Happy Halloween

Wendy Gunther has been making these Halloween figurines for years. We thought they were worth sharing today, in addition to these frighteningly wonderful libraries colleagues.

The University Libraries: Coming Together

Libraries Annual Meeting: Notes from the Dean's Remarks

I. Welcome, and thanks to:

· Larry, Darcelene, and the Library Social Committee

· Dean’s office: Peter, Annette, Nancy and Lisa—especially for the slide show.

II. Themes

· Every year we have a theme, which we discover largely in retrospect—we don’t always know what theme we’re making as we’re working. The past year seems to have several themes: change, collaboration and coming together. We are evolving to new levels of service.

· Thesaurus.com defines “together” as: calm, cool, in sync, well-balanced; as one, collectively, in unison, side by side, with one voice; and, in a state of preparedness.

III. What has come together over the past year in the Libraries?

· The evolution of the R2 report in very practical ways:

o Tech Services re-visioning, through the work of the Technical Services Working Group (TSWG) and the Serials Implementation Team (SIT)

o Discovery and Delivery Council

o Newly-constituted Collections Team

o Bringing Dana and Bailey/Howe processes together

o Materials budget realignment

· The evolution of our organizational structure.

o Collection Management Services (CMS) into Resource Description and Analysis (with Birdie as Director) and Collection Development and Acquisitions (with Tina as Interim Director)

o Jeanene Light as Interim Director of B/H Instruction & Information Services

· The evolution of our Web site to something that is aesthetically pleasing as well as flexible and functional with a January 2009 release.

· The evolution of our communications and marketing initiatives: LOGO design and ASK campaigns. Also connecting with our users through our various new and re-energized liaison programs.

· The evolution of our facilities.

o Evolution of Dana as an even faster and flexible research machine: informatics, no ILL fees, etc.

o Evolution of B/H: renovating a better building

o Including partners: Writing in the Disciplines (WID), ETS Help Desk

o Devolution of Cook to a largely virtual library

o Billings becoming a reality

o Our virtual space: CDI and institutional repository

· The evolution for the future in a newly created Strategic Plan.

o The Strategic Plan has been circulated, and there will be an open forum to discuss on Wednesday, Nov. 12.

IV. The Libraries’ evolution amidst economic uncertainty. We need to be even more flexible and focused. The budget implications suggest that we must be streamlined.

· Better shape than many other institutions:

o So far, no hiring freezes or layoffs

o Paychecks covered

o Near-term and longer term concerns:
Enrollment uncertainties, Retention, Research focus

· Strategic planning and University Planning Council

· New student learning outcomes

· Accreditation

· New vision/mission statements:

Vision Statement: To be among the nation’s premier small research universities,

preeminent in our comprehensive commitment to liberal education, environment,

health, and public service.

Mission Statement: To create, evaluate, share, and apply knowledge and to prepare students to be accountable leaders who will bring to their work dedication to the global community, a grasp of complexity, effective problem-solving and communication skills, and an enduring commitment to learning and ethical conduct.

In closing, this will continue to be a year of evolving together. In fact, the new libraries’ group photo represents the convergence of all our efforts and the progress we have made. Seeing all our colleagues pictured together under Billings represents the past as well as the future –all of which is coming together for the UVM Libraries.

DEAN’S COUNCIL MINUTES: October 21, 2008

Present: Mara Saule, Peter Blackmer, Paul Philbin, Jeff Marshall, Tina Kussey, Jeanene Light, Selene Colburn, Nancy Bercaw

Absent: Marianne Burke, Birdie MacLennan

I. Libraries Strategic Planning

Departments are encouraged to review the draft Strategic Plan, which was developed by the Dean’s Council over the past 8 months, and to give feedback directly to Nancy. An open forum to discuss the document will be held on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. The Strategic Plan can be seen at http://www.uvm.edu/~pblackme/Draft%20of%20Strat%20Plan%20Oct%2010%202008.pdf

II. Vermont’s New State Librarian

Marty Reid, recently named Vermont’s State Librarian, will visit the UVM Libraries on Friday, October 24.

III. Budget Matters

Mara announced that the Board of Trustees Executive Committee approved the Elsevier contract Monday and thanked Tina for helping organize materials for the last-minute meeting. On Friday, October 24, Mara and Peter will meet with Richard Cate, the new vice president for finance, as well as Associate Provost Jane Knodell, to talk about last year’s budget.

IV. Libraries Annual Meeting

The Libraries Annual Meeting will take place in the B/H Staff Lounge on Tuesday, October 28, 2008. Directors’ reports can be read now at http://www.uvm.edu/~pblackme/Libraries%20Annual%20Meeting%202008.pdf

V. Updates

· Shawn Biegen has accepted the staff position in serials and will start Nov. 17.

· Interviews for the staff position in Special Collections are underway, with the final interview scheduled for Monday. The position is expected to be filled by November.

· A bindery working group will commence soon. Albert Joy will serve as chair.

· The search for the Outreach Digital Initiatives Librarian has attracted 16 applications thus far.

· The College of Education received a grant from the Center for Inclusion to help CTL expand faculty development around universal design principles.

DEAN’S COUNCIL MINUTES: October 7, 2008

Present: Mara Saule, Selene Colburn, Paul Philbin, Jeff Marshall, Marianne Burke, Peter Blackmer, Tina Kussey, Birdie MacLennan and Nancy Bercaw

Absent: Jeanene Light

I. Annual Libraries Meeting

The Annual Libraries will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 28, from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Staff Lounge in B/H. This year, the dean and department heads will send their reports via email a week before the event, and then take questions at the meeting.

II. Strategic Planning Documents

The Council has completed an inaugural draft of the Libraries’ Strategic Plan for 2009-2013. Drafts will be circulated through department heads, this month, and an open forum will be scheduled for November to discuss the document.

III. Capital Planning

Mara, with the assistance of Selene and Jeff, submitted a package to the Provost’s office, which reflects libraries’ capital priorities for the future. All new construction and renovations costing more than $1 million is being reprioritized by UVM. The cover letter outlines the domino effect that Billings will have on all three libraries, as well as ongoing storage issues.

IV. Updates

Jeff Marshall: Four people will be interviewed for Prudence Doherty’s former position. There were 150 applicants.

Marianne Burke: A medical librarian from Rutland Medical Center, Clara LaForce, is joining the Dana faculty one day a week. The position for a cataloging and acquisitions professional will be advertised in listserv and regional library associations. Dana also has two openings for temporary visiting librarians: content development librarian and informatics digital libraries. (The question came up as to the definition of informatics. Marianne explained that it is “the applied juncture of content and technology.”) Also of note, Marianne is working as a producer and writer on the latest installment of Dr. Carney’s public health series. The show, shot last Tuesday, involves a doctor and a standardized patient discussing health information available on the Internet.

Birdie MacLennan: The search committee for Toni’s position has interviewed four candidates and has forwarded a recommendation to Mara and Peter. Birdie will be away until Nov. 3 and coverage is divided amongst Jane, Juliet and Tina.

Selene Colburn: For Homecoming weekend, Selene and Prudence curated an exhibit featuring UVM. Selene also led a workshop on “searching” for information and hosted an open house for the CDI. The ASK campaign is gearing up for new models and images. The Communications’ Team is working on a short list of local and national consultants for the signage project.

Paul Philbin: E-resources portal still a work in progress for the web team. The new website is expected to launch between the end of fall semester and prior to the beginning of spring semester. Paul and the team will link a beta test from current page.

Peter Blackmer: New flooring will be installed in the entry-way to B/H during winter break. The flooring is made of 37-percent recycled materials. Also, Scott Miller will be “test driving” wooden caps on the ends of shelving down reference alley in an effort to improve the look and feel of the main floor. New computer tables are on order, as are 30 additional computers.

Tina Kussey: The department had conference with Yankee Book Peddlers about the feasibility of bringing invoicing into Voyager. YBP will set up a test with Lyman. Tina is putting together a collections team to work on a policy first—it was last revamped in 1986. Peter Spitzform will serve as chair.

An Award-Winning Party

The Annual Faculty and Staff Award Luncheon was a party worth waiting for this year! Congratulations to Susan Mower, Scott Miller, Karl Bridges and Peter Spitzform. And special thanks to the committee --Angie, Joanne, Angus, Scott, Karl and Lori--for hosting such a great party in the perfect location.

And now something really different...

Pamala Smith is taking Art 101 and one of her assignments was to draw a building from the Green in front of the library. The requirements were to use only red, orange, yellow and blue to denote variations in lighting/darkness/lightness of color. She chose B/H, and this is her picture.

She submits it to us with a few disclaimers: I would say that I know that tree on the right is wrong way wrong - obviously I was supposed to make it darker but I couldn't get my head around that because it seemed the same level as the color of the building.

Regardless, it's lovely and worth sharing.