Spring is already here, and all the new life that comes with the season is stirring - in more ways than one with our chapter. First, student interest in SLA is on the upswing, and we've added a few new student members to our ranks. Lois Kiehl-Cain and I represented our chapter at the recent LIS Job Fair in February and had a chance to talk with many students. We distributed Chapter brochures and SLA scholarship information, and perhaps recruited a few new members along the way. The LIS program at Manoa is booming, and the new SLA faculty liaison, Luz Quiroga, has been active in pursuing ways to increase student involvement in SLA. Some of the fruits of her labor will be evident at our annual business meeting this year, when LIS students will be our invited speakers. The students will be talking about real projects they've done in the community - for credit - so I'm betting that this is one annual meeting you won't want to miss!

Another sign of new life are the recent efforts of our Australian and New Zealand colleagues to form their own chapter. Although the Hawaiian-Pacific chapter will sorely miss the energy, creativity, and expertise of these folks, we wish the new chapter all the best, and hope to work together in the future.

Big signs of life at SLA headquarters, too - the long-awaited release of the new unit governing documents has the leadership discussion lists abuzz. The documents, produced after 18 months of hard work, are designed to streamline our organizational structure and and practices.The new Chapter Governing Document will replace our old Chapter Bylaws, and together with the new Chapter Recommended Practices, will guide the way our Chapter conducts business in the future. The board will be looking at these new documents in the coming months.

Along with the new governing documents come new vision, mission, and core values statements. Briefly:

Our mission: The Special Libraries Association promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy, and networking initiatives.

Our vision: The Special Libraries Association is the global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners.

Our core values: leadership, service, innovation & continuous learning, results & accountability, and collaboration & partnering.

The full statements can be found at:
http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/AssnProfile/slanplan/index.cfm

Finally, I'd like to welcome another sign of chapter life, our incoming president, Linda Sjogren. She's full of great ideas and positive energy - and will take us into a year filled with possibilities. Big thanks to her, and to the rest of the excellent executive board, for making things happen this year. It's amazing what a lively bunch of librarians can do!

Aloha,

Susan Johnson