President’s Letter
by Hope Tillman, tillman@babson.edu

The Boston Chapter continues to host provocative and forward-looking programs. In December Mary Lee Kennedy and Stephen Abram challenged us to look at cutting edge developments in a program called “The Information Tornado: Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore; Context is King.” The persistent Young Professionals, led by Anna Burke and Stephanie White, presented a very successful Working with Vendors program with Cynthia Robinson and Sam Brooks after having to postpone for snow in early January. And we had great fun at the Groundhog Day program organized by Barbra Rosenberg, Katrina Reiling, and Sidney McNab. There are plenty of additional programs in the works, thanks to Dee Magnoni and all the folks on the Program Committee. You can see the fun we all have had at programs so far this year by viewing the photos on the “Programs and Events” page of the chapter web site.

At the last Chapter Board meeting we passed our Chapter Practices Document. Many thanks to Liz Bibby who shepherded this project to its completion. Take a look to see where roles and responsibilities lie in our chapter. There is a complete listing of Chapter Officers, all the way back to 1918-1919. Thanks to our Archivist Pauline Leeds for pulling that together.

President-Elect Dee Magnoni and I represented the Chapter at the January SLA Leadership Summit in Tampa, Florida. It was an enjoyable meeting in a warm climate.

The change in the governance year, which has been in the works for such a long time, will be implemented for FY2007.  The association will be moving to a January-December calendar year.

In Tampa we had a very good presentation about the history and current status of the SLA University, which is under development. It looks like it will be a great way for us to keep up to date, as it becomes increasingly harder to get away for education and training. There will be opportunities for chapters to create their own learning centers to share powerpoints from our events and perhaps much more.

Our recommendation for the Association to improve member statistics to help those unemployed see trends and changes in our members’ career opportunities was not funded. However, SLA is partnering on an IMLS grant that looks like it will achieve the same goal.

SLA Awards, which are given out in June, were announced at the Tampa meeting. The Boston Chapter did very well: Tony Stankus will receive the Rose Vormelker award for mentoring; Brandy King will receive the Innovations in Technology award; and I was honored to be named an SLA Fellow. 

One highlight of the conference was the keynote by Gary Heil, founder of the Center for Innovative Leadership, and speaker, author, and consultant. I highly recommend his books and recommend that you go hear him if you get the chance. While being very entertaining, Gary provided a valuable message. He believes that a great leader needs a great cause. Two goals we should have are (1) Courage – to be who we want to be and do what we want to do and (2) Attitude – to be optimistic in the face of adversity. I want to share his comments on accountability for learning, because how we lead is directly related to how we think. Think about the following:

• What have I learned lately?
• In the last six months, what have I changed my mind about?
• What have I done recently that will make it easier for others to challenge my thinking?
• Who thinks differently than I do and what have I learned from them lately?
• What is different about the way I think this year?
• What have I learned this month that makes past actions seem less effective?

SLA is an excellent training ground to help each of us grow. Our chapter is here to enhance your professional growth through programs and other networking opportunities. Please send me your ideas and thoughts on what we should be doing. Additional volunteers are always welcome as well!

Hope

Return to Top of Page