March is One Book One Province month in Saskatchewan!

The 2023 One Book One Province title is Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. Throughout this month, libraries, book clubs, and individuals all across Saskatchewan will be reading Five Little Indians and sharing discussions about the story.

SLA held the program launch at Government House in Regina on February 21 with Michelle Good.

Michelle will also be participating in six events held across the province:

• Mar. 22 - Yorkton (7:00pm at the Painted Hand Casino)
• Mar. 23 - Regina (7:00pm at the mâmawêyatitân centre - registration required here)
• Mar. 27 - Swift Current (7:00pm at the Swift Current Public Library)
• Mar. 28 - North Battleford (7:00pm at the North Battleford Public Library)
• Mar. 29 - Saskatoon (7:00pm at the Saskatoon Public Library Frances Morrison branch)
• Mar. 30 - Melfort (7:00pm at the Kerry Vickar Centre)

If you are unable to make it to any of these events in person, you are welcome to join in on the Regina event virtually on March 23! Click here to register for the virtual event.

Conference Early Bird Registration Ends Today!

Today is the last day to get the early bird price on registration for the Saskatchewan Libraries Conference!

The conference will take place at the Saskatoon Inn from May 3-5, 2023.

Click here to register for the conference!

SLA is also offering two pre-conference workshops on May 3:

• Mental Health 101 presented by Oaks Mental Health (10am - 12pm)
• Governance Basics for a Non-Profit Organization presented by Dawn Martin of Daybreak Consulting (1:30pm - 3:30pm)

These pre-conference workshops are not included in the regular conference registration fee. Each workshop is an additional $75. You do not need to register for the whole conference to attend a pre-conference workshop.

Click here to register for pre-conference workshops! (Please use the full conference registration link if you would like to attend both the conference and a pre-conference workshop.)

Event Schedule and Session Descriptions

Planning your learning at conference is easy! A schedule of our conference sessions and brief descriptions of each session are available on our website here: saskla.ca/programs/conference.

SLA Speaker Series

Free Online Event

SLA's Speaker Series is back! Join Lukas Miller (Saskatchewan Health Authority) with support from Michelle Dalidowicz (Saskatchewan Polytechnic) to learn about the work of the award-winning Saskatchewan COVID-19 Evidence Support Team (CEST) that helped guide health care decision-making in Saskatchewan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This team of healthcare professionals, librarians, and provincial leaders was awarded the Flower Award for Innovation and Quality Improvement by the Canadian Health Libraries Association in 2022. The CEST handled more than 114 clinical and policy questions, resulting in more than 135 search reports and rapid reviews. Lukas & Michelle will describe their approach, challenges, and lessons learned over the course of the collaboration.

This free online event will take place via Zoom on March 8 from 12:00-1:00pm.

Click here to register!

Applications Open for $1,200 Library Tech Student Award

Are you currently studying to be a library technician? Know someone who is?

Applications for SLA's Mary Donaldson Award of Merit are now open! This $1,200 award is given annually to a student who is enrolled in or graduating from a Library and Information Technology program offered in Saskatchewan.

The deadline to apply is March 31, 2023.

Click here to learn more and to submit an online application.

SLA Seeking Nominations for

Board President

Are you looking for an amazing opportunity to contribute to your profession? Nominations are currently open for the position of SLA President!

The Saskatchewan Library Association works to improve and support libraries through advocacy, communication, stakeholder engagement, professional development, and networking. As President of SLA, you will have the opportunity to collectively lead and influence the direction of the organization.

If you are an individual SLA member who believes in promoting and advancing library and information services, you are encouraged to submit your nomination.

The nomination deadline is March 6, 2023.

Click here for more information or to submit a nomination!

Freedom to Read Week Report

Thank you to everyone who participated in Freedom to Read Week this year and helped raise awareness about this important freedom we have as Canadians!

Richard Beaudry gave a wonderful webinar on February 23 titled "Up for the Challenge on Censorship Issues," which was very well attended. SLA's social media campaign raising awareness about our freedom to read was also well received.

We look forward to this event again next year!

SLA's New Website Launched!

Have you recently visited our website and noticed a new look? We are pleased to announce that our new website has now launched!

Since the summer of 2022, SLA has been working toward launching a redesigned website that is easier to navigate, meets current accessibility standards, and has a modern look.

Our URL has stayed the same, however, so you can still find us where you always have at saskla.ca. Click here to check out our new look!

• Mar. 1 - Sask. Libraries Conference early bird registration ends
• Mar. 1 - One Book One Province month begins
• Mar. 8 - SLA Speaker Series online event on the Saskatchewan COVID-19 Evidence Support Team (CEST)
• Mar. 22-30 - One Book One Province events taking place across Saskatchewan with author Michelle Good
• Mar. 31 - Deadline to apply for the Mary Donaldson Award of Merit
• Apr. 21 - Sask. Libraries Conference registration closes

Greetings! 

February was a busy month at SLA, with a number of projects on the plate. We celebrated the launch of One Book One Province at Government House on February 21. It was an engaging and thought provoking evening. I was privileged to visit with Michelle Good, Elder Rockthunder, and their Honours the Honourable Russ Mirasty and Donna Mirasty before the event itself. 

In that meeting, I found out that Five Little Indians has been published in French, and this translation will be available for sale in March.

The Crowe Singers’ performances were incredibly moving. We were also lucky to have spoken word artist Austin Ahenakew perform a number of his poems, which was so powerful. Austin told me about some of the projects he has been working on, including workshops using his poetry. I feel like we will be hearing a lot from this young man. I encourage you to reach out to Austin to work with your organizations in the area of truth. He is engaging and powerful.

And of course, Michelle Good was both gracious and engaging. She has been a true pleasure to work with and is excited to be meeting with folks across Saskatchewan!

This year, we have also been celebrating Freedom to Read week in a bigger way than ever before. We were excited to offer a presentation by Richard Beaudry and our social media campaign helped draw attention to challenged books.

I am excited for the months to come and am looking forward to the amazing Saskatchewan Libraries Conference in May.

Regards,

Amy Rankin

President, SLA

Job Opportunity at Southeast Regional Library

Southeast Regional Library is currently hiring for a Personnel Manager!

The Personnel Manager is responsible for carrying out all functions related to human resources in the Southeast Regional Library framework. The Personnel Manager applies professional skills and techniques to the provision of hiring staff, dealing with the union, and developing employees to support Southeast Regional Library’s mission and objectives. The position is a senior management position answering to and working closely with the Library Director or designate in all aspects of financial management for the region.

Click here to see the full job posting!

Saskatchewan Library Association

12 - 2010 7th Avenue

Regina, SK  S4R 1C2

Phone: 306-780-3633

Email: info@saskla.ca

Web: saskla.ca 

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 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. 

Everyone, Including Culture, Wins When You Buy Lottery Tickets

 The core funding that SLA receives through SaskCulture is part of the Lottery Trust where a percentage of every lottery ticket sold goes to support sport, culture and recreation groups within Saskatchewan. It appears that recent lottery sales are not meeting expectations, which will not have an immediate effect on SLA. However we encourage you to remind audiences and arts council members that buying lottery tickets benefits the entire community. Saskatchewan Lotteries has also launched an app that you can download in the App Store or Google Play. More information is available on the Saskatchewan Lotteries website.

The Saskatchewan Library Association gratefully acknowledges the support

of our funding agencies.