CONTACT:
John Crosby
1-703-647-4916
jcrosby@sla.org
www.sla.org

Alexandria, VA, June 27, 2004 — The Special Libraries Association (SLA), the leading organization for global information professionals, has launched a US$1 million fundraising initiative to support for the transformation of its Professional Development Center by 2007. The SLA Annual Campaign for Professional Development will provide funding for capital projects that will lower the barriers to access to critical learning opportunities for information professionals and aid the Association in making the quantum leap to become a premier provider of continuing professional education services.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity that will catapult SLA into a new role as a leading professional educator among professional societies,” announced SLA Executive Director, the Honorable Janice R. Lachance. “This campaign represents the core of our values and serves to strengthen SLA and the status of the global community of information professionals.”

The SLA Annual Campaign for Professional Development builds on the Association’s current strategy to deliver a new competencies-based training system, a new online learning center; and more robust learning opportunities at the SLA Annual Conference and throughout the year.

"The vision is that by 2007, the SLA Professional Development Center will be known as one of the leading continuing education programs and will be seen as the ideal model for support of lifelong learning and continuous professional skills development," SLA President Ethel Salonen (Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA) explained. "The campaign is a perfect way to ensure that SLA meets the profession’s continuing education needs without raising dues or placing undue burdens on corporate partners and learning participants.”

Details on the campaign are available on the SLA Web site at www.sla.org/give.

About SLA
SLA is a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners. SLA serves more than 12,000 members in 83 countries in the information profession, including corporate, academic and government information specialists. SLA promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy, and networking initiatives. For more information, visit us on the Web at www.sla.org.