I am very pleased to share with you an IMLS Grant Funded project "The Libraries and Veterans National Forum Toolkit." The Libraries and Veterans National Forum was born out of efforts from librarians at the Texas A&M University Libraries and their desire to better learn from other libraries' efforts to support the veteran and military communities. Collaborating with librarians from academic, public, school, state, and VA libraries, the Libraries and Veterans National Forum project team gathered 250 librarians engaging in this work to share their success stories, brainstorm solutions to their challenges, and gain new ideas to bring back to their libraries. The online Forum took place during the Fall of 2021, and recordings of the Forum sessions will be made available on this site Librarians across the U.S. also had the opportunity to apply for microgrants that could seed veterans' programming at their local libraries. To help librarians just getting started working with veterans, as well as those looking for new ideas to bring to their libraries, an online toolkit was created to collect the shared knowledge of librarians working with the veteran community. It contains lesson plans, program outlines, collection development policies, best practice documents, and more to help ease the way for those just getting started in this work - and to make it easier for those already engaged to find new ideas and new strategies to increase the success of their programs. We are also pleased to launch the Libraries and Veterans National Forum Toolkit: Home - Libraries and Veterans National Forum - Libraries and Veterans National Forum at Libraries and Veterans National Forum (libguides.com)<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fveterans.libguides.com%2Fhome&data=04%7C01%7Clancasterc5%40michigan.gov%7Cb5698a8bb89e4289a18308d9fbb7b4b1%7Cd5fb7087377742ad966a892ef47225d1%7C0%7C0%7C637817588694167163%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=dHTMu4xETzekaA65H2lXUE9scWcY3VcnnuZhhShKOz8%3D&reserved=0> Please let me know if you have any questions. Warm regards, Dawn [Macintosh HD:Users:jeff:Desktop:CT_State_Library_Email_Logo.jpg] Dawn La Valle |Director, Division of Library Development | Dawn.lavalle@ct.gov<mailto:Dawn.lavalle@ct.gov> | Hartford Office: (860) 757-6665| http://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/dld/home<https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flibguides.ctstatelibrary.org%2Fdld%2Fhome&data=04%7C01%7Clancasterc5%40michigan.gov%7Cb5698a8bb89e4289a18308d9fbb7b4b1%7Cd5fb7087377742ad966a892ef47225d1%7C0%7C0%7C637817588694167163%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=ZGgn1mu5JW%2Fdo9dP3CwTza2n%2FvdzNDRvyUjgZcIeUg4%3D&reserved=0> | 231 Capitol Ave. Hartford CT 06106 | Fax: (860) 757-6503 Cathy Lancaster Youth Services Coordinator Library of Michigan 702 W. Kalamazoo St. Lansing, MI 48915 My Pronouns: She/Her/Hers - See www.mypronouns.org<http://www.mypronouns.org/> to learn more. LancasterC5@michigan.gov<mailto:LancasterC5@michigan.gov> | 517-335-8129 | www.mi.gov/libraryofmichigan<http://www.mi.gov/libraryofmichigan> Follow us: Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/libraryofmichigan/> | Twitter<https://twitter.com/libraryofmich> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/libraryofmichigan/> Join the MiYouth<https://gcc01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmail2.mcls.org%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fmiyouth&data=02%7C01%7CNorrisS2%40michigan.gov%7Caf51448f1e92415533aa08d6f4b53328%7Cd5fb7087377742ad966a892ef47225d1%7C0%7C0%7C636965456410852648&sdata=nModcBWFyzGoDGK%2FtwsSeAXV%2F85AQKEtzzQQj%2FV%2B5fM%3D&reserved=0> Listserv, created for Michigan public library staff to share and discuss children and teen programming and services.