The days are getting longer again, thank goodness.  Here at SLA, we are looking forward.

We are looking forward to new member involvement at the Board level - thank you so much to the people who put their names forward for Board positions.  After a moment of panic two days before nominations closed, it sounds like we now have candidates running for all Board positions, and perhaps even elections!!!  This tells me that our organization is thriving, and that it is an exciting time to be working together.

We are looking forward to the Saskatchewan Libraries Conference, which will have lots of great sessions about service to diverse communities, as well as sessions where you can learn about cool things that are happening in libraries near and far.  The Conference Committee and the Office are working hard to bring you something sensational.  Make sure that you take a moment to thank them for their work, when you talk to them.

We are looking forward to participating in the building of a new national library federation.  In the short survey two weeks ago, you told us resoundingly that we should get out there in the middle of those conversations.  Saskatchewan libraries have a very long history of working together to build good things; we will take that heritage with us to the national table.

We are also looking forward to next year.  A few years ago, the SLA Board Governance Task Force built a vision for SLA that we the members endorsed shortly afterward.  A piece of that vision was that in the middle of the sitting President's term, the membership would be asked what the Board should work on in the second year.  I am asking you now in this letter, and we are also asking you more broadly in the membership survey that is in your inbox.  Thank you for filling out the survey; it helps us to solidify ourselves as a member-driven organization.

And if you missed the survey?  There will be a one-hour session at the SLA Conference, where all of us can look at the initial survey results and crunch the data a bit to set priorities.  All of this formative work will be used to build the 2015-2018 Strategic Plan for SLA. We look forward to having those member-driven discussions with you.

I have a few things in mind for next year that I would like to talk to you about sometime soon.  One is 'bracket creep'.  When I first became a member of SLA, my membership was $60.00 per year.  This was an accessible fee for a starting library professional with student loans and a crappy car.  These days, a starting librarian gets a salary that doesn't go much further than it did 20 years ago, but it is high enough to kick her straight into the $90.00 SLA membership category.  The cost of living has gone up, but the wage scales for the SLA memberships have not been adjusted to keep pace.  We should consider a study of salary levels, to make sure that starting professionals can afford to be SLA members and reap the benefits of our esteemed company.  In the context of a possible new national library federation and the funding around that, it would seem prudent to talk about our own 'bracket creep' situation at the same time.

The second thing I would like to talk to you about is the Mary Donaldson Trust.  The Trust is a separate charitable financial entity within SLA's books that funds the Mary Donaldson Lecture, the Mary Donaldson Award, and the printing of the MD Lectures.  The funds in the Trust are dwindling, despite past Board efforts to build them up.  It is time to make a bold move.  The Board is looking at the Trust, to see if we can close it out and yet continue to do the Lecture and give out the Award in more flexible ways using our other existing committee structures.  We could achieve the same goals without having to do CRA reports on two separate charitable numbers each year.  Some of you feel very strongly about the Trust, so we would not make this move without consulting you.  Think about whether you value the Mary Donaldson Trust itself, or whether you value the Mary Donaldson Lecture and the Mary Donaldson Award, and then we can talk together about what happens going forward.

I want to commend the Board and Staff for the hard work they do on our behalf; they are a thoughtful and passionate group.  As always, it is a pleasure to work with them and with all of you for the betterment of the library community in Saskatchewan.

Respectfully submitted,
Gwen Schmidt

• The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society Conference originally planned for April 17, 18, and 19, 2015 has been postponed until April 2016.  The Annual General Meeting will proceed on Saturday, April 18, 2015 and will include a presentation on the Organization Review.   More information about the 2016 Conference will be posted when it becomes available.
• In Praise of Libraries Read more
• 9th International Indigenous Librarians' Forum (IILF) Call for Presenters
• IILF Save the Date Read More
• Council of Canadian Academies has published a report Read More
• The Canadian Library Association and the Ex Libris Association have issued a
  call for nominations for the W. Kaye Lamb Award for innovative library services to seniors. Read More
• The Canada Reads 2015 broadcast details are available here
• SaskBooks is holding their Spring Professional Development Sessions. Read more
• The Awasis Education Conference is being held April 29 to May 1 2015. Read more
• On March 13 there will be an e-learning professional development opportunity. Read more

Regina Public Library will be holding a Readers'  Summit in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Book Awards:

The Saskatchewan Book Awards will be held in Regina on  April 25th, 2015 

 

 

 

Access 2015 

Access is Canada's premier library technology conference, bringing together librarians, technicians, developers, and programmers to discuss cutting-edge library technologies. This is the 22nd year of Access and we're thrilled to bring the conference to Toronto, Ontario! AccessYYZ will be held at the beautiful Bram and Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library from September 8-11, 2015.

 

accessconference.ca or send them an email at [email protected].