As many of you know this year’s SLA leadership Summit took place from January 26th through the 30th in St Louis, MO. At the summit, the leadership of SLA discussed the outcome of the SLA name change results and the plans to keep members involved in the next wave of changes to come. They also talked about civility and how we should conduct ourselves during the process of proposed changes. SLA leaders are aware that how we identify the association does have a direct correlation with how some view their roles and responsibility in the profession. In regards to identity, any changes proposed to the association requires that much more care because there is an emotional attachment to defining who we are as librarians and information professionals. Overall, the sentiment of the SLA board was while the associations name will not change, there is still a clear urgency to utilize the data from the research that was done and there is still a need to change the perception of how non-members view SLA.One of the next initiatives that you will hear or read about sometime this year is the redefining of the SLA’s mission and vision statements. SLA leadership wants to ensure that every member has an opportunity to provide input on these statements. The leadership of each chapter will likely be expected to gather feedback in a variety of formats concerning “draft” statements.
For me the summit was a successful meeting and the networking always helps to rekindle growing relationships with other leaders in other chapters across the country and throughout the world. While at the summit, I was invite to a small private meeting hosted by the new SLA President Elect, Cindy Romaine to brainstorm on ideas for the future direction of SLA. I made it clear that I believe communication and presentation through our website(s) are key elements to helping change the way audiences outside of our profession identify with SLA.
As for direction of the North Carolina chapter of SLA, moving forward we will focus on providing events and meetings that will grow new members and retain current membership. Our workshops will foster professional career development and knowledge sharing through technical collaborative online applications. As always, sponsorship at each event will be pivotal for our chapter to thrive.
Stay tuned for the events schedule to come on the website.
To all members of NCSLA, I wish you a happy and prosperous 2010. I look forward to seeing many of you during our events throughout the year.
All the best!
Jamal Cromity
NCSLA President 2010
