"Our entire team at the Vermont Department of Libraries is committed to providing Vermonters with access to information and opportunities for lifelong learning and to supporting and strengthening libraries in our state. Our activities are focused on enhancing library services Vermonters can access through their local libraries, leveraging shared resources, building partnerships, and fostering a community of learning for library professionals and trustees. Our Department is proud to support libraries statewide through these efforts."
-- Catherine Delneo, VT State Librarian and Commissioner of Libraries

Library Services to the Visually and Physically Impaired and to State Institutions
The Vermont Department of Libraries provided statewide services to patrons who are unable to access traditional print resources or traditional programming. During the project period, the ABLE Library offered a range of services including home delivery of talking book machines and large-print and digital titles to individual patrons and large print deposit collections that circulate to public libraries and other institutions across the state. ABLE manages a local recording program to increase the local content accessible to patrons. Volunteers are trained on the in-house studio equipment or the home recording gear to narrate and edit monographs with Vermont themes or settings. ABLE also offered programming opportunities including a virtual book club for visually impaired and homebound individuals. During the project period, the Department served state mental health facilities through the acquisition of print and digital materials.
IMLS Funds: $117,504.53

Continuing Education for Vermont Library Workforce
The Vermont Department of Libraries used grant funds to provide continuing education training sessions to support the library community statewide. During the pandemic, as these trainings shifted from being held in-person to the virtual environment, department staff, librarians, and trustees gained skill and comfort in presenting and attending trainings online. The move to an online training environment, which eliminated drive-time and mitigated impacts from weather, facilitated an increased attendance at trainings by library staff and trustees from across the state. The Department was able to offer more frequent trainings on diverse topics with interactive components within the online learning environment and was also able to record trainings so that learners could engage with the content asynchronously. Additionally, the online environment enabled experts from outside the state to be brought in at lower cost. The Department sought input from the community in training needs to develop a program of continuing education courses to support emergent needs in the community. These factors contributed positively to increasing access to and attendance at continuing education classes hosted by the Department. Participants responded positively to the training opportunities and reported feeling more connected to the larger library community during the period of social isolation of the public health emergency. 
IMLS Funds: $75,809.87

Vermont Historical Society Online Programming
With grant support from the Department of Libraries, the Vermont Historical Society (VHS) leveraged CARES Act stimulus funds to help move a portion of their programming online during the COVID-19 lockdown. The funds enabled VHS to produce short videos spotlighting several high-interest items in their museum collection which resulted in thousands of views during the project period. They also developed a weekly state trivia program that engaged participants of all ages across the state and from all over the country through an interactive virtual platform. This program was so well-received in Vermont that other museums in New England, inspired by VHS’ model, have implemented it locally.  
IMLS Funds: $1,508