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SLA Leadership Summit: The Road Ahead/The Path Behind Remarks by Janice R. Lachance, CEO, Special Libraries Association |
Thank you very much Stephen. Welcome everyone. I am so glad you could be with us today.
This is my fifth Summit since joining SLA, and this year's event promises to be one of the best ever. What can you say about Andy Hines and Stephen Abram? What a way to kick off our discussion of the future of SLA and the information profession, and our planning for next year's centennial celebration.
What makes this meeting truly special...though...is your participation. You are the brightest and the best of your profession and your commitment to SLA and the global information community cannot be overstated.
For most of you... your profession is more than a vocation...it is a calling. That is why I believe you give so generously of your time and talent...and why it means so much that you do. SLA leaders are the best.
I would like to take a moment to thank a number of very special people who have worked extremely hard to make this meeting informative...meaningful and...even fun.
They include our current Cabinet Chairs... Libby Trudell and Robyn Frank...as well as our 2007 Cabinet Chairs.... Anne Caputo and Agnes Mattis and the 2008 Cabinet Chairs-Elects...Tom Rink and Susan Fifer-Canby.
I also would like to acknowledge the work of the SLA Kentucky Chapter....our hosts for the 2008 Leadership Summit...and especially thank Susan Brown and Jan Berry for their many contributions to making this meeting an outstanding success. Thank you all very much.
Let me say a word about the Kentucky Chapter. A few years ago...the chapter proposed a dramatic change in our financial structure. They did it professionally and constructively.
Largely because of their approach...this issue was elevated to our Finance Committee and board...and their idea led to the restructuring of our dues a couple of years ago.
They did not get everything they wanted...but they maintained their positive...constructive...and supportive attitude throughout the entire process. This Chapter is a CLASS ACT and I salute you.
I also would like to recognize and thank our wonderful sponsors....Dow Jones & Company...our Gold Sponsor for the 2008 Leadership Summit ...and Thomson Scientific...our Silver Sponsor...as well as our supporting sponsors IEEE...ProQuest and EOS International...who have made this event possible.
As you well know...these companies make invaluable contributions to the profession and to SLA year-round...and for that...we are profoundly grateful. Thank you.
Also...we have exhibitors around the corner. Each of them does so much for this Association...so please take the time to say hello.
Of course... it would be impossible to hold this meeting without the dedicated efforts of my wonderful staff at headquarters...especially Linda Broussard... Akisha Edogun... Kristin Foldvik... Erik Chambers... Quan Logan ...Jeff Leach...Tom Calcagni and Nancy Sansalone... who helped organized the program and assisted with complex logistics for this special event. Thank you all.
Finally... I would like to recognize the program planners for their hard work in preparing for the 2008 and 2009 conferences.
I know the 2009 planners and the Centennial Commission met yesterday...and I want to acknowledge and thank everyone involved in this important work for their outstanding commitment and contribution to the Association. It is appreciated so very much. Thank you.
A year from now....when we meet for the 2009 Leadership Summit...SLA's Centennial Celebration will be underway. This is a celebration of far-reaching significance. Not only does it honor the accomplishments of librarians and info pros during the past one hundred years....it recognizes SLA's service to the profession. It is testament to your abilities and dedication...and achievements of your predecessors... to transform information into inspiration.
While it is appropriate and beneficial for us to reflect on previous accomplishments during an anniversary such as this...it is also essential that we leverage this milestone to focus the association's creative talents...critical thinking... and boundless energy on what lies ahead for the information profession and for SLA. We stand at a crossroads in time...at a place where the past and future intersect.
While it may be tempting to retrace our steps...to follow the path we know so well...the one we are comfortable with...we cannot go back. And why would we want to? The road to the future is where the action is...where bright... talented...committed individuals have the chance to leave their mark.
It is where you as librarians and info pros will write your own stories of achievement ...and...be celebrated for YOUR accomplishments a hundred years from now.
We are going to talk a lot about the future in the next two days. We have already begun. But before I talk about some of the opportunities I see in 2008...I would like to take a few minutes to discuss some of the Association's many achievements during 2007.
SLA enjoyed tremendous success during 2007.
It was a year during which we continued to implement positive changes in the management of the association's affairs while expanding dramatically programs and services to increase SLA's value to members and to the profession.
It was also a year during which we significantly increased our outreach to potential members throughout the world and made important headway on issues of importance to librarians and info pros everywhere.
And...it was a year during which we made important strides in the implementation of new technologies to enhance member communications and to deliver valuable member benefits.
Let me share some of these successes with you.
First...the 2007 SLA Annual Conference and INFO-EXPO in Denver was an unqualified success in terms of attendance and programming...and it was extremely successful financially for SLA.
As I think most of you know...the revenue generated by our annual conference pays for many of the services we provide to you throughout the year.
More than 5000 people representing 41 countries...as well as...275 companies and organizations took part in this year's Annual Conference and INFO-EXPO. And the electrifying keynote address by former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize Winner....Al Gore...will surely be long remembered by everyone who was there.
As a result of our successful conference, and strong management and oversight by your elected leadership and SLA headquarters' staff...I am proud to report that SLA's financial health remained strong and membership remained stable during 2007. This was the fifth year in a row SLA can report an operating surplus.
Member recruitment and retention continues to be Job One at SLA. As a result of the recent Recruit-A-Member campaign...I am pleased to announce that 99 members worked hard to add 127 new members. In the hotly contested race among divisions and chapters...the Legal Division led the way with 94 new members...while the Knowledge Management Division saw the largest percentage increase in membership.
Among the chapters...the Illinois Chapter was the winner with 65 new members while the Oklahoma Chapter enjoyed the largest percentage increase with an impressive 25 percent increase in members.
It also gives me pleasure to announce the winner of the individual member recruitment competition. He is a member of the Washington D.C. Chapter...a member of five divisions...and one caucus. Drum roll please. And the winner is...Jerome Offord Junior. Jerome...who I do not believe is with us today...recruited 11 new members to SLA. Let's give all of our winners an enthusiastic round of will receive your prizes at today's luncheon.
I think Jerome is a good example of the how each of us can individually affect recruitment in a substantial way if we put our minds to it.
During 2007... communication with current members and recruitment of new members...particularly members outside of North America...were important priorities for the association.
Rebecca Vargha...Stephen Abram and I met separately or together with members on all but one continent this year in hopes of strengthening existing chapters and...wherever possible...encouraging new ones. We made progress during 2007 and SLA will continue this aggressive global outreach during 2008.
In addition to our efforts to increase and retain members...we continued to improve SLA's use of technology as a way to deliver member services more effectively and facilitating better communication and collaboration between info pros no matter where they are on the planet.
You heard Stephen describe a few minutes ago our exciting plans for the Innovation Laboratory that will give our members an opportunity to experiment with new tools and technologies in a risk-free safe and friendly environment.
During 2007...we installed a new association database management system and launched a new SLA Webex teleconferencing system. When fully implemented...these systems will make it easier for units to track and report important information and data to headquarters and allow unit leaders to communicate more quickly...efficiently and effectively with members.
We will be talking more about the AMS system tomorrow...but...as any of you who have been involved in installing a new database system understand...there are always a number of bugs to be worked out. Unfortunately...this process has not gone as we planned.
We had to work our way through problems with new and untrained personnel and lots of turnover at our vendor's company.
I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through these challenges. We hope to have them worked out shortly...and it will be a great system once it is in place.
In the midst of all this activity to enhance SLA's technological capabilities...we also redesigned and modernized the look of our more traditional communication vehicle....Information Outlook. And...based upon feedback we have received from many of you...you like what you have seen. You appreciate the magazine's more professional appearance and the fact it is easier to read and navigate.
Click University continued to grow significantly during this past year.
In fact...the use of Click U increased by some 250 percent and SLA's new Leadership and Management Library...which is free to members online...had no less than 31-thousand page views and some 3700 books were opened. I am pleased to announce today that we have renewed our partnership with eBrary and will be expanding it.
Beginning late next month...we will be adding a new Knowledge Management Library consisting of about 40 titles exclusively focusing on K-M. Also...we will be adding synopses of 350 current business titles from execuGo Media on executive development.
In November...SLA graduated our first class in the new Competitive Intelligence certificate program and Click U is getting ready to begin two new certificate programs in Knowledge Management and Copyright Management. Along with the many other outstanding offerings from Click U...we are extremely excited about these programs. We believe they will be very popular with librarians and information professionals seeking to expand their skills or positioning themselves for new opportunities in the future.
The strategic alliance we formed with Information Today in 2006 began paying dividends during 2007. SLA members were able to attend world-class conferences and events...and purchase Information Today publications and subscriptions, at a significant discount. This ongoing relationship also helped increase SLA's visibility among a large number of potential members at events where SLA is THE Learning Partner.
Our relationship with SIIA...the Software and Information Industry Association... also continued to grow during 2007. I had the opportunity to be a keynote speaker at SIIA's Content Forum in San Francisco...and we continue to offer the one-day content rights management course for librarians and info pros that we developed with SIIA
I am confident we will continue to find ways to strengthen ties between the information industry and the information professionals it serves.
In the area of public policy...2007 was an important year for SLA. Most notably...SLA led the charge against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to close its network of libraries. At issue was EPA's lack of a plan to ensure continued public access to important environmental data and information.
We met with officials from the EPA several times during the year and even provided questions to U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment and Pubic Works Committee, which she used during public questioning of the EPA Administrator on the subject.
I believe that as a result of SLA's very public position on the issue...we played an important role in a recent Congressional decision to provide funding to reopen the libraries. SLA's pposition to the reckless and precipitous closure of libraries was not limited to the EPA during 2007. The association weighed in on a number of proposed library closures from the United States to Australia.
We will continue to make the case that the costs associated with the loss of professional information expertise is high...and argue successfully...as we did with the EPA...that a well-thought out plan is essential. This I promise you...SLA will do everything we can to protect...defend...and expland the roles of librarians...info pros... and libraries anywhere throughout the world.
Without question...I believe SLA has and will continue to expand its influence around the globe. I was fortunate last year to continue my involvement in the World Summit on the Information Society by participating in the Internet Governance Forum.
One of the outcomes of the World Summit...which focused on removing barriers to information and bridging the digital divide...was the creation of an annual meeting of the IGF.
This meeting...sponsored by the United Nations...gives governments...industries... and stakeholders an opportunity to discuss the health of the Internet and how it is being managed. I was honored to represent both the International Federation of Library Associations and SLA at the two IGF's that have been held so far.
Also last year...I was asked to serve as a member of the IFLA President's Working Group on the Information Society and had an opportunity to address a diverse group of librarians and info pros at the IFLA conference in South Africa.
SLA's participation in these important international gatherings not only gives the association a voice in some of the most far-reaching policy discussions of our time...but it significantly elevates SLA's visibility in the eyes of the international community and helps us educate librarians and info pros throughout the world about the important contributions of the Association.
SLA was also recognized for our solid management and outstanding member benefits when I was appointed to the board of my own professional association...The Center for Association Leadership...and have been asked to chair their CEO Advisory Board.
2007 was an exciting and successful year for SLA. So where do we go from here? This is a pivotal year for SLA. That is why as a centerpiece of our activity...we are undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the roles librarians...info pros and the association will play in the future. This process seeks to align the knowledge...experience... and skills of information professionals with the rapidly changing needs of the marketplace and to help define how SLA can best serve you in the future.
To assist us in this effort...we are collaborating with a team of experienced research and communications professionals led by the well-respected... international consulting firm...Fleishman-Hillard. You will hear from the Fleishman team later.
And...as you already know...we have included Andy Hines on our team...and have asked Outsell to play an important role as well. The project...which relies on primary and secondary research...seeks to anticipate our future and...in fact...to define it.
This project is bold and ambitious...and absolutely necessary. In order for it to succeed...we must...MUST... hear from you. That is why we will be spending a considerable amount of time during this meeting discussing both the project and the future of the profession.
We are going to ask you for feedback and we are going to ask you to imagine what your future will look like. I....dare say...you may even leave Louisville in a state of Future Shock.
Also during the next two days... we are going to be talking about plans for the centennial year. The Centennial Commission is hard at work...as are the 2009 conference planners...developing exciting events and programs for the celebration.
But... again...we want to hear from you. What can we do together to make this once-in-a-lifetime celebration as meaningful and enjoyable as possible? Your opinions matter....and I know I can count on you not to be shy about expressing them.
I saw an interesting statistic the other day. It said there will be more than 45 elections in 40 different countries during 2008. From the United States...to Pakistan...and from Russia to Cambodia....changes in leadership of one kind or another will occur.
SLA's leadership changes have already taken place...and the association is extremely fortunate to have strong volunteer leaders who care so passionately about their profession ...and about their roles as stewards of this historic organization. I want to congratulate Stephen Abram and wish him well in his new role as SLA President.
I also want to congratulate Gloria Zamora on her selection as President-elect...and congratulate all of those who were elected to leadership positions this year. I also want to say a very special thank you to those who ran but were not elected.
I want you to know how much your willingness to stand for election means to me and to this association. Let's give all of our candidates and leaders a warm round of applause.
Finally...I would like to say a word of thanks and appreciation to Rebecca Vargha. Under her leadership...SLA continued to make progress on all fronts. She has been a strong leader and a good friend...Thank you, Rebecca for your service to SLA.
2008 is going to be another exciting and challenging year for SLA. We remain firmly committed to the three priorities of our mission... learning... networking... and advocacy. We are going to work tirelessly to improve SLA's management practices...enhance the association's technological capabilities...build membership across the planet...extend SLA's influence globally...develop new services and offerings that increase the value of membership...and ....yes...stay firmly focused on SLA's future.
The future of SLA is...after all... about you.
It is about your commitment...your passion...your dedication to a profession that may be unsung at times...but makes an enormous contribution to the advancement of organizations and to the people you serve each-and-every day. It is an honor and a privilege for me to serve you...and I could not think of any other group of people I would rather meet the future with than you.
Thank you very much...and enjoy the Summit.
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