Message from the SLA President

Hello SLA Members,

It was great to see many of you again at the recent SLA Conference in Moose Jaw, or to meet you for the first time.  I am happy to step into the role of President this year, because I value the Conference and the role SLA plays in connecting members, continuing education for library workers, and in recognizing the achievements of library people in our Province.

I also believe in the new Board Governance vision that we implemented a few years ago.  Under that vision, members with Board experience would step up to take on the role of President.  So here I am.  I look forward to serving you, and to working alongside of all of you to support the furthering of excellent, collaborative library services across Saskatchewan.

Thank you to Robert Thomas and the outgoing SLA Board members for your contributions to our organization during a time of change.  You faced the challenges with spirit, thoughtfulness, and humour, and we appreciate that.  We are now set up with strong Staff in the Office, and with a strong new Board Governance vision, giving us the tools we need to go forward and accomplish big things.

You will have heard that Tara Wong is moving to Ontario for a new position, and needed to step down from her position as Member at Large (MAL) on the Board.  Thanks for your work during the past year, Tara, and good luck in your new endeavours.  We are currently running a by-election for that one-year MAL position, which will give members a chance to consider a Board experience and may also give us a chance to try out our new electronicprocess.

Thank you also to Judy Nicholson and Anne Pennylegion in the SLA Office.  It has been a wild ride for the last number of years, and you guys are really helping to get us on the right track.  Your hard work, creativity, and dedication really impress me every day.

As a Board, we are getting to know each other and working to determine goals and priorities for the year.  My main goals as President are these:
* To dust off and strengthen the Continuing Education Grant that SLA started years ago, but that we have not been using to its full advantage
* To support Judy and Anne in the SLA Office, as they build further expertise in their jobs and update the corporate knowledge materials in the office to reflect our current governance
* To guide the organization further down the path with our new Governance model, so we all understand it and make the most of it
* To encourage and support further diversity programming in libraries across the Province, to reflect the multicultural fabric of our communities
* To connect with members like you for collaboration and continuing education, to celebrate our successes, and to tell our stories

Did you know that when we look at the SLA membership as a whole, that the majority of the members are one to ten years into their career in libraries?  We have a lot of fresh, new members, looking for opportunities to meet other people and to build their skills.  SLA Members want to get involved in the Association and to make a difference in Saskatchewan.

We will be putting out a call very soon for volunteers for SLA Committees.  The committees have defined roles and manageable tasks, and good support from the SLA Office.  There is room for you to get involved in something that turns you on.  Please think about how you can get involved, and call me if you want to know more about what a particular commitment would look like (306.975.7606).  I would love to talk to you.

I look forward to working with all of you this year.  And after some good work, I look forward to having a drink with you and a good laugh.  Because that is what SLA is all about.

Respectfully submitted,
Gwen Schmidt, SLA President  

2014 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference  

Now that the sun has set on the 2014 conference, your Conference Committee and SLA staff have met to review the highs and lows of a very successful conference.

Barbara Arrowsmith-Young delivering the Mary Donaldson Memorial Lecture

Firstly, the numbers. Attendance was up this year over last, with 142 delegates, 36 presenters, 46 sessions and 25 exhibitors. Profits generated from the conference will be directed into the Mary Donaldson Trust Fund (30%) with the remaining amount used for future conference planning.Shortly after the conference concluded, we asked you to

complete an evaluation, and we thank the many of you who did. Overall, your comments were very favourable with high

Volunteers are the backbone of the conference and Tasha Maddison did a terrific job finding and organizing these individuals and keeping them on track. Tasha will again be our volunteer coordinator in 2015, and it's never too early to let her know that you are interested in helping. You can contact her at tasha.maddison@usask.ca.

Pre-Conference and Conference sessions were rated as good to excellent by the majority of survey respondents. Comments included: "Everything I went to was interesting, relevant and well presented." "Lots of sessions I wanted to go to and I took away information I could implement."As conference planning has begun for next year, be sure and send us any suggestions for sessions that you would like to attend.

Outgoing Board members (L-R) Robert Thomas, Blanche Bird and Colleen Murphy

The Awards Banquet was very well attended, with more than 125 in attendance. One of the high points of the evening was the presentation of the 2014 Frances Morrison Award of Merit to Joylene Campbell, whose 30 year commitment to Saskatchewan libraries has included the development of the Multitype Library Board, establishing the funding mechanism for the Multitype Database Licensing Program, spearheading the effort to exempt library electronic resources from the Provincial Sales Tax (a first for Canada), and establishing the Single Integrated Library System (SILS) for Saskatchewan Public Libraries.

Interspersed throughout the evening was a game called "Know Your Colleagues" that involved all the guests at a single table finding commonalities amongst themselves and provided a lot of laughter for everyone in the room.Thanks to Elaina St. Onge and Kimberley Hintz (who was also responsible for the table centrepieces) for their creativity in creating this and the SLINGO game.

We hope that you will join us next year in Regina at the Doubletree Hotel for a weekend of fun, learning and social activity. Mark your calendars for May 7-9 2015! Remember, this is YOUR conference, and we would love for you to get involved. Volunteer, present, attend!