![]() ![]() Libraries are not the only cultural education group that is suffering, but as librarians and library workers, we feel our pain the worst. The economy is improving in certain areas, but other areas are lagging and that is impacting the government's revenues. It is already anticipated that next year's budget (2011-2012) will be worse than this year's. That will bring state funding to libraries back to its 1998 level. If passed with the Governor's budget cuts, libraries will receive their fifth cut to state aid in two years. Our message was received with compassion and with a splash of "cold water". The Council's report pointed out what we all know - libraries need funding and support. (One was sick while the other was attending a different committee meeting.) Regent Bendit will be joining the Cultural Education Committee in July. Regents in attendance included James Dawson (chair), Karen Brooks Hopkins, Joseph Bowman and Charles Bendit. We were accompanied by Deputy Commissioner for Cultural Education Jeffrey Cannell and members of the State Library. Today Bridget Quinn-Carey (Council chair), John Monihan, Jerry Nichols, Mary Muller and myself traveled to Albany for the Regents Advisory Council on Libraries annual meeting with the NYS Regents Cultural Education Committee. ![]() If you would like candidates to address your unit, please contact them directly. We'll also take part in a variety of meet-and-greets at the conference. We will be video recording responses to additional questions at the Annual Conference and those recordings will be made available online. Below is my response to the first question. Where else (how else) would you recommend?įinally, as part of our communication with Association members, every candidate is writing blog posts in the SLA blog in response to specific questions. I'll be reaching out on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as the channels that SLA provides. If you're an SLA member and have ideas on how I can connect with more people, please let me know. Will people vote for me? I hope so! I also know that I need to talk to as many members as possible - in as many different ways as possible - so they will know who I am and why they should vote for me. When are the elections? Ballots are cast online in September and results are released in early October. Candidates can't make campaign promises, but we can talk about what we stand for and what we hope to accomplish. Most interesting is that candidates cannot ask for endorsement and no SLA unit or person can offer an endorsement. For example, if a Chapter asks one candidate to speak, all of the candidates for that office should be given an opportunity to speak (in person, virtually or in writing). Instead, SLA strives to create a level playing field where members are able to learn about all of the candidates and then decide whom to vote for. Candidates are forbidden to engage in the campaign tactics seen in other associations (e.g., ALA). SLA runs what I call an "non-campaign campaign". Thankfully, my dean was very happy to give her and the school's support to me! One of the things that a candidate must do is receive the written support of his/her employer because of the commitment involved. Besides attending two conferences per year (Leadership Summit in January and the Annual Conference in June), there are monthly conference calls and additional activities that a director must attend to (i.e., special projects assignment by the Association President). Yes, I know that being a Board member is a huge time commitment. Because of all of that, I want to see the organization continue to grow and succeed, and I want to help with both by contributing by experience and knowledge to the Board. It also provided many ways for me to give back to the profession. SLA has provided ways for me to hone my leadership skills. Through SLA, I've found friends, colleagues, clients and mentors. So I have a long history with the Association and it is the professional organization that I consider "home". I've also chaired two association-level committees. I've held leadership positions at the chapter and division levels. (I've been to ever conference since then.) I began volunteering at the Chapter level soon afterward. But why run? I have been an SLA member since 1990 and attended my first conference in 1992. ![]() And I'm pleased that this year I was asked to run. Running for a Board position is something that I've thought about for several years. Yesterday, I made my first presentation as a candidate and I thought I would share here some of the information that I provided.įirst, people wanted to know why I was running for the Board. As I mentioned before, I have been nominated to run for a position on the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Board of Directors (2011-2013). ![]()
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