Highlights of the VLA Council Meeting:
• VLA’s financial picture looks good. Membership did not decrease in the last fiscal year – it increased by 1.
• VLA Conference
o Exhibit hall is sold out, with 5 vendors wait-listed.
o 373 registrants thus far
o $10,000+ raised in sponsorships
o Scholarship Committee is soliciting donations of gift baskets from forums and organizations to be raffled off to benefit their scholarship fund for those attending graduate program in Library Science.
• VLA executive committee is considering purchasing a software program for managing membership, committees, donations and conference registration.
• Declaration for the Right to Libraries is an initiative championed by ALA president Barbara Stripling. It is designed to build the public will and to support the right of Americans to libraries of all types. An effort will be made by VLA to get this document signed by as many libraries as possible and included in information sent to Virginia’s Congressional delegation prior to Legislative Day in May. For more information see http://www.ala.org/advocacy/declaration-right-libraries
• ALA has a projected deficit of $1.5 million; it does have a healthy endowment of $34.9 million.
• VLA’s Paraprofessional Forum is accepting program proposals for their annual conference in May.
• Successful lobbying by Virginia libraries resulted in an increase in state-aid to libraries for the first time in many years.
