SLA 2009 "Needle Network"

Crafty librarians from across the country caught up at SLA's Centennial Conference in Washington DC to meet, swap,and donate knitted and crochet squares for a blanket to be donated to charity. 2009 marked the second "Needle Network" meeting - an informal event (not sponsored by SLA)that brought crafters together for fun and charity. In 2008, the group donated several bags of yarn and supplies to a Seattle knitting shop that worked with families in transition. The 2009 project required participants to knit or crochet 7x9" rectangles that will be joined to form a blanket. The blanket will be donated to "Warm Up America," a non-profit rganization that donates blankets and accessories to people who have lost their homes, fled abusive relations, or are being cared for in hospices, shelters, hospitals and nursing homes. One adult blanket requires 49 squares and our group donated enough to make a full sized blanket plus a baby afghan!

Organizer Debbie Hartzman, of the Southern California Chapter, has taken on the task of joining the squares and sending the items to the charity.

As a bonus, those who wished brought a hand-crafted bag of
their choice to trade and swap. Members showed their
creativity and bags were not limited to knit or crochet
items. Among the selections were a creatively knitted
bag made from recycled grocery bags (great for wet bathing
suits!), a beautifully sewn wristlet with key pocket, a
needle felted eyeglass case, a strawberry mesh grocery bag
and a velvet evening bag. The swapping involved much
hilarity and admiration of everyone's creations.

The project provided a fun interlude in the busy
conference, and we hope to do it again next year.

--Debbie Hartzman

Group poses with their swatches

Southern California Chapter President Teresa
Bailey and former President Debbie Hartzman

Bags ready to be swapped

Kim Rotter, QVC Librarian and Philadelphia Chapter Member, lays out the swatches in a sample pattern

Centennial message from Governor Schwarzenegger’s office

Highlight of the SLA Centennial Conference West Coast Reception -- Centennial message from Governor Schwarzenegger’s office

This year the West Coast Reception was a huge success due to the incredible planning efforts of San Diego chapter’s Kathy Quinn. The highlight of the reception was Libby Trudell, Public Relations Chair of the San Andreas chapter reading the letter from Governor Schwarzenegger congratulating us all for SLA’s 100 years.

See the complete story at San Diego Blog June 22, 2009 Proclamation from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at http://sla-sd.typepad.com/blog/2009/06/proclamation-from-governor-arnold-schwarzenegger.html.

The Centennial message reads:

June 15

TO: Special Libraries Association

It is a pleasure to extend my congratulations as you celebrate your centennial.

Over the past 100 years, you have become the foremost association for information professionals throughout the world. By providing education, advocacy and networking, you empower your members and the organizations they serve to make informed decisions. These corporate academic and government groups thrive because of you hard work, and I commend your dedication to excellence.

Thank you for your fantastic contributions to our Golden State. Your California members proudly serve many of our institutions and businesses, and I applaud them for helping others to achieve their goals and improve the state we call home.

On behalf of all Californians, I send my very best wishes for a memorable observance and every future success.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Download SLA centennial recognition in a .pdf format.

SLA's Alignment Study: Words for Executive Presentation

One purpose of this SLA study was to help us find words that resonate with executive management.

From the report --

Specific areas of emphasis include making resources credible and easily
accessible, facilitating good decision-making, and saving time and money.
Knowledge sharing and continuous learning also tested well.


The best words for SLA:

We create a culture of knowledge sharing through global
networking to exchange information, innovative
ideas, insights and trends.
We champion the value of information professionals as
critical assets who provide value-added intelligence that
facilitates good decision-making and creates
competitive advantage for organizations.


Key Messages for the Professional to Use:

Knowledge Sharing
Information professionals are
accountable for gathering,
organizing and sharing the right
information for the best decisions.
Information professionals further
create a culture of knowledge
sharing by educating colleagues
on the best use of information
sources.

Global Networking
Through active global
networking, information
professionals promote the
exchange of information,
innovative ideas, insights and
trends.

Competitive Advantage
Information professionals ensure
organizations have the right
information, insights and trends to
make good decisions and gain
competitive advantage.

Bottom-line Benefits
Information professionals save
organizations time and money
by providing value-added
intelligence that is accurate,
reliable and relevant. We
deliver expert information to our
organizations in a timely,
accessible and convenient
manner.

Janice Lachance Remarks about the SLA-SCC Professional Development Program

SLA-Southern California Chapter
Professional Development Program

19 May 2009 Remarks

Thank you, Teresa, and good evening. It has been quite a day, hasn't it? I know I have learned a lot, and I hope you have, too.

It is always a pleasure to be with a group of librarians and information professionals. You work in an amazing array of jobs. But you have so much in common. You are smart. You are savvy. And you are incredibly well informed.

You are, in fact, so well informed that I can make one important assumption: All of you understand that the economy--to use a technical term--stinks right now. Whether we are employed or not, virtually all of us are all feeling the pinch, both at home and on the job.

And, hindsight being 20/20, many of us have composed retroactive Wish Lists . . . things we would have done differently had we known a recession was coming. Here is a personal example:

* I wish I could take the money I invested in my 401K Plan . . . and put it under the mattress, where at least it wouldn't be losing value!
* And . . . I wish that the mattress I put it under was the perfectly good innerspring one I had . . . before I decided I needed the super-temper-foam-air thing with the remote control . . . so I could take the money I spent on the fancy mattress and put it under that good old mattress, too.
* Oh, and add my investment in those 600-thread-count sheets and the super-down comforter, too. I'd rather have a security blanket, thank you very much!

And then there is the professional Wish List. If they could turn back time... read more

SLA UCLA Student Chapter Meeting

Janice Lachance, CEO of Special Libraries Association (SLA), spoke to the SLA UCLA Student Chapter about opportunities available in special libraries, job market outlook, skills needed to become a special librarian and importance of professional associations over free pizza!

SLA Leadership Summit Presentation Links

Check it out! The handouts and presentations made at the Leadership Summit are now available at http://www.sla.org/content/resources/leadcenter/LeadershipSummit/09leadsummit/handouts.cfm

Results of the Alignment Project

SLA President Gloria Zamora and CEO Janice Lachance made a presentation at the Leadership Summit on the results of the research from the alignment project. We’ve posted this presentation on the Web site at http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/alignment/index.cfm We’ve also posted Janice and Gloria’s presentation – a transcript of their conversation and the slide presentation. Here is that link http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/governance/bodsection/ceocorner/index.cfm

We hope that you will take this message forward and use these presentations for unit programming and continued dialogue. Then, let us hear from you.

Linda
Linda N. Broussard
Chief Community Officer
SLA
331 S. Patrick Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3501 USA
Tel: +1.703.647.4938 Fax: +1.703.647.4901
Skype: lindabroussard
Mobile: +1.571.201.2916
lbroussard@sla.org
www.sla.org

SLA's Wall Street Journal Ads

SLA and Dow Jones & Company recently placed four ads in the Wall Street Journal promoting the value of info pros. The ad targets C-level executives and explains that info pros are essential to the success of their organizations.

SLA West Coast Chapters Reception in Seattle

The SLA West Coast Chapters Reception at the annual conference was held on Sunday, June 15, 2008 from 7:30 – 10:30PM in the Cascade View Room located on the 51^st Floor of 2 Union Square. The views were breathtaking, and the food – divine! Locally grown and brewed food and drink and even the truffle oil was locally foraged!

Thanks to the Pacific Northwest Chapter for hosting this wonderful reception

The reception's many sponsors are listed on the chapter's Wiki page.