SLA is thrilled to announce the 2023 One Book, One Province title will be Five Little Indians by Michelle Good!

This award-winning book follows the lives of five residential school survivors over several decades as they seek to overcome the trauma they endured.

Michelle Good will be joining SLA at an event launch in Regina, plus six events held across Saskatchewan throughout the month of March. Event locations and times will be announced at a later date.

Watch for more program details to come! Updates will be posted to the One Book, One Province page on our website.

SLA Welcomes New Program Coordinator

We are thrilled to welcome Mary Lou Van De Bon to SLA as our new Program Coordinator!

Mary Lou is delighted to be joining SLA. She has a passion for libraries, community engagement and life-long learning.

Mary Lou started this role in early September and is already bringing in wonderful new ideas and creativity. She comes to us after more than a decade of working at Regina Public Library, much of which was spent in programming.

Join us in giving Mary Lou a warm welcome!

Saskatchewan Book Awards Open for Submissions

Submissions are now being accepted for the 2022-2023 Saskatchewan Book Awards!

Eligible books accepted for adjudication will be considered for 14 book prizes awarded in May 2023. For most of the awards, books published on or after November 1, 2021 and no later than October 31, 2022 are eligible.

Be sure to check the eligibility requirements for each award entered. Please note that the eligibility date for the Young Adult Literature Award and the Prix du livre français is calculated from a publication date of on or after November 1, 2020 to October 31, 2022 as these awards are offered every other year. The Children’s Literature Award will not be offered again until 2024.

The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2022.

For more information, the full criteria for each award category, or to make a submission, visit the Saskatchewan Book Awards website.

Deadline Approaching for MLIS Student Bursaries

Are you taking a graduate degree program in library and information science? Do you know someone who is?

SLA gives out two $5,000 bursaries to MLIS students each year: the Maureen Woods Education Bursary and the Indigenous Student MLIS Education Bursary! 

The two awards are open to students enrolled in or accepted to an ALA-accredited graduate degree program in library and information science or equivalent at the time of the award. Students can be attending any accredited institution in Canada, but preference will be given to Saskatchewan residents.

These awards were established to promote the continued growth of professional librarianship in Saskatchewan.

The application deadline is October 31, 2022. For more information on eligibility and to apply, visit SLA's website.

SLA Program News

Book Spine Poetry Contest

The Book Spine Poetry Contest is open! Everyone in Saskatchewan ages five and up are welcome to enter. All contest information and the entry form is posted to our website here. Social media graphics and a web banner are also available to download on our website.

SLA has mailed out Saskatchewan Library Week posters and Book Spine Poetry Contest information sheets to all public libraries, schools, academic libraries, and other organizations. Keep your eyes open for the cheerful green posters!

SLA Seeking Participants for New Saskatchewan Book Awards Gala

Sub-Committee

SLA is hosting the 2023 Saskatchewan Book Awards for the first time, in conjunction with its Saskatchewan Libraries Conference in early May 2023.

To oversee the planning of this event, SLA has formed the Saskatchewan Book Awards Gala Sub-Committee, and is now seeking members to join the committee. If you are an individual SLA member or your institution has an institutional membership, and you are interested in helping bring this event to life, please let us know!

To find out more or express your interest, please email Mary Lou Van De Bon at slaprograms@sasktel.net.

Palliser Regional Library Creates

Story Trails

Palliser Regional Library has created seven new story trails, each with 25 stations!

The project was made possible by a $30,000 grant from Canadian Healthy Community Initiatives in 2021, and the region worked with the seven towns and their library boards to bring the story trails to life. Palliser also partnered with Kids First, the Town of Craik, and the Moose Jaw Childhood Coalition. Over 50 titles have been purchased for use in the trails!

The Palliser Story Trails are located in Rockglen, Willow Bunch, Rouleau, Holdfast, Davidson, Elbow, and Tugaske. The story station units were all built by Art Weiss of Shadow Ranch in Mossbank.

Indoor story trails are located in Loreburn and Avonlea, while the Kids First trails are in Moose Jaw, Assiniboia, Mossbank, Mortlach, and Craik. 

Click here for more information and for which stories are available in each community!

Greetings!

We have launched into work and planning here at SLA. The SLA Board, invited guests and SLA staff are having a two-day strategic planning session on Oct. 2 and 3. This is an exciting time for reviewing where we are coming from, where we are, and where we want to be. We will be seeking your input in the months to come, so I hope you will join us in this strategic planning process!

Committee work has begun, and most committees now have at least one meeting under their belts. It is never too late to volunteer if you are interested in participating or helping out. Planning for our 2023 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference has also begun. Keep an eye out in the weeks to come for a call for conference session proposals.

SLA Executive Director Tina Kleisinger and I attended The Partnership “summer meeting” on September 28 via Zoom. This was a business meeting where The Partnership members discussed the programs and services of the group – Education Institute, Partnership journal, Job Board and more. We also had a guest talk from James Turk, who spoke about the Library Challenges Database for schools. This is always an invigorating and engaging meeting, which allows us to connect with colleagues across the country.

Minister of Education Dustin Duncan has proclaimed October 16-22 as Saskatchewan Library Week. Grants have been issued for Saskatchewan Library Week and Culture days programming across the province, and the Book Spine Poetry Contest is well underway. I am excited to hear about what is happening at all the different libraries!

I am looking forward to this upcoming year at SLA. Keep an eye out for more information as it comes up.

Regards,

Amy Rankin, SLA President

Judy Nicholson Wins Recognition Award

On September 25, Judy Nicholson (a former SLA Executive Director) was awarded the The Willow Awards' Recognition Award for her many years of work with the organization.

Judy's involvement with The Willow Awards goes back to 2000, when, as secretary of the Saskatchewan School Library Association (SSLA), she agreed to strike a committee to look into creating a young readers' choice award. After the award was created, she sat on the inaugural board as a director for one year.

In 2019, Judy once again joined the Willow board, this time as the SLA representative. She helped coordinate a successful fundraising project and spearheaded The Willow Awards 20th Anniversary plans.

The Willow Awards board is pleased to award Judy Nicholson the Recognition Award for her service to the Willow Awards at two critical moments in its history.

Click here for The Willow Awards' full newsletter.

CFLA Copyright Committee Update

At the September 2022 meeting, the CFLA Copyright Committee discussed the following:

• The Committee is revising its terms of reference, with particular attention to roles, representation and term lengths
• A position statement on CDL has been submitted to the CFLA Board for consideration and the updated paper on CDL in Canadian libraries will be published in Partnership in November. The pre-print is available on SSRN.
• AI and Copyright and its application in Cultural Heritage Institutions and AI and Copyright and Text and Data Mining (TDM) Research statements have been approved by the CFLA Board. Translation is in progress and publication is forthcoming.
• Work continues on the Making Content Accessible guide, crown copyright, and data/analysis.

Saskatchewan Library Association

10-2010 7th Ave.

Regina, SK S4R 1C2

Phone: 306-780-9413

Email:  slaexdir@sasktel.net; slaadmin@sasktel.net; slaprograms@sasktel.net

Web: saskla.ca

SLA reserves the right to change or edit any submission or to refuse publication in its entirety. The deadline for SLAte submissions is the 25th of each month.

The Saskatchewan Library Association gratefully acknowledges the support

of our funding agencies.