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June 2025 | |
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Adult Services Notes |
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LVA, LSTA Funding, & Virginia Libraries
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An update from Dennis Clark, the Librarian of Virginia on LSTA funding from IMLS:
I wanted to close out (hopefully) the news surrounding federal funding for the current fiscal and next year. Please allow me to restate the facts as I understand them today [5/8/25]!
LVA has now received our complete federal funding for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2025. LVA received notification that we have been awarded our grant for 50% funds for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026. We have received assurances that we will receive the remaining 50% of our federal fiscal year allotment soon.
All of this means that we should not see any changes to our IMLS/LSTA grants to states funding for the next year and a half. I feel confident at this point to encourage you to assume steady LSTA funding through September 2026. |
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Recently Added LVA Training
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Southeast Collaborative Conference 2025
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If you were not able to attend the free Southeast Collaborative Online Conference this past spring, you are now able to view all the presentations in the LVA Niche Academy.
This year's presenters included staff members from a dozen Virginia libraries, both public and academic, whose presentations covered a wide range of valuable topics, including using data, building collaborative relationships, AI Salons, time management, new approaches to book clubs, and building teen spaces. |
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The 2025 Southeast Collaborative Online Conference is a collective effort by the Georgia Public Library Service, State Library of North Carolina, South Carolina State Library, Tennessee State Library & Archives, and The Library of Virginia to offer innovative and useful online learning experiences for library staff at all levels through a convenient online conference.
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Niche Academy is open to all Virginia library staff members and library associates such as trustees and Friends board members. If you do not have a Niche Academy account, please use your library email address to sign up. If you do not have a library work email, you may register with a personal email, and we will contact you to confirm that you are affiliated with a Virginia library.
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News from Library Development
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Career Prep and Job Resources
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Do you sometimes struggle to help users looking for job and career credentialing information? It can be a challenge to keep all of this information available in your library and up-to-date.
Fortunately, JobNow from Brainfuse, part of the Find It Virginia collections has the resources you need to get your users on the road to a new career.
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Of particular use here are the Career Prep and Job Resources in the Skill Surfer section of JobNow. Here you will find career information and credentialing resources for over 140 different careers and trades. Resources include practice certification tests, occupational outlook information, and career prep guides.
The Career Prep and Job Resources in Skill Surfer include ASVAB prep (for those enlisting in the military), nursing practice exams for NCLEX, PAX-RN, HESI, and TEAS tests, practice licensing tests for electricians and plumbers, and lots more.
In addition, JobNow offer live interview and résumé coaching from 2-11 pm 7-days a week, easy-to-use résumé templates, job matching, and live unemployment benefits assistance.
It's all available for free for your users on your library's website, and you can access great marketing content on the LVA Info Center Find It Virginia page under the Marketing Find It VA header. |
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The Library of Virginia’s exhibition, Mapping the Commonwealth, 1816-1826, closes on June 7, but our resources remain available on our exhibition webpage.
Learn about the creation of the first official state map of Virginia in related blog posts, a story map, and our In the Gallery videos. Use our research guide to find out more about the Mapping the Commonwealth project, and explore other Virginia, county and world maps in our collections.
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Yiddish Book Center Public Libraries Program
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Looking to expand your book group opportunities?
The Public Libraries Program at the Yiddish Book Center "brings Yiddish literature in translation to public libraries across the United States to deepen their engagement with Yiddish literature and Jewish life, religion, and culture, and to foster vibrant cross-cultural dialogue and discussion in their communities." |
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Each year, the Center works with 40 libraries in communities across the United States. The current theme is Between Two Worlds: Exploring Jewish Culture and Religion through Yiddish Literature.
Applications for the 2025–26 Public Libraries Program are now open and are due by July 14, 2025. Successful applicants will be notified in August. |
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Readers' Advisory Tips and Tricks
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New NoveList Plus Experience Coming in June |
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Exciting news from NoveList about a new user interface that makes NoveList content more accessible and user-friendly. Here are some details and links from the folks at NoveList.
The new NoveList experience will go live on June 16. There’s nothing you need to do to migrate from the old to the new. Just a few things we want you to know ahead of time:
- Local holdings will migrate automatically. If you’re an admin of your library’s account and you have any questions about local holdings, you can contact us at novelist@ebsco.com.
- Most folders, saved searches, and saved records will migrate automatically. If you’re one of the few who have custom folders, read the Help page to find out how to migrate them.
- This is a great opportunity to relaunch NoveList to your community. Find ready-made promotional materials to spread the word about the new NoveList on the Promo Kit page. There's a video you can share with your community of readers plus flyers and bookmarks, talking points, and more.
We think you’ll love the new NoveList, intentionally designed for everyone with an accessible, mobile-friendly experience |
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Want to learn more about using the new NoveList?
Introducing the New NoveList Experience webinar
Tuesday, June 17th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Thursday, June 26th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
Looking for a better way to help readers? Designed for everyone—from patrons to pros—the new NoveList experience makes it easy for casual users to get quick answers while providing professionals with deep-dive tools. Join us for this microtraining to learn how easy it is to discover fresh content like buzzy books, find the perfect read with our interactive story elements mixer, get alerts for the new books you care about, and more! Can’t make the live session? Register anyway. We’ll send the recording to all registrants a few days after the event.
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Libraries can be centers of civil, civic conversation, and the Danbury (CT) Public Library has developed an interesting and thoughtful approach to building civic understanding in their community.
The Civic Hub Initiative was "a six-month pop-up designed to deepen civic engagement by spotlighting critical local issues through rotating displays and programming." |
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The project incorporated library staff and materials, library space, volunteer assistance, and featured presenters to raise awareness of civic issues facing Danbury, including "Voting, Immigration, Housing Instability, Food Security, Income Inequality and Environmental Sustainability."
Through a combination of active and passive programming, the library "aimed to foster dialogue, raise awareness and connect the community to reliable civic resources." Use the button below to find out more about the project and how you could implement something similar at your library. |
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Featured Virginia Programs
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Massanutten Regional Library
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Poetry Jam: Share Your Voice! |
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April was Poetry Month, and Massanutten Regional Library offered the community an evening of creative expression at our Poetry Jam: Share Your Voice! program. Local poets took the stage to share their work and, afterwards, the mic opened for audience members to join in and read their own poetry. Seasoned poets and first-time writers came to celebrate the power of words in a welcoming and inspiring environment.
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We even had one poet read his poem in his native tongue, Spanish, while another read its English translation. Very powerful! Due to the limited amount of time for readings, registration was required. Twenty-five people attended and 11 people read poetry. The enthusiasm in the room was incredible! Everyone was excited to have the opportunity and the space to share their poetry and encouraged us to host a poetry jam on a more regular basis. Perhaps we can manage four times a year? We'll see -- there are lots of opportunities for growth with this program.
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For more info, contact Allison Brueckner, abrueckner@mrlib.org
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Washington County Public Library System
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At the Readers Circle RA program at our library, which is held on the first Wednesday afternoon of each month, those who attend discuss books they are excited about, whether they have read them yet or not.
Following the program, the Readers Circular is sent to anyone who opts in, listing all the books that were discussed, and related "sidebars" such as TV or movie adaptations that participants mentioned. |
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Many readers get recommendations of what to read either by attending or in the Circular. It is fascinating because we have wide and divergent reading tastes within the group so that anyone can discover something to read. We sometimes hold the event at the local community college library and partner with the staff there. See an example from the Readers Circular below.
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For more info, contact Jill Minor, jminor@wcpl.net
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Recent articles on topics of interest to Adult Services |
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This newsletter is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. It is published by the Library of Virginia Library Development Division.
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