FIFTEEN YEARS AND COUNTING...SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY
by Susan DiMattia

Note: The following article was distributed at the 15th Anniversary Chapter Meeting held in June 1998.

1982-1983 (Top)
In the fall of 1982, 39 Special Libraries Association (SLA) members, meeting at Champion International in Stamford, signed a petition requesting SLA to approve organization of a Fairfield County Chapter. Provisional status was granted on November 1, 1982. Of the 39 original signatories, nine remain active 15 years later. Five remain with the same companies or organizations. At the Champion meeting, Melanie Sze was drafted as the first president because of her experience as immediate past president of the Connecticut Valley Chapter. Bill Kallaway was named president-elect. The first function of the new chapter was a get-acquainted cocktail party on December 6 at Manero's in Greenwich. Fifty people attended. By January 31, 1983, FCC was granted chapter status and took its place as the "baby" of SLA. Our first formal program, held at the Stamford Advocate offices, was a discussion of "The Making of a Legal Subject Catalog," by Jonathan Stock, our first treasurer. A tour of the newly renovated Ferguson Library and its business collection, and an introduction to word processing in libraries, held at Perkin Elmer, rounded out the first, abbreviated program year. By April 1983, there were 47 members of the Chapter. SLA past-president George Ginader was the speaker for FCC's first annual meeting, held at the Ethan Allen Inn in Danbury. Cost of the dinner was $12.50!

1983-84
By December 1983, the treasury had grown from nothing to $1,049.88, and the Chapter counted 74 members. President Bill Kallaway launched the Chapter year with another social at Manero's, followed by a program on space planning, a session on microcomputers, and a talk about making the transition from librarian to information manager. A popular meeting was a series of problem-solving round table discussions. Our first professional development workshop, in the spring of 1984, was on communication skills. SLA Executive Director David Bender was the speaker at the second annual meeting. During the year, President Kallaway represented the chapter, still SLA's newest, at the 75th anniversary celebration of the Boston Chapter, the first SLA chapter to be formed.

1984-85
Jim Fleagle of Novo Labs in Norwalk served as president and by June of 1985, the membership had swollen to 105. After kicking off the season with yet another social at Manero's, we enjoyed programs by Jim Matarazzo on "Closing the Corporate Library," a talk on corporate cultures by Albert Stewart of the Ancell School of Business, and a panel of our members on "Marketing Your Special Library for More Use and Increased Support." The professional development workshop on "Cost Benefit Analysis for Libraries" was a joint program with the Hudson Valley Chapter. SLA Treasurer, and later President, Muriel Regan spoke on long range planning for our annual meeting. We donated $300 to the SLA Building Fund, watched SLA Headquarters move from New York City to Washington, DC, and watched our dues go up.

1985-1986
By February of 1986, our membership stood at 115. The fall social moved to the Rusty Scupper in Stamford. Joanna Faraday of Stamford Hospital was the president. Speakers for the year included Edward Tufte, a Yale professor, who had written a book on Visual Information Display. A panel on microcomputers, the future of electronic publishing (were we ahead of the curve, or what?), and staff development in a small special library rounded out the meeting topics for the year. FCC and our neighboring chapter to the north jointly sponsored a workshop on management communications led by Herb White. H. Robert Malinowsky, SLA president, was the speaker for our annual meeting at the Spinning Wheel Inn in Redding. In May 1986, the first FCC Membership Directory appeared. It listed 127 names.

1986-1987
Gail Smith was president during our fifth anniversary year. Programs included "Empowering the Information Professional," a panel discussion on the problems of managing the one-person library, presentations on "Misused Statistics", and on writing powerful job descriptions. The professional development workshop was on managing upward, or how to manage your boss. At the fifth annual meeting, each past president was recognized and presented with a plaque in appreciation of their services.

1987-1988
Susan DiMattia was president during the 1987-1988 year. Attendance at chapter meetings was averaging 30 percent of membership, which other chapters assured us was enviable, but we did an analysis of factors such as cost, location, day of the week, program topic, etc., and tried to improve the average attendance. Programs for the year included Tefko Saracevic reporting on his research into the habits of online searchers, and sessions on organizational politics, alternative careers for librarians, competitive intelligence, and a professional development workshop on "How to Design and Build an In-House Database." The Chapter prepared a budget for the first time. Jon Stock had been our treasurer since day one, and, at the end of six years, asked to be allowed to retire from the position, but not from active involvement in the Chapter. Under his careful scrutiny and stewardship, our Chapter was in very stable financial condition.

1988-1989
In her annual report, Chapter President Kathy Masters described the year as a "time of change and cooperation as a new membership drive was launched, a new bulletin title was chosen (Conntext, which later reverted back to The Bulletin of the Fairfield County Chapter), and three projects involving other Chapters and organizations took place." Attendance at meetings averaged more than 12 percent higher than in prior years. Membership stood at 152. The 1989 professional development workshop was on "Legal Research and the Non-Law Librarian," co-sponsored by FCC and Connecticut Valley Chapter and the School of Library Science and Educational Technology of Southern Connecticut State University. Programs for the year included marketing tips, planning for an optical disk system, online industry update, and a series of information forums on new business reference sources and software. The board approved a $200 annual scholarship to be given to a student enrolled in the library school at Southern.

1989-1990
Chapter President Susanne Silverman announced programs on educating your manager to what you really do on the job, nontraditional job functions of the library, and charging for library services. The professional development workshop was on "Image & Empire Building: How to Enhance Your Position in the Organization and Sell Your Library's Products to Management."

1990-1991 (Top)
Mildred Colucci became Mildred Lorenti between the time she was nominated as president and the time she took the reins for the Chapter year. A new membership directory was issued and plans initiated for a Chapter salary survey. In addition to the traditional fall social, at the Red Barn, programs included the Occasional Players Theater, role playing of library management issues; a presentation on SEC documents; and others. The professional development workshop was on "Records Management in Hard Times." The salary survey results were released. The mean salary was $39,564. Ninety-two members responded to the survey.

1991-1992
Colin McQuillan served as president during the tenth anniversary year. An overall programming theme for the year was "The Information Professional: Excellence through Quality." James Matarazzo kicked off the year with a program on "Service Quality in Special Libraries." Anne Mintz presented "Service Quality in the Online Industry." A "Networking Salon" gave members a chance to participate in idea exchanges on copyright, downsizing, adding value, and managing your boss. The February meeting was a "bring your spouse" night with Roger Angell, baseball writer for the New Yorker. A professional development workshop moderated by William Saffady and an annual meeting visit by SLA President Guy St. Clair rounded out the year. We finished our tenth year just shy of 200 members.

1992-1993
Mary Jane Miller, in the tradition of several of presidents, before and after her term, specifically Colin McQuillan in 1991 and Shirlee Schwarz in 1997, stepped into the presidency after resignations left the Chapter momentarily leaderless. David Bender made a return visit, to share a "State of the Association" session with FCC. We participated in programs on positive mental attitude and copyright issues. A corps of meeting greeters was introduced, in an attempt to make newcomers feel welcome. Planning began for the Northeast Regional Conference, with participation by FCC, Connecticut Valley Chapter, Hudson Valley Chapter, and the chapters in Long Island, New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, and Princeton-Trenton. The board began a long range planning process and a system of goal-setting for each board and committee function was launched. By the end of the year, we reported 180 members.

1993-1994
Judy Weller, who with Gartner Group colleague Ed Stear had served as bulletin editor, turned her attention to the presidency. By December 1993, the bulletin ran a list of member E-mail addresses, a total of 18 people, or ten percent of the membership. A program on personal information sleuthing left everyone aghast at the wealth of information available, freely and easily, on intimate details of each of our lives. Paul Strassman presented a program on "Politics of Corporate Information Management."

1994-1995
Ed Stear became the next in a line of past bulletin editors to become president of FCC. Although the Chapter listed 190 members, Treasurer Maureen Young put out a list of suggestions for saving money. Maturity had set in and FCC's total available funds, including the reserve fund, was down to $3,410.93 from a high of $8,706.50 in 1992. Through some hard work, cost cutting, and aggressive bill collecting, the problem was soon reversed. A series of informal lunch meetings were popular for a short time. Coline Sahlin joined partner Gunnar Sahlin as a member of FCC/SLA, making them the first "team" in the Chapter's history. Gunnar began representing the Chapter at an annual career day in Greenwich, sponsored by the Boy Scouts and local high schools.

1995-1996
Maura Ritz served as president. The chapter listserv, fccsla@westnet.com, was started. Two popular breakfast meetings/tours were held at CE Capital and Cummings and Lockwood. The Internet Users Group met monthly at Financial Accounting Foundation, courtesy of Charry Boris, to keep members up-to-date on strategies for using the Internet as an information resource. The Chapter continued its tradition of cooperative programming with neighboring chapters, including a visit by SLA President Jane Dysart co-sponsored with the Hudson Valley Chapter. A panel on the future of the online industry featured Jeff Pemberton, publisher of Online. The professional development course was "Weaving the Web" on html.

1996-1997
Eve Mountford, who with Gunnar Sahlin and others, was a guiding force behind the annual Chapter Membership Directory for years, took over as president. The Chapter listserv had 60 subscribers. Another salary survey was in the planning stages. Programs for the year were on outsourcing, virtual library planning, changing career options for librarians ("What Else Can You Do With a Library Degree"), and serving changing customers.

1997-1998
Program highlights during the 15th anniversary year, under the presidency of Shirlee Schwarz, included a program on knowledge management by Lois Remeikis, an overview of trends by Carol Ginsberg, and a state-of-education for librarianship session with Roberta Brody. SLA President Judith Field made an unofficial visit on the night now-president-elect Susan DiMattia presented a program on the benefits of professional association involvement. At the end of the year, membership stands at 185. Shirlee's company, Library Consulting Services, has been the most consistent advertiser in the Chapter bulletin for many years, for which we are grateful. The annual meeting will again see a gathering of past-presidents in celebration of 15 years of success.

In Memoriam (Top)
In 15 years, we have recorded the deaths of three colleagues: Mary Lynn Ainsworth, Marianne Gregg & Sydelle Reisman.

Conclusion
At the end of 15 years, as at the end of the first five and ten years, the Fairfield County Chapter has good cause to celebrate again. Programs have been cutting-edge, speakers have been the tops in their fields, and we have enjoyed a strong presence at our meetings by SLA elected officials. We continue to be strong and viable, although membership is stagnant. While writing the five-year history, I made a chart of the people who had served the Chapter in all functions during the formative years. The archives are not complete enough to allow creation of an accurate chart at the end of 15 years, but recognition needs to go to everyone who has served in any capacity during the Chapter's history. It is through the hard work of dedicated volunteers that we all have the benefits of networking, continuous education, and professional growth that comes through participation in the programs and activities of the Fairfield County Chapter. Chapter members have come and gone, through job changes, career changes, relocations, retirement, and death. All have enriched the Chapter, and, hopefully, the Chapter has enriched them. In their places we have new, active, enthusiastic members. That continuity of interest and commitment give me confidence that there will be a 20th anniversary celebration, and at some point, a 50th anniversary gala.

See you there! -- Susan DiMattia

NOTE: Because there are gaps in materials in the Chapter archives, this history may leave out important details and memories. If anyone would like to augment the history, send a message to Debra Kaufman, and we will be sure that whoever undertakes the next history will have a firm foundation on which to build.

A PERSONAL LOOK BACK AT FCC/SLA (Top)
By Elizabeth Muskus

Before there was FCC, there was an organization called "The Library Group of Southwestern Connecticut." I believe it was tied loosely to SWLC. Our meetings were a kinder, simpler version of FCC meetings today. (Shades of deja vu--I was the hospitality chairperson for the last year!) Library Group of SW CT disbanded with the creation of Fairfield County Chapter.

I arrived in Fairfield County in the summer of 1976 already a member of SLA (since 1972). The chapter I joined was Connecticut Valley Chapter. I came from Texas and thought nothing of driving 11.5 hours to Hartford for meetings. I had to fly into Texas Chapter meetings, which started with dinner on a Friday night and finished up Sunday afternoon! I could not understand the grumbling about all the meetings being so far away! That is until I was stuck in traffic on the Merritt Parkway one evening and was an hour late (I missed the food!)

Anyway, someone suggested we start a chapter for people in this part of Connecticut. I attended our first meeting that was held at Perkin Elmer, off route 7. There was quite a large turnout. I remember at least 30-40 people.

At the time, I was working for a small family-owned company, Reddy Communications Inc. (AKA Reddy Kilowatt). I did not have a typical library. It was a collection of clippings, bill inserts, ads, etc. filed by subject. (I am told that newspaper libraries of that era were similar.) I provided research on over 2000 issues that faced the investor-owned electric utility industry to our 200+ international client companies.

One innovation of that time was database searching! In 1978 I gained access to InfoBank, the New York Times online!!! Then shortly after that I went online with DIALOG. This was a big deal and I had to pitch the idea to the Board of Directors! I even offered online searches to our clients for cost. Those were exciting times. Although the baud rate was 300, it was wonderful being able to search across fields. You could find an article by words in the title or by an author, in a certain magazine, on a specific date! WOW! Up to this point, it was a tedious process using Business Periodicals Index, searching month by month, then finding or Interlibrary Loaning the article. A request for an article could take almost a week to fill.

My favorite SLA/FCC meeting was in the early days. We had roundtables set up to discuss several different issues. It was sort of meeting to review best practices. Each table had a different subject matter "how do you do handle ILL?", "What about that service?", "How do you deal with copyright?" We could move from table to table as the mood hit us. We had a moderator at each table to ensure everyone had a chance to speak. I took a lot of good ideas away with me that day.

The worst meetings for me were when I was on strike assignment, at NYNEX, from August 1991 to January 1992. I worked until 7:00 p.m. in the Bronx, then rushed to the Fairfield County site, arriving just as the speaker was concluding. This happened several times.

What made me stick with librarianship? I had several opportunities to get into a different field, but I love the challenge of finding the right information. Getting the correct answer to a question still excites me. Of course half the battle is the reference interview.

Has my job changed? YES, YES and YES! Would you like me to count how many times it has changed? And I am not talking about the number of jobs either. I have provided research to answer R&D type questions, issues, management, telecommunications, market research, back to technology and applied R&D, then banking and financial services questions. I used to do manual research from a large book and journal collection. Now I don't need to touch a magazine or a book in an average days' work. Most of my sources are either in databases, internet or CD-ROM. Today I educate end users and review new information tools for them.

The chapter has changed as our profession changed. Today we are knowledge managers not just searchers. FCC has kept us informed about the changes in our vocation. It provides us with a place to meet our peers and exchange ideas and best practices. It educates us about new issues vital to our careers.

I think it will continue to be a successful and vibrant chapter, as long as we continue to support it. We get out much more than we put into it. But we need people willing to serve on the Board and volunteer their time.

A NOTE FROM SLA HEADQUARTERS (Top)
By David Bender

Dear Members of the Fairfield County SLA Chapter,

On behalf of the Board of Directors and the Association Staff, may I express our appreciation for the wonderful accomplishments and work the Fairfield County Chapter has contributed to the overall success of SLA.

For 15 years, the Fairfield County Chapter, as an integral part of our international organization, has been an example that diligent, spirited work is being done in the profession. Please know that these achievements are recognized. I was living in Stamford during those early formative days and was delighted to have had the opportunity to participate in many of the early organizational meetings of the chapter and to have watched from a distance its growth and accomplishments. We are also grateful for the leadership you have sent to the Association such as Susan DiMattia.