Good afternoon and welcome to New Orleans! I hope that this morning’s sessions have been useful and productive and that the dialogue and the information exchange will continue throughout the remainder of the week.

During one of the breaks at the Winter Meeting last January (in Chicago), I was unexpectedly approached by Sandy Spurlock who was wanting a “minute or so” of my time (at the time I had no idea that she was on the Nominations Committee). Having recently chaired the Membership Taskforce, my first thought was “hmm, I wonder what committee I’ll be asked to serve on.” I truly was not ready to be informed that I’d been nominated as a candidate for Director and that the Committee was hoping that I’d accept. My initial reaction could probably have been classified as “shock” or surprise (you’re kidding, right?). But, no, she was not kidding. As I continued to process this information, I began to feel quite flattered. But at the same time, I found the request a little overwhelming and somewhat scary [to quote a line from a Gloria Gaynor song: “at first I was afraid, I was petrified . . .”]. Even as this initial shock wore off, my mind was consumed with questions and doubts.

q Am I worthy of this nomination?

q Do I have enough experience?

q What’s really involved in accepting this nomination?

q More meetings? More travel? Can I afford this level of commitment?

q Am I ready for this challenge? This responsibility?

q What could I possibly offer the Association?

And who wouldn’t have these doubts? I was preparing to embark upon a rather big step into the world of leadership and responsibility. Are these doubts unfounded? Probably. Would I have been nominated if the committee had had these same doubts? Probably not. So I began to warm up to the idea, little by little and my enthusiasm grew.

As I allowed myself more time to considered the nomination, I realized that I was being offered a marvelous opportunity to actually give back to/serve the Association (and the membership) that has so generously given to me. Prior to my membership in the Special Libraries Association I was not receiving any “library” professional development. Oh, I’m sure that there were many avenues that I could have (and did) explore, but none of them provided the same “fit” like the Special Libraries Association. The Special Libraries Association has provided me with a wealth of opportunity for leadership (at all levels: Chapter, Division, and Association), and I’ve been fortunate enough to have been mentored throughout the process by a variety of individuals. By getting involved in SLA and attending conferences, meetings and workshops, the opportunities for leadership and responsibility blossomed. All I’ve really had to do along the way is say “yes” to each new and challenging opportunity. How could I possibly say “no” now?

This is an exciting time for the Association; everyone’s input is valuable and welcomed. It is critical that we continue our constructive dialogues on each and every issue that comes before the Association. This is “our” Association and our voices must be heard. As with the recently passed Bylaws change, change is not easy. But we now have bylaws that will facilitate growth and give us the ability to change quickly, when needed. Other pressing issues include:

q The search for a new Executive Director.

q Governance structure. (Is this broken? Does it need to be fixed?)

q Branding. (Is it time for a change? How do we want to be known?)

q Simplification. (Life’s already complicated, who doesn’t want certain processes to be simpler?)

q Conference planning. (How can we improve our conference to provide more benefits to the membership?)

q The sale of the building.

We all can impact the future and the direction of the Association (as we have seen within the last couple of years, especially). We (the leadership of the Special Libraries Association at all levels) have already done a lot of work, but quite a bit of work still remains. I don’t know about you, but I want to be involved in shaping the future of and strengthening the viability of the Special Libraries Association – I’m going to guess that you do as well or you would not already be in a leadership roll within your unit. I would be honored and privileged to serve you as a Director and I hope that I can count on your support. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today.