If you can't find the community you're looking for under the All Communities Available list or one that matches a keyword that you’ve entered in the Search, use this function to request that the Community be formed.

1. Click the Suggest a Community icon on the Top Navigation Bar or the Suggest a Community link in the header of the My Communities panel on your Personal Page. The Suggest A Community window displays.
2. Click into the fields provided to describe the Community you want to request. Try to be explicit as you describe the benefits your Community would provide to SLA members.
3. Provide one or more keywords to help potential members locate the Community in a search.
4. Answer the Facilitator Questions.
5. Click the down arrow of the drop-down list box and select the name of any Community to which your new community might be related, if applicable.
6. Provide other relevant information that would help the SLA staff in reviewing your request in the text field below.
7. Click Submit Suggestion. SLA staff reviews all suggestions for appropriateness and to avoid redundancy. You will be notified of their decision.

Note: For a new community to be created, at least one facilitator must oversee activities. As the person suggesting the new Community, you're the most obvious person to serve as Facilitator, or you may know someone who would like to serve. Facilitators are SLA members who volunteer to support and champion the success of a particular Community. These volunteers monitor activity within the Community, encourage member participation, and organize Community events (virtual or face-to-face). Duties of a facilitator include:

• Starting discussions
• Polling Community members
• Updating content
• Ensuring members' questions are answered
• Coordinating member communications
• Identifying and using experts
• Scheduling and hosting chat sessions
• Managing and organizing Community resources
• Planning Community events beyond the virtual community