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Once again, we are pleased to offer ten lucky SLA members a $200 grant to support Culture Days library programming.
Grant applications are now open and close on July 8, 2025. To learn more or to apply online, please use the link below.
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Congratulations to Summer Program Grant Recipients!
SLA offers grants each year to member libraries for the development of summer programming geared towards children and teens. These $300 grants are generously sponsored and presented by SaskTel.
A big congratulations to the following 2025 grant recipients:
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Alameda Public Library Branch
Blaine Lake Public Library
Christopher Lake Branch Library
Duck Lake Public Library
Foam Lake Public Library
Lafleche Branch Library
Lipton Public Library
Lumsden Public Library
Maple Creek Branch Library
Moose Jaw Public Library
Morse Branch Library
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Nipawin Public Library
North Battleford Public Library
Outlook Branch Library
Paradise Hill Branch Library
Humboldt Reid-Thompson Public Library
Springside Public Library
Tompkins Branch Library
Turtleford Public Library
Vonda Public Library
Wapella Public Library Branch
Wheatland Regional Library
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New Beginnings for Multitype Library Board Members
SLA would like to thank Dale Storie for representing SLA on the Multitype Library Board. Dale, thank you for your many years of service! We are grateful for your impactful dedication!
SLA is further pleased to acknowledge the appointment of Amy Rankin to the Multitype Library Board.
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Sask Library Week Grants Coming Up!
Saskatchewan Library Week (SLW) is a province-wide, annual event that promotes the wonderful resources and services that libraries have to offer. This week-long event is held the third week in October each year and celebrated throughout the province in all types of libraries, in both urban and rural communities, and by all age groups.
Saskatchewan Library Week will take place from October 12-18, 2025. This year’s theme, “Libraries Open Doors,” highlights libraries’ accessible and welcoming nature, as well as how patrons gain insight into many opportunities in their lifetime by using different programs and services that libraries offer.
SLA is pleased to once again be offering Saskatchewan Library Week program grants to its members! Twenty-five grants of up to $250 each are available to SLA’s institutional or individual members to support them and their library as they put on programming during Saskatchewan Library Week.
Grant applications will open on July 15 and close on August 15. Please stay tuned for more details or use the link below to learn more.
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Thank you 2024-2025 Board of Directors!
SLA is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors and is guided by the input of our extensive community of members. We deeply value the ongoing contributions of our board in supporting our organizational mandate and libraries across the province. THANK YOU to each and every board member for your hard work and dedication over the past year!
We would like to extend a special acknowledgment to outgoing board members, Oksana Moshynska and Deborah Pelletier. We wish you all the best in your new adventures!
SLA is also excited to welcome incoming board members, Yuri Forbes-Petrovich and Caitlin Bakker, to our leadership team! We look forward to working with you in the year ahead!
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President
James Hope Howard
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Vice President of Advocacy
and Development
Morgan Kelly
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Vice President of Engagement and Communications
Danielle Raymond
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Members at Large
Caitlin Bakker
Deborah Pelletier (2024-2025)
Desirae Munro
Oksana Moshynska (2024-2025)
Yuri Forbes-Petrovich
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Remembering Rosemary Loeffler
SLA would like to acknowledge the passing of a valued and dedicated member of our library community, Rosemary Loeffler.
Rosemary Loeffler grew up in New York, and received her Canadian citizenship in 1976. After retiring from her longtime position as Librarian at the La Ronge Public Library, she moved to Langley, B.C. taking regular trips back to Saskatchewan to visit loved ones.
From 2001 - 2002, Rosemary served as president of the SLA. As well, Rosemary played an instrumental role in the expansion and development of the Alex Robertson Public Library in 2012, having tirelessly raised community funds to support the project.
Generations ahead will continue to benefit from Rosemary Loeffler's many contributions to her community. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her.
Photo: Rosemary Loeffler and former Town of La Ronge councilor Doreen Polischuk cut the cake at the 7th anniversary of the major expansion to the Alex Robertson Public Library (at the time named the La Ronge Public Library). Source: Facebook
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Notice Nature Has Officially Arrived!
Notice Nature is a Saskatchewan community program created to encourage outdoor play through fun, nature-loving learning activities! Everyone of all ages is welcome to participate, and inter-generational participation is encouraged.
The Notice Nature program is available at select library locations across Saskatchewan! Participants may pick up their free passport at libraries in Meadow Lake, Lloydminster, North Battleford, Kindersley, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, La Ronge, Melfort, Yorkton, and all connecting areas!
To learn more about this exciting program and for a complete list of participating locations, please use the link below.
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• July 8 - Culture Days Program Grant Applications Close
• July 15 - Saskatchewan Library Week Grant Applications Open
• July 15 - Governor General's History Award Nomination Deadline
• August 15 - Saskatchewan Library Week Grant Applications Close
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Hello, everyone,
Well! How was your month of June? Hopefully pretty uneventful!
As you’re likely already aware, the entire Lac La Ronge area was evacuated at the beginning of the month due to encroaching wildfires, dispersing approximately 7,000 people from the region; in conjunction with similar evacuations from Pelican Narrows, Creighton, Denare Beach, Candle Lake and other areas, this meant an upheaval of tens of thousands of Saskatchewan residents dispersed to different and increasingly farther areas all across the province.
For us – my wife and I, three kids, and three pets – this meant a bleary-eyed twelve-hour drive, into and through the night and then back into the day again, to an available camping trailer in Fort Qu'appelle as it became clear that there would be no hotel accommodations available for hours in any direction. Members of our shared Saskatchewan library community reached out to me and to our staff during this time to wish us well and to offer support, which I appreciated greatly, and libraries large and small all across the province provided much-needed respite and a comforting environment of normalcy for evacuees going through incredibly challenging times. The work that you all do and the care that you all show means more to people than you may sometimes know or realize, so I want to make a point to thank everyone for their efforts and to convey how proud I am to be a part of this provincial community that we've all built together.
For our family, all was well that ended well; after a long two weeks of ongoing concern, cautious optimism and helpless social media checks while out on the road, we were lucky enough at the end of it all to come home to a house that was still standing. (It had turned out that the repeated power outages from the fires burning up the power poles completely totaled our refrigerator, but you know what, in the grand scheme of things I can live with that.)
Other than all of that going on, though, y'know, I guess my month was okay. Here’s hoping the coming month goes a little more smoothly!
Until next time,
James Hope Howard
SLA President
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Innovations in Digital Inclusion: Pan-Canadian Survey of Digital Skills Training
The University of British Columbia is currently conducting a study to gather information about the digital skills training practices of Canadian adults (19 years+). As a part of this study, they are inviting people currently working or volunteering for an organization in Canada that offers some type of digital skills training, support, or resources that reaches older adults (age 65 years+) to participate in a survey.
If you choose to take part in this study, you will be invited to complete a 10-15-minute survey. The survey includes questions about you and your organization’s digital skills training.
For more information, please use the link below.
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Public use of GenAI tools is commonplace, and GenAI outputs are increasingly integrated into digital technologies, including GenAI summaries at the top of every internet search. It is important for the public to understand how to use them when looking for legal information. The Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information Initiative (SALI) has created a guide to help support the informed use of GenAI tools.
GenAI creates new content (text, images, audio, and video) by analyzing large datasets and predicting patterns. It does not think independently but generates outputs based on learned structures and predictions. While GenAI tools have the potential to increase the accessibility of information and assist the public with navigating legal information, concerns about accuracy, currency, hallucinations (made-up information), and privacy exist.
Legal Information providers, such as libraries, service agencies, and community organizations, can help the public by:
- Explaining how GenAI tools work
- Outlining the risks of using GenAI-generated legal information
- Identifying signs of credible legal information
- Guiding the public to reliable legal sources
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Calling All School Librarians: Share Your Expertise
Canadian School Libraries (CSL) is extending an invitation to school librarians who are passionate about and/or have insights, strategies, or success stories to share with their colleagues. In this way, then CSL is hoping to offer professional learning on a wide variety of relevant, timely, and impactful topics.
The requested topics of interest are as follows:
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• Advocacy & Leadership
• Technology & AI Integration
• Instructional Design for Inclusive Learning
• Collaboration & Adult Learning
• Program Evaluation & Data-Informed Practice
• Literacy, Reading & Engagement
• Self-Care, Support & Community
• Management & Curation
| If any of these topics resonate with you or if you have another great idea, the CSL would love to hear from you. To learn more or submit an idea, please use the link below. | |
2025 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Community Programming: Call for Nominations
Across Canada, community organizations are making significant efforts to preserve and share their local stories. From exhibits and civic engagement events to oral histories and preservation projects, these initiatives bring communities together in new and exciting ways.
Canada's History Society is seeking nominations and applications for the 2025 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Community Programming. This award recognizes community-led projects that promote public engagement in history. Applications are evaluated on their impact, innovation, and contribution to a greater public understanding of Canadian history.
Two prizes of $2,500 will be presented at a memorable ceremony.
Applications are due on July 15, 2025. If you have any questions about the award or application, please contact Kylie Nicolajsen at knicolajsen@canadashistory.ca
To learn more or to make a nomination, please use the link below.
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An Invitation to Share Your Story!
What role has the library played in your life or community? Have you had an exceptional experience at your local library? How has the library helped support your goals? Has your library recently run a fantastic program you want others to know about?
Whether you are a staff member or patron, we'd love to hear all about your experience at the library! Submit your story to info@saskla.ca and it may be featured in an upcoming issue of SLAte and on our social media channels!
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SLAte Submissions
Have something you want to see in SLAte? Send us a submission! The deadline for SLAte submissions is the 20th of each month, and submissions must be emailed to Yasmin Dar at YDar@saskla.ca. SLA reserves the right to change or edit any submission, or to refuse publication in its entirety.
SLAte is an open-access publication under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY-NC-ND copyright license, excluding all logos and other material where indicated.
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