2018 Nominees for Honorary Life MembershipVLA has had three nominations this year for Honorary Life Member. As per the VLA Manual, this is conferred by vote of the membership and provides full benefits of individual membership without payment of dues. VLA Members are welcome to vote for one, two, all, or none of the nominees. Voting will close at 11:59 pm on September 15, 2017. Information on the 2018 VLA Officer Election nominees is also available. Connie Gilman
Alison D. Heartwell
Lydia Williams
–Last updated 8/1/2017 |
In 2016, Connie Gillman retired as Director of the Prince William County Library System. She has been an active member of VLA for over 20 years. Connie has held various VLA positions, including Secretary and 2012 President. Her commitment to libraries and librarians is very strong and she has mentored many young librarians and those who are new to the profession. As director of the Prince William Public Library system, she continuously encouraged librarians and other staff to attend professional conferences and other continuing education courses sponsored by VLA. Connie, through her VLA involvement, and through her daily life as a librarian and library administrator, has advocated to politicians, library board members, and county employees for the profession.
Alison D. Heartwell graduated in 1973 with her MLS from the University of Maryland. Alison was hired by Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL) that same year as a cataloger and outreach librarian. In 1981, she was hand appointed Assistant Director. For nearly 30 years, until her retirement as Deputy Director in 2010, she worked to grow CRRL into a library system of national recognition. She carefully managed budgets, balancing staff needs with public and local elected official wants, always with an eye on what would benefit CRRL the most. Alison oversaw the expansion of CRRL from a single main library and small branch to a thriving system of 8 locations across 4 jurisdictions. Her strong belief in libraries and what they contribute to their communities made Alison an influential advocate. A strong supporter of regionalism, she worked tirelessly to demonstrate the benefit of a shared library system. When one locality considered pulling out of the regional system in favor of a locally-run library, Alison worked with the CRRL Board of Trustees and rallied support from the community convincing the jurisdiction to stay. As Deputy Director, she worked closely with administrative staff to craft operating budgets, often in less-than-ideal economic climates. When the national economy plummeted in 2008, Alison was able to keep all CRRL employees on staff despite layoffs in other library systems. And in 2010, when a shrinking budget coincided with the opening of a new location, it was Alison’s creativity that made opening the new branch without hiring any additional staff possible. A member of VLA during the entirety of her professional career, she was also a member of the American Library Association and the Public Library Association. Her participation in those organizations' annual conferences directly benefited CRRL, as she brought back ideas to share and implement. She also supported employees’ need for continuing education, advocating for them to attend conferences and workshops as well. Several years after retiring, Alison visited CRRL Headquarters each week serving as a library consultant. She officially ended her consulting in 2015 and, although her days now are spent traveling and with her grandchildren, her contributions to the library system endure.
Lydia Williams has served on the Virginia Library Association's Professional Associates (formerly Paraprofessional) Forum Executive Board for a number of years. During that time, she has served four terms as Co-Chair of the Forum and several terms as the Forum's Recording Secretary. In addition, she has served as Secretary of VLA, as a member of the VLA Conference Committee, and as a member of the Virginia Libraries Editorial Board. For numerous years, Lydia coordinated, contributed to, and edited an article summarizing the VLAPAF Spring Conference for Virginia Libraries. In addition, she has kept excellent records of the Forum's history. Since the inception of the Clara Stanley Memorial Scholarship, she has procured the annual premium raffle prize, a P. Buckley Moss print from the Moss Society and had it framed. This has resulted in thousands of dollars being raised for the scholarship fund. Lydia is retiring this year from Longwood University's Greenwood Library where she has served for 44 years as an Archives and Records Specialist. In addition, she is resigning from the VLAPAF Executive Board where she has served faithfully for many years. Lydia has years of dedication to Paraprofessionals, Professional Associates, the Virginia Library Association, Greenwood Library and thereby all of Virginia's libraries and library staff.
