Kudos to the Saskatchewan Legislative Library staff!
Below is the text of a speech made by a Member of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly on International Special Librarians Day, April 15th. A great example set by SLA members in that province. We should work to ensure that all provinces and states do the same thing. Kudos to Marian Powell, SLA [WCC] member and head of the Saskatchewan Legislative Library!
- John Crosby, Public Communications Director, SLA
You can see it on the Web at: www.legassembly.sk.ca/hansard/23L4S/990415H.htm
International Special Librarians' Day
Mr. Shillington: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Last week I wanted to know for my own purposes how many times a particular word had been used in the legislature during the first two weeks of the session. It struck me the word was being overused.
I had two choices. I could have read every word of Hansard (the Assembly's record) again, an inviting prospect if ever I was faced with one, or I could call in the experts in resource management and retrieval at our Legislative Library. The answer came back in one hour - 272 times.
Mr. Speaker, today is the International Special Librarians' Day, the one day in the year when we recognize the kind of service which I described which we receive year-round. Special librarians are those who work in libraries devoted to special purposes, such as medical libraries and our Legislative Library.
Of course what makes our Legislative Library and our librarians so special is not only do they serve the demanding and perhaps sometimes quirky needs of a legislature and its staff, but this one serves the public as well. Our library is a remarkable public treasury and it deserves to be shared with the public.
Mr. Speaker, in the years I've been an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly), valuable information has multiplied itself many times over, only to be matched by the ability of the librarians here to retrieve it for us.
I know all members will want to join me in expressing our admiration and gratitude to Marian Powell and their remarkable staff, on this day devoted to them.
Some Hon. Members: Hear, hear!
