Greetings to chapter members far and wide. I look forward to a year of serving you and getting to know you better.
SLA wants YOU!
At the annual conference in Los Angeles I was thinking about my first Interface column as chapter president, and the old recruiting poster “Uncle Sam Wants YOU!” popped into my head. An association is only as strong as its members, and there are so many ways, big and small, that you can make a valuable contribution:
First, make your voice heard by voting on the bylaws changes and providing input on SLA’s branding initiative and Executive Director search. At the annual business meeting in LA the bylaws changes proposed in March were approved to go to a vote of all the members with a few minor revisions. The final revisions can be found at
http://www.sla.org/documents/
Bylaws_Revision_FINAL.doc. Ballots will be coming to you by mail in August, and I urge everyone to examine the changes and vote on them.
To give your input to the Branding Task Force, contact any of the Task Force members listed at
http://www.sla.org/content/memberonly/
taskforces/brandingtf.cfm. According to Task Force Chair Stephen Abram, “the task force is meeting in the coming weeks via teleconference and we'll
be putting the next steps in place. We are still eager to hear from any member about this issue.”
The SLA Board is currently working on revising the Executive Director position description and identifying possible search firms to send an RFP. They hope to have a search firm identified and under contract by mid-September. Bill Fisher, SLA Board President and Board liaison to the search committee, will be getting updates out about the search via BOARD.COMmunicate as things develop.
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Second, consider increasing your involvement in chapter and association activities through attending programs, networking with each other, and volunteering. The cliches about the rewards of involvement have become cliches because they’re all true. Don’t have time for an ongoing commitment? Look over the committees on the leadership roster, pick an area that interests you, contact the chair and offer to help with one task, one time. If each member volunteered just 30 minutes to chapter activities, it would add up to over 150 hours, almost an entire full time work month. If every member gave 30 minutes a month for the entire year, it would be equivalent to a full time person working for our chapter. Imagine what we could accomplish with a full time employee dedicated to helping our chapter meet our professional needs.
How may I serve you?
But enough about what you can do for the association. What can I do for you? As a government librarian, I’m used to working for multiple bosses (the taxpayers of the Puget Sound region). However, like any new employee, I’m eager to please but need direction from my new bosses – YOU. I urge you to make this a true “President’s Discussion,” rather than a one-way “President’s Message” from me to you. Let me know how I, the chapter, and the association can better serve you. I am committed to listening to you and responding to your ideas and concerns.
Write (email, call) back soon!
Becky Withington
Librarian, Sound Transit Information Center
President - SLA Pacific Northwest Chapter
206/689-4977
withingtonr@soundtransit.org
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