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ISSN 2369-4939
Volume 3 Issue 6
June 1, 2017
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Hello
everyone,
I have to begin by stating how much fun I had at our annual conference in Waskesiu! Speakers Bill Waiser Michelle Brownridge and Lyndon Linklater were fantastic. Concurrent sessions and the special plenary panel about the Saskatchewan Public Libraries Campaign were wonderful. The World Café was a great opportunity for attendees to comment on what would make SLA a world class organization. To top it off, the weather was perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing at the hotel's outdoor patio fire pit Thursday evening socializing and eating 'Smores. My sincere thanks go out to all the volunteers, sponsors, and volunteers who , I think, made our conference a great success!
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The 2017-2018 SLA Board
 President: Michael Shires
VP, Advocacy & Development: Alison Jantz (2 year)
VP, Membership & Publications: Linda Winkler (1 year)
Treasurer: Brad Doerksen (2 year)
Members at Large:
Lindsay Baker (2 year)
Jonathan Powell (2 year)
Welcome to our 2 new board members:
Lindsay Baker grew up moving around Manitoba, where she
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Photo credit:
Alison Read
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completed her B.A. Honours in History at the University of Winnipeg. After spending a year as an English Teaching Assistant in Germany and some time in the insurance industry, she decided to pursue a MLIS from the University of Western Ontario. She began her career in public libraries at Medicine Hat Public Library before moving to Saskatchewan and her current position as Community Services Librarian with Wapiti Regional Library.
Jonathan Powell is the Library Consultant for th
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| Photo Credit: Georgia Maracle |
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e Pahkisimon Nuye?áh Library System. A newcomer to Saskatchewan, Jonathan is a recent M.L.I.S. graduate from the University of Western Ontario. He has worked an Information Analyst for the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board in Ottawa, ON, and as a Logistics Coordinator for Canadian Natural Resources, one of the largest independent crude oil and natural gas producers in the world.
The following awards were presented at the Awards Banquet at the recent SLA Conference:
At the May 4, 2017 AGM, a motion was carried that will change the fee structure for institutional memberships effective July 1, 2017.
More information will be forwarded to the voting delegates and posted on the website.
Announcement:
The website has undergone some rebranding - new logo, changes in colour, and an addition to the home page banner.
We are currently working on making changes to make the website compliant with WCAG Guidelines
The feed for the SLA Instagram has also been added to the homepage.
Call for SLA Committees:
The spaces on committees are nearly full, but we do have some options for those of you who are still interested but haven't yet taken the leap. More information about the committees is available on the website
.Urgent vacancies that need to be filled:
- SLA Representative to the Willow Awards
- Membership (some fun activities to organize - summer socials, happy hour, and more)
- Conference 2018 - volunteer to work on a planning committee (programs particularly).
Thank you to the 2017 Committee Members
SLA is invested in member engagement and consultation. It is through the work of many volunteers that the board (also volunteers) are able to achieve the strategic directions that have been determined through member input. The 2016-2017 board year was no exception. The successes of the various committees were many:
- Board of Directors: worked very hard all year - attending board meetings and concerning themselves with governance, supporting and leading the committees for which they are responsible, taking on many tasks that keep the association rolling along.
- Membership: hosted successful summer socials in July and August of 2016, and the 3rd annual Happy Hours in November 2016, and were able to present a recommendation for re-structuring the Institutional Memberships.
- Advocacy: implemented the 2nd year of a 3 year plan to provide tools to support front-line librarians in advocacy work,promoting the value of libraries to their communities. This work culminated in a session at the 2017 conference.
- Programming:worked with Program Logic Models to provide an overview of the various SLA programs including intended impacts and evaluation, supported another year of public programs; and introduced the of the One Book One Province pilot project.
- Fundraising: instigated a 50/50 draw for the conference with proceeds going to the Continuing Education fund.
- Publications: continued to work on the newsletter/ newsflash policy and protocols, and evaluated Mail Chimp.
- Continuing Education: provided support for 3 additional learning opportunities - attendance at the SALT workshop, training for an Intercultural Facilitator, and development of the Anniversary Grant.As well there were 5 Category 1 and 3 grants approved.
- Conference: What to say! By all accounts a successful and challenging conference was hosted at Elk Ridge on May 3-5, 2017.
Special thanks to the volunteer jurors who adjudicated our grant applications and the Book Spine Poetry contest.
- Another deadline is fast approaching! Apply for Category 1 or 2 Grants by August 15, 2017. Application information and forms are available here.
- At the 2017 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference, the Anniversary Conference Grant was announced to provide up to $1500 for an individual member to attend a conference anywhere in Canada before May 31, 2018.
- The Education Institute offers interesting, informative and cost-effective webinars all summer! Enjoy some learning as part of your summer schedule.
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Government Report Released on Newfoundland and Labrador Public Library Systems
As many of you know the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Library Systems were dealt a severe blow last June when our provincial budget cut funding, and it was decided to close over half the libraries to make up for the loss. The outcry from the people of this province inspired our government to suspend library closures pending a review by EY. That review has finally been published and can be found here.
Be on the lookout for the NLLA official response in the coming days. For example:
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Good News!
SaskCulture
has very generously given us some additional funds for the Culture Days grants which we offer annually.
These additional funds are being given one time only and will allow us to increase the grants from $200 to $300. The application form can be found here in WORD and as a PDF. You can also submit your application via wufoo
Start planning for Culture Days. The new Participation Guide is here
We also had good news from SaskTel. They will again be
 contributing $3000 toward the Children's Storytelling and Performer Tours. This means that any region planning a tour is entitled to $300 to help with the costs. If you are not participating please let me know so that I can redistribute the money to others.
David Carpenter has written a thoughtful, powerful piece about his tour through Saskatchewan in support of One Book, One Province. The whole piece can be read here. We thank him for his commitment to the project and to the memory of Augie Merasty.
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Congratulations Allie Raycraft
SLTA Honorary Life  Membership winner.
Congratulations are also in order to all the prize winners from the recent conference. A complete list is here. Please contact the SLA office if you have any questions.
- A complete list of conference prize winners is here.
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Saskatchewan Library Association
15-2010 7th Ave.
Regina, SK S4R 1C2
Phone: 306-780-9413 or 306-780-9409
Fax: 306-780-9447
SLA reserves the right to change or edit any submission or to refuse publication in its entirety.
The deadline for receipt of submissions for SLAte is the 25th of each month.
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.
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