As I started working on this brief presentation, I tried to take into consideration what I thought you might like to hear. I have been in your place before – as both chapter and division officers. I did not have any great insights, so I thought I would tell you something about what our profession means to me.

Over the last few years, I have learned that story telling is a powerful tool to get a message across, so I’m going to tell you a short story about myself. My current job encompasses finance, budget, and human resources in an academic library. I volunteer several hours a week in the new Information Commons at a desk that provides reference services and assistance with computer technology. This activity keeps me in touch with students and hones my reference and computer skills. Typical questions involve help in creating a Web site, how to burn a CD, or how to create an Excel spreadsheet. Often I crawl under tables to make sure computer connections are working when a computer freezes and fixing printers has become a specialty.

Last semester there was an undergraduate class assignment to find reviews of classic movies prior to 1940. The source is the print version of the Reader’s Guide. A student lugged a 1935 volume to the desk, saying she could not find a particular movie that she knew was released that year. From Wallace Bunk’s reference course at the University of Michigan in the early 1970’s, the words “moving pictures” popped into my head. This did not appear to be an incredible feat to the student, but later I considered it a fairly amazing feat for me. In the midst of my technology-filled brain I had retrieved a piece of information so imbedded in my brain cells, and I’m still not certain how it happened. To me there was an instant gratification that I could help the student and over the next few weeks a reaffirmation of my love for librarianship.

This profession means so much to me. And this association, SLA, has let me explore new career paths, learning opportunities, meeting fellow professionals who are incredibly generous with their time and knowledge, and developing lifelong friendships. I want to give back to this organization, so I agreed to run for Chapter Cabinet Chair Elect.

In our candidate statements, we were asked for our vision of this organization and the legacy we would like to leave. I would like to help make this organization first choice of those in the information professions. Also, I would work to understand issues that regional units face and to be a voice for those issues. My legacy would be to help develop an organization whose members are proud of their affiliation and who point to SLA as an organization that is a touchstone in the work lives. I truly appreciate the privilege of being a candidate for the Board. Thank you.