The first Toronto Chapter SLA event after the summer was opened by Heather Wilson, Chapter President, who thanked the evening's sponsors, Datagroup, a division of the Financial Post and RoweCom Canada Representing the Financial Post were Mimi Quaile and Reeny D'Costa. A reminder of upcoming chapter events was made: the Toronto and Upstate New York SLA Chapters' joint conference, the November Chapter Meeting on the topic of e-books, and "An Evening of Holiday Cheer" in December.

Former SLA Toronto Student Group Co-Chairs, Danielle Levesque and Dave Hook were presented three SLA Student Chapter Awards in recognition of their excellence in representing SLA while at the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto. They received 1^st prize for Outstanding Leadership, 2^nd for Innovative Programming and 1^st for Creative Electronic Resources!

Solo Division Co-Chair Jasmina Landekic introduced the evening's guest speaker, Judith Siess, editor and publisher of The One-Person Library: A Newsletter for Librarians and Management and author of The Solo Librarian's Sourcebook. Judith set the humorous tone of the evening by thanking Nicole Stewart for inviting her and explaining why it was impossible for her to come in to Toronto in the winter as initially hoped: the drive from Cleveland would have included driving through Buffalo.

The topic of Judith's talk was time management and she remarked that the common refrain of the solo librarian is, "I want to learn how to do it all." She then went on to dispel some myths about time:

1. Time can be managed. Actually, activities are managed.
   
   
2. The longer and harder you work, the more you get done. In many cases, working smarter or more effectively leads to better use of time.
   
   
3. If you want something done, do it yourself. Delegating and outsourcing can often save time and money.
   
   
4. You're not supposed to enjoy work. If you are unhappy at your job, find another.

Judith also outlined three major time wasters: taking on too much, management by crisis, and interruptions. Realizing that handling interruptions are an essential part of a librarian's work, she made a few suggestions for coping, such as allowing voice mail to pick up messages (as long as one returns the call). Judith also pointed out that attitudes are an important part of time management, whereby trying to please everyone, excessive worrying and perfectionism can eat up vast amounts of time with little to show for it. Awareness of one's biorhythms is also helpful, and a general piece of advice is to save the easiest tasks for the end of the day so that one can leave work with a feeling of accomplishment.

On the subject of meetings, Judith's comment was to avoid them as they are often used to avoid making decisions or to share the blame. If you are running a meeting, it is important to have an agenda and make certain that it is productive. Meetings should also have a fixed ending time.In addition, serving food tends to prolong meetings. Another way to save time is by asking whether a problem can be solved without a meeting, such as by e-mail, a memo, or conference call.

The logic-based filing of records ("toss it, file it, or act on it") is also means of effective time management. Ask yourself, does this piece of paper require me to act on it? Is it outdated? Is the information it contains easy to obtain elsewhere? Will you use it again? Are there legal or tax implications? Does anyone else need it? And finally, what's the worst thing that could happen if you don't have it?

Judith also revealed the biggest time saver of them all: planning. Although many people will claim that they don't have time to plan, an achievable, measurable, and written strategic plan is key to establishing goals and prioritizing tasks. Judith also noted that generally, 80 percent of your time is spent on 20 percent of your tasks, so that it is important to make sure you are doing the right 20 percent. Furthermore, just because something has always been done, does not mean you should.

Effective time management also includes the ability to say no (even to the boss, as long as you give a reason). Judith stressed that no one can take advantage of you without your permission. It is also wise to avoid committing to something before thinking about it first, because of our tendency to want to please others. This will also give you time to turn down things that could damage your career or reputation. In taking on extra duties, keep your goals and priorities in mind and make sure that you don't make a promise that you can't keep. Finally, give yourself permission to fail as that is a sign of risk-taking and an opportunity to learn.

Judith ended her talk with a request for Canadian viewpoints and resources for solo librarians in order to make for her new OPL Sourcebook less US-centric. Suggestions are welcome until her deadline of the end of November Judith Siess can be reached by e-mail at jsiess@ibi-opl.com. Her website is www.ibi-opl.com.Solo Division Co-Chair Amra Porobic thanked Judith for her insightful talk.