara: lara.keenan@vermont.gov or 802-636-0026.
Special Populations & ABLE Library
Disability Awareness Day
Wednesday, February 27 was  Disability Awareness Day  at the Statehouse in Montpelier. 
 
The annual event was organized by the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights ( http://vcdr.org ) and brought together Vermonters, service providers and allies in negative-degree temperatures to advocate for disability awareness and continued legislative supports. Accomplishments and victories within the community over the past year were also highlighted and celebrated. 
 
The ABLE Library is a proud service provider for differently-abled Vermonters throughout the state. ABLE Library Director Vincent Livoti represented VTLIB.
Need Help with Medicare? SHIP Can Help
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SHIP is the State Health Insurance Assistance Program. SHIP offers free and unbiased information and assistance for Vermonters eligible for Medicare or about to become eligible. Trained SHIP counselors are located in each of the five Area Agencies on Aging (AAA). 
 
Medicare can be very confusing and complicated. SHIP counselors help with issues like:
·       Medicare Parts A, B, C and D eligibility and enrollment
·       Eligibility and enrollment in the programs that help pay for Medicare like Medicaid, Medicare Savings Programs and VPharm
·       Medicare Supplemental Insurance
·       Transition from coverage through Vermont Health Connect to Medicare. 
·       Accessing benefits
 
SHIP counselors also offer New to Medicare classes for Vermonters about to become eligible for Medicare.
 
To reach SHIP, call the HelpLine 800-642-5119.   Your call will be automatically routed to the appropriate AAA. For a map of AAA locations, visit the Vermont Association of Area Agencies on Aging website.  https://www.vermont4a.org/
Thank You for My Gratitude - Sarah Potok, MFA
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Services exist for people like me, whether blind or otherly abled, that don’t require thanks as part of the equation. We have government agencies, benevolent institutions, and the ADA laws. We have talking books and service dogs and assistive technology, often at little to no extra cost to us. These services for accessibility help to level out the playing field, making our lives a little more possible, a little more normal.
      In exchange for these services, expressing gratitude feels like a choice rather than an expectation, much like being grateful for legs that work or eyes that see. Services for those of us deemed disabled have been hard-won and a long time coming. It is a sort of compensation for luck-of-the-draw circumstances not of our choosing.
      The difference between being thankful and being grateful might seem so subtle as to be negligible. When we say thanks, it is for something we receive. When we are grateful, it is for something we already have. This is the difference between asking for a favor and having the right to accessibility that others have.
      Some of us need to rely on help with driving, shopping, filling out forms, and so many other necessary tasks required to live in this world. Sometimes all we can do is say thank you. And we really mean it. However, being constantly on the receiving end can push us toward that slippery slope of feeling helpless, a nose-against-the-glass awareness of our encroaching dependence.
      Available services such as the NLS (National Library Services) and the talking book have not been around forever. We have come a long way in having a library like ABLE Library as a resource. Braille has only been around since the early 1800s and early forms of book recordings since the mid 1900s. Historically, we have relied on the kindness of others.
      The Seeing Eye, where my guide dog is from, believes that although the approximate cost of a working guide dog is $60,000, the cost to us will be $100 regardless of financial ability. We can pay a dollar a month, fifty cents a month, one cent a month, or all of it at once. This payment, a minute fraction of the actual cost of a guide dog team, transfers the rights of ownership to us without its feeling like a handout.
      I believe in thanks. I say it all the time. Sometimes it feels like that’s all I say. So when a service like ABLE Library comes along, I am grateful to know the wonderful and knowledgeable librarians and to listen to the terrific recordings. I feel oh so human and normal and whole having access to the privilege of reading without my hand out for a favor.
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Sarah Potok is our ABLE Library intern.
Quick Links
  • “Vermont's Diversity Perspective on Diversity and Inclusion” from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont: https://bit.ly/2VpYAQj
 
 
CLOVER Corner
Continuing Education & Small/Rural Libraries
GRANT: 2019 ARSL Conference in Burlington, VT
VTLIB will be offering 40 grants to attend the 2019 Association of Rural and Small Libraries conference, September 4-7 in Burlington. We are excited to help 40 Vermont librarians attend what is always a vibrant, informative, and fun conference, loaded with content relevant to our local libraries. To quote one of the Vermont librarians who went to this conference last year, “These are our people!”

More information about ARSL and the conference is here: https://arsl.info/ . There will be 15 grants of $900 and 25 grants of $450. There is a link to the application and guidelines on the VTLIB website: https://bit.ly/2GPnvtk

Applications must be mailed via U.S. Postal Service, and must be postmarked no later than March 22 nd . If you have any questions, please contact Joy Worland, 636-0027, or joy.worland@vermont.gov
Weave: The Social Fabric Project
David Brooks recently wrote an article ( https://nyti.ms/2InkhiC ) in the New York Times about a project he is involved with at the Aspen Institute called Weave: The Social Fabric project. Weave seeks “to learn from those who are weaving communities everywhere, establishing connection, building relationships, offering care and creating intimacy and trust.”
Joy read this and immediately thought of public libraries. The Brooks article and Weave’s website unapologetically state the urgency of this kind of work in today’s social and cultural climate. This is a concept our profession can incorporate into library advocacy. It also pairs beautifully with the theme of this year’s VLA conference, “Cultivate Resilience.”
For more information about Weave: https://bit.ly/2H7ORKz
As always, check the Continuing Ed page
( https://libraries.vermont.gov/services/continuing_ed ) on our website for upcoming workshops. We update and augment frequently!
From Our Neighbors at the Vermont Historical Society
VHS News & Events
Last Chance to see the Anything for Speed exhibit
Our popular exhibit on the history of auto racing in Vermont is set to close on March 30. Don’t miss this last chance to view the amazing racing artifacts or post your fastest time in the racing simulator! The exhibit will be open special hours on Saturday, March 9 as well as closing day on Saturday, March 30. At 2:00 pm on the 30 th we’ll get together for a special discussion with some of the more colorful characters featured in the exhibit before the checkered flag flies. Admission to the exhibit is now free!
 
Third Thursday: Vermont's Musical Ladies
Thursday, March 21, 12:00 pm
Vermont History Museum, Montpelier
Singer and researcher Linda Radtke, joined by pianist Arthur Zorn, explores the contributions of Vermont women to the traditions of parlor songs, women’s club music contests, and social reform efforts. Oceana Judah, Diane Martin, Edwina Flint, and Helen Hartness Flanders represent the richness and invention of the female composers included in the sheet music collection of the Vermont Historical Society. Free & open to everyone. Bring your lunch, basic refreshments served.
 
Vermont Music, Far & Wide
in the Local History Gallery
Vermont History Museum, Montpelier, VT
Vermont’s music spans genres and generations and reminds us how creative and diverse we are as a people, in our past and the present. The volunteer-staffed nonprofit Big Heavy World has curated a colorful and interactive exhibit of eclectic artifacts that showcase Vermont music history from recent decades. ‘Vermont Music, Far & Wide’ reflects on how music is an art form, a catalyst for community-building, and also a contributor to the state’s economy. On view through July 27.