Meet SLA's New Program Coordinator! | |
SLA also wants to say a huge thank you to Mary Lou for all the skills and ideas she has brought to SLA over the last year. We will miss the creative spirit and can-do attitude she brought to the SLA office, but wish her all the best in this new season of retirement! | |
Saskatchewan Library Week Grants Now Open
SLA is offering 25 grants of up to $250 to help libraries celebrate Saskatchewan Library Week (SLW) through programming!
The theme of SLW this year is "Libraries Create Community."
Grant applications are now open and will close on August 11. All individual and institutional SLA members are eligible to apply. SLW runs from October 15-21 this year, and programs must take place during this week to be eligible.
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Continuing Education
Grants Available
SLA is currently offering two types of continuing education grants to its members: the Individual Member Continuing Education grant and the Organizational Continuing Education grant.
The Individual Member Continuing Education grant provides up to $500 for a person to attend a continuing education opportunity of their choice (e.g. a conference or workshop).
The Organizational Continuing Education grant provides up to $1,000 for an organization or institution to put on and promote a continuing education opportunity or event.
The deadline to apply for both grants is September 15, 2023.
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Register Your
Culture Days Event
Is your library running a Culture Days program or event? Consider registering your event on the Culture Days website! Culture Days runs from September 22 to October 15, 2023.
Registering your event helps more people get connected with you and your event. Plus, you get access to free customizable templates and digital promotional tools. All you have to do is create a Culture Days account and log in to get started!
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Congrats to Our Culture Days Grant Recipients!
Thank you to everyone who applied for one of our Culture Days program grants. We received a lot of amazing applications!
Congratulations to our grant recipients this year:
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- Île-à-la-Crosse Public Library
- Invermay Public Library
- Marcelin Public Library
- Naicam Public Library
- Norquay Public Library
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- Pelly Public Library
- Shaunavon Public Library
- Swift Current Public Library
- Wheatland Regional Library
- Wynyard Public Library
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If one of these libraries is in your community, be sure to check out their Culture Days programming. We know it will be great! | |
SLA Seeking Representative
to The Willow Awards
Are you looking for a great professional development opportunity? SLA is looking for one of its members to provide representation on the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choice Awards (SYRCA), The Willow Awards Inc.
The mission of SYRCA, The Willow Awards, Inc. is to promote reading and celebrate Canadian literature. Each year, Saskatchewan children and youth vote for Willow Award recipients from finalists nominated in three award categories.
As an external representative you would provide volunteer board support to SYRCA, The Willow Awards Inc. to advance their mission and organizational objectives and provide follow-up reports to the SLA Board of Directors.
The SYRCA, The Willow Awards Inc. board meets on the below Saturdays:
- September 16, 2023 (AGM/Board meeting)
- November 18, 2023 (Board meeting)
- February 10, 2024 (Board meeting)
- June 8, 2024 (Board meeting)
- September 14, 2024 (AGM/Board meeting)
If you would like to get involved in board governance and make a difference in the lives of young readers, celebrating Canadian literature, please email your interest to info@saskla.ca.
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Tugaske Library Turning 50
Congratulations to the Tugaske Library, which is celebrating its 50th birthday in August! This library, known for its yellow door, is located an hour northwest of Moose Jaw.
The Tugaske Library has held an especially important place in its community of around 100 people since the pandemic. It currently runs a variety of programs and activities, including children's story time, book clubs, knitting, moccasin-making, and more.
Keep up the good work, Tugaske Library!
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Does your library have exciting news you'd like to see shared in SLAte?
We'd love to hear it! Email your news to lpenner@saskla.ca.
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Aug. 11 - Deadline to apply for Saskatchewan Library Week grants
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Sept. 15 - Deadline to apply for SLA Continuing Education grants
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Sept. 15 - Last day of the Regional Park Pass Lending Program
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Sept. 22 - Culture Days begins
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Sept. 23 - SLA's Book Spine Poetry Contest opens
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Hello everyone,
The summer season in Saskatchewan is always a favourite time to enjoy wide open skies, fresh outdoor air, enriching athletic activities and well-earned relaxation in the warm summer sun. Or at least that’s what I’m currently promising myself for later, because as I write this letter the smoke is thick enough outside that you could cut it up and serve it in slices.
Still, no matter your local forecast for the days and weeks to come, there’s something for everyone on our SLAte for this month.
On your next cloudy, rainy or smoky day, you can work on your library’s application for Saskatchewan Library Week funding. SLA is offering grants of up to $250 for Saskatchewan Library Week (October 15 – 21) programming, with applications due soon.
For those sunnier stretches on your forecast, don’t forget about our participation in the ongoing Regional Park Pass Lending Program – available from libraries across the province until September 15. The program was recently featured on the Bangladeshi Canadian Couple YouTube account and Facebook page, as well as on Saskatoon Transit and Regina Transit buses and in Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation radio ads. (As I’m sure you already know, MBC radio is a pretty big deal for us northerners.)
And if you decide to forget about the outdoors entirely for now and just stay in to read a book, well, I don’t think anyone reading this newsletter will hold it against you.
Until next time,
James Hope Howard
SLA President
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Intellectual Freedom Challenges Survey Ongoing
CFLA-FCAB would like to remind everyone that its Intellectual Freedom Challenges Survey continues to be available for the recording of incidents in our libraries that challenge intellectual freedom.
The results for 2022 have been added to the CFLA-FCAB website with reports from previous years. The Intellectual Freedom Committee working group encourages reporting of incidents on a continuous, rather than batch, basis. Members of ABPQ are encouraged to use the ABPQ form. All responses will be included in the comprehensive database.
A note of thanks to all those who have contributed to our historical database over the last 15 years and an open invitation to those institutions which have not found the time to do so in the past. Canadian libraries continue to deal with challenges to intellectual freedom, and organised opposition to free inquiry is becoming more prominent.
The CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Committee does more than track trends; it also organizes resources (see the Intellectual Freedom Toolkit) and issues guidance to those dealing with the changing environment (see statements).
For more information, questions, or comments, contact the Survey at Challenges.survey@cfla-fcab.ca.
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Sask. Writers' Guild Announces New Poet Laureate
The Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild is delighted to announce that dee Hobsbawn-Smith will be the 10th Poet Laureate of Saskatchewan. Her term begins August 1, 2023 and runs until July 31, 2025.
The Saskatchewan Poet Laureate celebrates Saskatchewan—its people, spirit, land—through the literary arts, and acts as an ambassador and champion of poetry and writing.
dee Hobsbawn-Smith’s award-winning poetry, essays, fiction, and journalism is at times influenced by her career in the food industry as a Red Seal chef, educator, Slow Food member and locavore advocate. Her work has appeared in literary journals, newspapers, magazines, websites, on the airwaves, and in numerous anthologies in Canada, the USA, and Scotland.
Her literary books include two poetry collections: Wildness Rushing In (finalist, SK Book Awards Poetry Award and finalist, Book of the Year) and Among the Untamed; a short story collection, What Can’t Be Undone; a novel, Danceland Diary (finalist, SK Book Awards Fiction Award); a chapbook, Jeanne Dark comes of age on the prairie; Bread & Water: essays, winner of the SK Book Awards Nonfiction Award, and Taste Canada’s Gold Medal for Culinary Narrative.
You can learn more about dee and hear a reading of her poetry in this video.
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Stronger Together Conference Seeking Sponsors
The Stronger Together 2023 Conference is seeking sponsors to support this year’s conference.
If you are interested, please fill out their online sponsorship form and someone from the Stronger Together team will get in touch with you. Additional information about the Stronger Together Conference will be available on the conference website in August.
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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 25th of each month, and submissions must be emailed to Lynn Penner at lpenner@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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