prepare for 2.7.6
diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION b/release-notes/VERSION
index ef06ef7..92f2a6a 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 === Releases ===
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-2.7.6 (not yet released)
+2.7.6 (23-Jul-2016)
 
 #1215: Problem with type specialization for Maps with `@JsonDeserialize(as=subtype)`
  (reported by brentryan@github)