January/June 2017PeopleCampbell County Public Library
Prince William Public Library SystemJOSLYN JONES has been named the new Assistant Director for Prince William Public Library System, serving Prince William County, which is the second largest and fourth fastest-growing county in the state of Virginia. Ms. Jones most recently held the position of Branch Manager at D.C. Public Library’s Francis Gregory Branch. She has also served in a supervisory capacity at Prince George’s County Memorial Library System in Maryland and at Arlington Public Library in Virginia, in Children’s Services and Reference Services, respectively. Ms. Jones’s first “real” job after completing her Bachelor’s degree in English at Hampton University was as a Library Associate at Grande Prairie Public Library in Hazel Crest, Illinois, twenty years ago; she has been working in public libraries ever since. She received her MLIS in 2008 from Dominican University.
Suffolk Public Library CORY BLAND is now a new full-time Library Associate at Suffolk Public Library as of April 3, 2017. He started in 2013 as a part-time Library Assistant I and was promoted to Outreach and Operations Assistant last year. Mr. Bland attended the Rhode Island School of Design to work towards his Associates degree.
Williamsburg Regional Library The Williamsburg Regional Library Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that BETSY FOWLER has been named the director of the Williamsburg Regional Library (WRL). Ms. Fowler is the former director of library and research services for the City of Chesapeake and served as coordinator of branch services for the Central Rappahannock Regional Library, serving the City of Fredericksburg and surrounding counties. Bill Porter, chair of the WRL Board of Trustees says, “Betsy Fowler will be an excellent director for the library, and brings a range of experiences that will ensure the WRL continues to fulfill the needs and expectations of our community.” She began work at the library on March 16, 2017. Betsy Fowler has served as a library advocate, library administrator, and library consultant for over three decades. She has headed the renovation, design, and construction of more than a dozen library facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is the recipient of the Public Relations Award and the Staff Person of the Year Award from the Virginia Library Directors as well as the City of Chesapeake’s City Manager’s Award. She also earned a congressional earmark for public library workforce development. Ms. Fowler earned her Masters of Science in Library Science from the Catholic University of America. HappeningsBest Buy Awards Grant for Teen Contest at Prince William Public Library System The Prince William Public Library System (PWPLS) is proud to announce the receipt by the Friends of the Montclair Community Library of an award for $5,000 from the Best Buy Foundation Community Grant Program. This was a joint effort between the Friends of the Montclair Community Library, Prince William Public Library System and Forest Park High School, developed by Ursula Juarez-Wall, a librarian at PWPLS, and Eva Newton, a librarian at Fairfax County Public Library, advancing a Young Adult Digital Book Trailer contest as part of their Virginia Library Leadership Academy project. Students in grades 9-12 selected a young adult book they had read, then created and produced a digital book trailer to inspire others to read the book. On March 30, 2017, prizes were awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners respectively as follows: Nathan Hall for Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Soleema Moses for The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand and Laurie Turner for 1984 by George Orwell. "Nothing pleases me more than to see my staff motivate from within the organization and succeed on not only receiving funding, but also developing community partnerships and working with our teen audience," said Deborah Wright, PWPLS Library Director. The funding for this project came from a Best Buy Foundation "Ignites Teen Potential through Technology" grant. The mission of the grant is to provide teens with places and opportunities to develop technology skills that will inspire future education and career choices. Funds were used to procure additional equipment and software for the Montclair Community Library's Digital Media Lab and Central Community Library, student meetings, contest prizes, teen programs, and a project finale celebration. Return to People & Happenings
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