If you have any business you would like the board to discuss, please send your request by email to Caroline (slaexdir@sasktel.net) no later than Monday, January 17, 2011

SLA members are invited to attend SLA board meetings as non-voting observers and, by invitation from the Chair, speak at the meetings of the board.

Please contact Caroline at the SLA office if you would like to attend an SLA board meeting, we will be pleased to have you join us
Interested in joining the board? There is currently an opening for Director for Fundraising. Participating on the board is an excellent way to give back to your association and help shape the future of SLA and libraries in Saskatchewan. Email Caroline (slaexdir@sasktel.net) for more information.

Stay up to date with SLA news by subscribing to our RSS feed at www.saskla.ca.

Jeff Mason
President, Saskatchewan Library Association

If you have any business you would like the board to discuss, please send your request by email to Caroline (slaexdir@sasktel.net) no later than Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2010.

SLA members are invited to attend SLA board meetings as non-voting observers and, by invitation from the Chair, speak at the meetings of the board.

Please contact Caroline at the SLA office if you would like to attend an SLA board meeting, we will be pleased to have you join us.
Interested in joining the board? There is currently an opening for Director for Fundraising. Participating on the board is an excellent way to give back to your association and help shape the future of SLA and libraries in Saskatchewan. Email Caroline (slaexdir@sasktel.net) for more information.

Stay up to date with SLA news by subscribing to our RSS feed at www.saskla.ca.

Jeff Mason
President, Saskatchewan Library Association

The next meeting of the SLA Board of Directors is scheduled for Monday September 20, 2010. If you have any business you would like the Board to discuss please send your request by email to Caroline (slaexdir@sasktel.net) no later than Wednesday, September 15, 2010.

SLA members are invited to attend SLA board meetings as non-voting observers and, on invitation from the chair, speak at the meetings of the board. Please contact Caroline at the SLA office if you would like to attend an SLA board meeting, we will be pleased to have you join us.

Interested in joining the board? There is currently an opening for Director for Fundraising. Participating on the board is an excellent way to give back to your association and help shape the future of SLA and libraries in Saskatchewan. Email Caroline (slaexdir@sasktel.net) for more information.

Stay up to date with SLA news by subscribing to our RSS feed at www.saskla.ca.

Jeff Mason
President, Saskatchewan Library Association

Submitted by:

Caroline Selinger, Executive Director

My congratulations to the Forum and Website Committees for a job well done on our new website.  SLA continues to improve and move forward to better serve our members and the library community. We would love to hear from you with your suggestions and comments.

The 2010-2011 SLA Board of Director’s held their changeover meeting on June 14^th and are ready to continue working on SLA’s many important projects.  I sincerely thank our outgoing board members, Lorraine Salt, Charles Wood, Deborah Lee and Gohar Ashoughian for their time and contributions.  I would like to welcome new board members, Amber Christensen, Vice-President; Ann-Marie Mathieu, Director for Communications; Amy Rankin, Director for Special Libraries and Tara Million, Director for Aboriginal Library Services.  Please visit the board section of our website for a complete list of board members.

The 2010 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference was very well received.  We were pleased with so many positive comments and your recommendations for future conferences. We appreciated the many sponsors, partners and volunteers for their support in presenting another successful conference. And now it is time to begin planning the 2011 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference. If you are interested in joining the 2011 Conference Planning Committee, please contact the SLA office – the conference is being held May 5, 6 and 7 at TCU Place in Saskatoon.  It is a great committee to join and be part of this special annual event.

I hope you have had a chance to look into our new SLA Continuing Education Workshop Grant being offered by the SLA Board of Directors. This grant is intended to support and recognize continuing education activities, undertaken by individual or institutional SLA members, which further the mission of SLA. Complete information is available on our website.

Culture Days in Saskatchewan has been in the planning stages this past year and will be held September 24-26, 2010. It is a collaborative pan-Canadian initiative that aims to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement by all Canadians in cultural activities in their communities. To find out more about Culture Days and how to get involved, please visit www.culturedays.ca

The support provided by Saskatchewan Lotteries and SaskCulture Inc. is greatly appreciated by the SLA.  SaskCulture Inc. is a community-driven organization that helps to ensure that groups like ours add to the cultural experience in Saskatchewan. Purchasing lottery tickets ensures that these activities thrive in our communities.

As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions and questions. Please contact me at the SLA office anytime at slaexdir@sasktel.net or phone 306.780.9413.

Have a wonderful summer!

Greetings SLA Members!

A new year for SLA is marked by a new look for our website and for Forum. I hope that the changes and hard work by the Website and Forum Committees helps bring all of you the information you need in an easy and timely manner. Make sure to let us know what you think about the changes so your association can serve you better.

As I wrote in my report for the AGM, change is what I see coming for SLA this year. We need to be more respectful of our members’ time and more responsive to their needs. At the AGM I brought forward the need to look at how our board is organized and how it functions. A motion was carried to establish a task force of past board members to determine how to get our board where it needs to be. If you are a past board member and are interested in helping provide direction for SLA’s future please feel free to contact Caroline or myself.

The AGM also showed a need to be more responsive to members’ advocacy needs. It is my hope that many of our members will share their knowledge and expertise on library issues and help our Advocacy Committee as they collect and produce material on issues such as the CNIB’s Partnership Program, new copyright law, and our Libraries Matter campaign.

SLA also has a new program this year to provide members with the opportunity to host a continue education event in their community. Funds will be made available throughout the year though an easy application process. If your organization has an idea for an event or initiative this Continuing Education Workshop Grant is perfect for you.

I will close by issuing a challenge our members to become more involved in the association this year. The board is going to take a close look at opportunities for participation and make sure they are engaging and rewarding for you. There are many ways you can help out and most of them do not require a lot of your time. I know our members believe SLA’s programs are important so why not show your support?

Jeff Mason

President, SLA

Once again SLA was successful in its funding application to the Cultural Advisory Committee of SaskCulture Inc. Caroline Selinger, Brett Waytuck, and Jeff Mason presented our association very well to the funding panel. But of course, their success was actually your success through your support of membership, volunteer time, and providing us with the vision to move forward.

I just want to give you some snippets from my letter to the Cultural Advisory Committee in hope of sharing what it is that individuals working together bring to the SLA, and to the communities we serve throughout Saskatchewan.

As you know the SLA has a history of over sixty years as a province-wide, volunteer, charitable organization designed to enhance the services and impact of libraries in Saskatchewan. Through libraries of all types, communities whether they are communities of work, education, or geography are enriched. Saskatchewan libraries foster and grow local cultural expression, they expand our cultural horizons as Canadians and help to situate, articulate and share our many diverse views which comprise the Saskatchewan cultural landscape. Healthy and vibrant libraries are an integral part of our cultural community in Saskatchewan, and they are necessary for our learning and growth as individuals and as communities.

As a member of the SLA, you know that the SLA provides important services to our members and, by extension and directly, to the general public. We provide information on library services and activities, promote literacy and cultural development through programs for the public, and support the educational advancement of library workers.

Our programs, which are supported and carried through by volunteers, working with the office staff, encourage literacy, support education of all types, emphasize the value of heritage and diversity, and promote the resources and services that libraries offer equitably to Saskatchewan residents.

One of those programs, that are only given life through the work of SLA members, is our advocacy campaign, Libraries Matter. In 2010 SLA members and their library communities will be assessing and expressing the worth that libraries bring to the cultural and economic well being of Saskatchewan. As well, the work that volunteer- member driven committees do to support the SLA involvement in Saskatchewan Library Week and the TD Summer Reading Club, have proven success in drawing attention to the role that libraries play in increasing access to Saskatchewans cultural wealth through programming, collections, and committed service staff

SLA members and volunteers work with the Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Peoples and the Aboriginal Library Coordinator at the Provincial Library to support the development of library services to Aboriginal peoples. A scholarship for a person of Aboriginal heritage to complete a Master of Library and Information Studies degree has gained widespread attention, including support and continued interest from the Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Peoples, the Multitype Library Board, and the Ministry of Education. We are committed to equity of library service in this province and recognize the specific needs of Aboriginal peoples to not only participate in, but to be leaders of these services

And naturally, I will finish off with a reminder that it is, yet again, members and volunteers, that are making the SLA Conference , Diverse Communities, One Voice happen in Regina on May 6, 7, and 8^th in Regina. More conference information can be found at http://saskla.ca/conferences/

These are just a few of the points from my letter to the Cultural Advisory Committee. I see them as highlights of the work that SLA folk did to make 2009 what it was.

And so, thank you, to all our members and volunteers for being before that panel, in spirit, with Caroline, Brett, and Jeff, and making our application for funding another SLA success story

Warm wishes for 2010,

Barbara Kelly

SLAs Annual Global Funding application was submitted to SaskCulture in October. On Nov 21, SLA Board members Jeff Mason, Brett Waytuck, and I met with the Cultural Advisory Committee for an interview to review our application and talk about the work of the SLA. I am very pleased to once again report favourable results in that the SLA was successful in securing continued funding. The SLA is very appreciative of the valuable support of SaskLotteries and SaskCulture.

In October, Jeff Mason and I attended the 2009 SaskCulture Gathering and AGM in Regina. The Gathering attracted over 200 delegates from around the province, who participated in discussions and development workshops on leadership skills. Featured speakers provided valuable insight into board and management responsibility for risk management. We found this information to be very valuable in the work of the SLA.

A new five-year agreement for distribution of lottery proceeds was signed on October 23, which will mean stable funding opportunities for the 12,000 plus sport, culture and recreation groups that benefit from the Saskatchewan Lotteries Trust Fund for Sport, Culture and Recreation. SLA is very fortunate to be one the organizations that benefit from this fund.

Barbara Kelly, SLA President; Jessica Cammer, Director for Public Libraries; Lorraine Salt, Director for Communications and I attended Government and Public Libraries Forum: Finding our Common Ground. The Forum was hosted by the Ministry of Education in October and brought together representatives of the provincial government and members of Saskatchewans public libraries to discuss how they can work together to achieve their commons goals. This first-ever event, attended by 140 delegates, featured both exceptional speakers and very informative discussion sessions.

The 2009 Saskatchewan Libraries Education Bursary recipient has been chosen and an official announcement will be made before the end of the year. The SLA is proud to administer this bursary to promote the continued growth of professional librarianship in Saskatchewan. The bursary was established in 2002 and was made possible and supported through the generous donations from the Saskatchewan Provincial Library, Ministry of Education and through the efforts of the Multitype Library Board and the SLA.

The 2010 Conference planning is doing very well. Sessions and events are being finalized and we expect the brochure to be available in early 2010 with registration opening at that time as well. My compliments to the 2010 Conference Planning Committee, who have a once again planned a very informative and entertaining conference. The 2010 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference, Diverse Communities, One voice, will be held May 6, 7 and 8, 2010 at the Queensbury Convention Centre, Evraz Place in Regina. Please visit the conference website for the latest news www.saskla.ca/conference

would like to remind you to take advantage of the learning opportunities that are offered by the Education Institute. For a listing of upcoming sessions please visit www.educationinstitute.ca The Education Institute is a national educational program that provides year-round, coast-to-coast, learning through teleconference, webcast, and on-line modes at economical prices. The programs support the professional development of librarians and information professionals. This program is offered through The Partnership, Canadas national network of provincial and territorial library associations. www.thepartnership.ca SLA members receive member prices for all sessions.

My thanks to SLAs office staff, Kirsten Hansen, Program Administrator; and John Keeler, Financial Assistant, for all their support and great work. Kirsten is busy working with our program and conference committees, as well as keeping our website looking good and up-to-date, just to mention a few of the many things she does to keep the SLA office running smoothly. John continues to keep SLAs financial matters and membership in excellent shape.

The SLA office will be closed Dec 24, as well as the week between Christmas and New Years Day.

We will re-open on Jan 4. As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are always welcomed and appreciated. Please call the SLA office anytime.

Happy Holidays!

Caroline Selinger

Executive Director, SLA