If you were not able to join us, you are probably wondering what happened at the Special Meeting (May 3) and the AGM (May 4), especially in relation to the vision put forward by the SLA Governance Review Task Force.

Members came out in strong numbers to the Special Meeting, and showed strong support for the new governance structure. They endorsed the report of the Task Force, and passed all the related motions to change the Bylaws of our organization. After this meeting was over, we had an eight-member Board structure: a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, and four Members at Large.

The next morning at the AGM, six SLA members were appointed to the Board by acclamation: Robert Thomas (President), Colleen Murphy (Vice-President of Membership and Publications), Gwen Schmidt (Treasurer), Gillian Nowlan (Member at Large), Michael Shires (Member at Large), Theressa Slind (Member at Large). Earlier this week we had a nomination for the fourth Member at Large position. This Member at Large will be formally appointed by the new board of directors at its first meeting and announced in early June. We are still seeking a Vice-President of Advocacy and Development (one-year term).

The next year will be one of forward-thinking and creativity. At the Special Meeting, members told us “Don’t do everything” and to instead focus on some immediate priorities for the organization. We will take this good advice to heart.

Thank you for your support of this new vision. You can expect some good things from us this year.

For more information, please contact Loraine Thompson, SLA Executive Director, at slaexdir@sasktel.net or by calling 306-780-9413.

Sincerely,

Communications Team
Gwen Schmidt, Outgoing Director for Public Libraries/Incoming Treasurer
306-975-7606 or gwen.m.schmidt@gmail.com

Charlene Sorensen, Outgoing Director for Education
306-966-5954 or charlene.sorensen@usask.ca

And then catch up on the last year by reading the SLA 2011-2012 Annual Report

Annual General Meeting
Friday May 4, 2012
8:00 a.m.
Oak Room Ramada Hotel, Regina, SK

All members welcome

The SLA Board needs your help to be dynamic and diverse! There are still a number of open positions on the Board, and if you think this organization is important, now is your opportunity to join us as we take a new, exciting path.

The proposed vision for our organization means that we are moving away from official sector representatives. At the same time, we really want to continue our long history of diverse representation. We would like Board members to come from rural areas as well as urban, and to come from a variety of sectors. We would like to have representation from special libraries, aboriginal library services, and multicultural library services. If you work in one of these sectors, or work outside of Saskatoon or Regina, please think seriously about giving of your time for this organization.

You are invited to run for all positions, but please give these positions extra thought:

Vice-President of Membership and Publications (two-year term)
Vice-President of Advocacy and Development (one-year term)
Member at Large (two-year term)
Members at Large (one-year terms) – two positions available

A strong Board means strong advocacy for library funding and support, it means a strong Saskatchewan Libraries Conference for members, and it means strong support for valued activities like the Saskatchewan Libraries Bursary and continuing education opportunities provided through The Partnership’s Education Institute. And participating at the Board level is fun and rewarding.

We need you. Please join us.

For more information, please contact Loraine Thompson, SLA Executive Director, at slaexdir@sasktel.net or by calling 306-780-9413.

Sincerely,

Communications Team
Gwen Schmidt, Director for Public Libraries
306-975-7606 or gwen.m.schmidt@gmail.com

Charlene Sorensen, Director for Education
306-966-5954 or charlene.sorensen@usask.ca

We hope that you have had a chance to read the report of SLA’s Board Governance Task Force (.docx). That group did a tremendous job of outlining a vision for the Saskatchewan Library Association’s future.

On Thursday, May 3rd, at 6:30 p.m. at the Saskatchewan Libraries Conference, we will be holding a Special Meeting of the Association to talk about the Governance Task Force report and to vote on some important changes to the bylaws. You are all urged to attend, to weigh in on the future direction of our organization.

To help you prepare for that meeting beforehand, here are the proposed bylaw changes that have been reviewed by a lawyer. You will see these motions put forward at that May 3rd meeting:

Proposed Changes to Bylaws (.docx)

If you have questions before the meeting about these proposed changes, we will be very happy to talk to you. Otherwise, see you at the meeting!

Sincerely,

Communications Team
Gwen Schmidt, Director for Public Libraries
306-975-7606 or gwen.m.schmidt@gmail.com

Charlene Sorensen, Director for Education
306-966-5954 or charlene.sorensen@usask.ca

Dear SLA Members,

It is a time of change in our association, and there are many exciting developments in process or on the horizon. One such development comes out of a discussion that we had at the 2010 SLA Annual General Meeting (AGM). You may or may not remember, but at that time we decided to strike a task force mandated to review SLA’s governance and committee structure, and make recommendations.

In 2010-2011 that task force was struck and that group of people got to work.  In October 2011 the SLA Governance Task Force presented their findings and recommendations to the Board.  The Board is very excited about the proposal, and we endorsed this vision at our November 2011 Board meeting.  We like the flexible and streamlined Board structure; we like the member-driven direction of Board initiatives; we like the flexible and responsive committee structure.  We also find that the recommendations in this report go hand-in-hand with the new vision we have for SLA’s staffing and administration.  We hope that you, the membership, will also like the ideas laid out in this report, and will support it at some important upcoming meetings.

There are some creative challenges to making changes to the Board structure while also recruiting new Board volunteers!  In order to recruit for the new Board structure, we first need the new Board structure to be endorsed by the membership and reflected in the SLA constitution.  This means a vote at a Special Meeting on significant constitutional changes.  We would like to make the changes this spring and get the new Board going while we are all excited, instead of running the old Board structure for another year.

So here is where the creative problem-solving begins!  We considered calling a special meeting of SLA’s membership in March/April, but did not find a date, time, and location that most members would be able to come to. We do not want to leave anyone out of this discussion.  We all know that SLA meetings work best during the Annual Saskatchewan Libraries Conference, when we might all likely have a chance to come.  So, we are going to hold a SLA Membership Special Meeting on the Thursday night of the Conference, and put the constitutional changes before you at that time.  If you approve them, we will spend that night and the early morning recruiting officially under the new governance structure (this will, of course, require some conversations beforehand, and perhaps some well-oiled politicking late into the night – I can’t wait for the fun of it all!).  If the membership does not endorse the new structure, then we will recruit under the old structure and go from there.  At the Friday morning AGM, we will officially elect our 2012-2013 Board.

Our thanks go out to the SLA Governance Task Force –  Amy Rankin, Barbara Kelly, Audrey Mark, Barbara Nelke, Greg Salmers, and Brett Waytuck – for their hard work, and for their clarity and vision regarding our association’s future.  They did a tremendous job.

At this time, we would encourage you to view the report of the Task Force on the SLA website:

SLA Governance Task Force Final Report (2011) (.docx 43kb)

In the weeks leading up to the Conference, we will be posting draft constitutional changes on the SLA website for your consideration that reflect the recommendations of this report, so that we can all be as prepared as possible for the important discussion at that Special Meeting.

And after the Special Meeting, the bar will be open at the President’s Reception.  Members of the Board look forward to toasting our new future with you at that time.

Sincerely,

Communications Team
Gwen Schmidt, Director for Public Libraries
306-975-7606 or gwen.m.schmidt@gmail.com

Charlene Sorensen, Director for Education
306-966-5954 or charlene.sorensen@usask.ca

This year’s conference theme invites us to build on the strengths of our past to chart a vibrant future for libraries in our province. We have put together a great program featuring a wide range of sessions of interest to all sectors of the Saskatchewan library community.  And we are confident that the Mary Donaldson Memorial Keynote Lecture by best-selling Prince Albert-based author Mary-Ann Kirkby will entertain and inspire.

We look forward to seeing you in Regina!

The SLA Board has been reviewing the structure of the organization over the past few years, and is choosing to take the Association in a new direction.  In an effort to increase programming for members, to create a dynamic organization that is even more responsive to developments in the library environment, and to move from a working board to a policy board, there has been a major change in our staffing.

SLA is pleased to announce the hiring of Loraine Thompson as Executive Director. Ms. Thompson has a Masters of Education from the University of Regina and a Bachelor of Library Science from the University of Alberta. Her professional experience as a librarian and library consultant has involved working closely with a variety of government and community-based organizations, makes her an ideal fit to understanding and realizing the needs of SLA. Ms. Thompson will be starting her position on January 2, 2012. We hope you will join us in welcoming Ms. Thompson at the upcoming AGM.

SLA is also pleased to announce the hiring of Regina-based b-creative group (http://www.b-creative.ca/) to provide administrative support to Ms. Thompson. b-creative group has been providing association management services since 2001 and will work closely with Ms. Thompson and SLA to fulfill its vision, mission and services to its members.

SLA would like to thank Kirsten Hansen, former Program Administrator for SLA, for her tireless work and dedication over a number of years with our organization. We wish Kirsten well in all her future endeavours.

Please do not hesitate to contact any member of the Board Communications Team should you have questions or would like to discuss the changes that have taken place at SLA. The Communications Team is committed to providing timely information and conversing with our members to keep you informed as things happen.

Sincerely,

Communications Team
Gwen Schmidt, Director for Public Libraries
306-975-7606 or gwen.m.schmidt@gmail.com

Charlene Sorensen, Director for Education
306-966-5954 or charlene.sorensen@usask.ca

The Saskatchewan Library Association is undergoing many changes, and now is an exciting time of development and renewal.  The SLA Board is excited about these changes and about our future, and is committed to keeping you informed and to hearing your opinions.

Because there are a lot of changes coming, the first thing we have to announce is the creation of an SLA Board Communications Subcommittee.  Two members of the SLA Board – Gwen Schmidt and Charlene Sorensen – will be creating and sending out regular communications to the SLA membership on developments that you need to know about.  You will find these messages in your e-mail inbox and on the SLA website.

We are committed, too, to hearing from you.  We will be happy to discuss these changes with you by phone or via e-mail, and will consider your feedback very carefully.  Stay tuned for more news!

Gwen Schmidt, Director for Public Libraries
306-975-7606 or gwen.m.schmidt@gmail.com

Charlene Sorensen, Director for Education
306-966-5954 or charlene.sorensen@usask.ca

Penguin library eBook update