We are delighted to announce that the Regional Park Pass Lending Program has launched for the second year!

All 11 library systems in Saskatchewan, as well as the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan libraries, are participating. This means residents in every corner of Saskatchewan have access to a free borrowed regional park pass. A total of 1,200 passes have been distributed to libraries across the province.

Passes are available to borrow until September 15, 2023. The passes can be borrowed for a 7-day period and can be used for any regional park in Saskatchewan. Check in with your local library for pass availability.

We want to extend a huge thank you to our program partners — the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association and the Saskatchewan Regional Parks Association — for all their hard work in once again making this program come to life. This program is funded by Sask Lotteries.

Culture Days Program Grant Applications Open Soon

SLA is offering 10 grants of up to $200 each for libraries to offer programming during Culture Days. Half of the grants will be given to programs focused on culture, and half of the grants will be given to programs focused on truth and reconciliation.

Grants are open to any institutional or individual SLA members.

Applications open June 13, 2023 and close on July 5. Applicants will be notified whether or not they are successful by July 14. The online application form will become available on our website here once applications open.

2023 Saskatchewan Libraries

Conference a Huge Success

Thank you to everyone who attended, presented, and/or volunteered at our conference in Saskatoon from May 3-5. The event was a huge success! Nearly 150 delegates and 26 exhibitors took part in the conference.

We were delighted by the large variety of sessions available. There truly was something for everyone, with sessions ranging from library safety to accessibility to addressing harmful language in cataloguing practices.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for next year's conference — May 1-3, 2024 in Regina. Further details will be announced shortly.

SLA wants to extend a special thank you to this year's sponsors and exhibitors, as the conference would not be possible without their generous support.

SPONSORS:

EXHIBITORS:

• Ayôskan.designs
• Canadian e-Resource Solutions Inc. / Britannica
• Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA)
• Dyslexia Canada
• EBSCO Information Services
• Elections Canada
• Gabriel Dumont Institute – Métis Culture & Heritage
• Law Society of Saskatchewan
• Library Bound Inc.
• McNally Robinson
• Métis Nation-Saskatchewan Citizenship Registry
• National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS)
• Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC)

• OverDrive
• ProQuest
• Provincial Library & Literacy Office (PLLO)
• Saskatchewan Archaeological Society
• Saskatchewan Council for Archives & Archivists
• Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation
• Saskatchewan Literacy Network
• SaskBooks
• Shadowpaw Press
• TD Summer Reading Club
• The Trojman Corporation
• United Library Services (ULS)
• Whitehots
• Wintergreen Learning Materials]

SLA 2022-2023 Annual Report Available

SLA held its 2023 Annual General Meeting on May 5 from 8:15am to 9:15am at the Saskatoon Inn. At the AGM, copies of SLA's 2022-2023 Annual Report were made available.

Learn more about SLA and the amazing programs, grants, and professional development opportunities we have offered in the last year by reading through the report. A digital copy of the report is available on our website here.

Thank You to All SLA

Committee Volunteers!

Many of SLA's committees wind down over the summer and will restart their important work in early September. SLA would like to extend a sincere thank you to all of our 2022-2023 committee members. Our gratitude to the below volunteers for your valued service in support of SLA's many programs & services.

ADVOCACY:

Chau Ha

Danielle Raymond

Marika Hunter

Morgan Kelly

Oksana Moshynska

Riane LaPaire

CONFERENCE PLANNING:

Amy Rankin

Cara Bradley

Regan Gunningham

Riane LaPaire

Rissa Amper

Ryan Monks

Teresa Wright Eastley

ONE BOOK ONE PROVINCE:

Ann Liang

Cara Bradley

Colleen Murphy

Joe Geary

Kathleen Irwin

Morgan Kelly

Paula Daigle

COMMUNICATIONS & ENGAGEMENT:

Ann Liang

Brad Doerksen

Cara Bradley

Christina Winter

Elaina Lawn

Jason Redshaw

Michael Shires

Oksana Moshynska

Riane LaPaire

Rissa Amper

Sadia Sohail

CONTINUING EDUCATION:

Christina Winter

Deborah Pelletier

Jenny Ryan

Robert Thomas

SASKATCHEWAN BOOK AWARDS GALA:

Amy Rankin

Caitlin Bakker

Rissa Amper

CONFERENCE PROGRAM:

Amy Rankin

Chau Ha

Danielle Raymond

Eli Hartman

Regan Gunningham

Ryan Monks

EDUCATION BURSARY SUB-COMMITTEE:

Amy Rankin

Barbara Nelke

Deborah Pelletier

JoAnn Murphy

Robert Thomas

PRISON LIBRARY SUB-COMMITTEE:

Alan Kilpatrick

Geoffrey Allen

Gina Brander

James Richards

Jo Shepherd

Marika Hunter

Megan Stecyk

Shannon Carnahan

• June 12 - TD Summer Reading Club kids' website goes live; registration opens
• June 13 - Applications open for SLA's Culture Days Program Grants
• July 5 - Deadline to apply for Culture Days Program Grants

Greetings all! 

It is hard to believe that this is my last report. It has been my honour to serve as your President for the last four years. I am proud of how SLA has grown and evolved throughout the last few years and I know this is due to the amazing staff and volunteers that are part of the day-to-day work and programming of the association. I would like to especially thank all the staff I have had the pleasure to work with – Dorothea Warren, Anne Pennylegion, Leslie Charlton, Marina dos Santos Candeia, Samar Farhan, Tina Kleisinger, Lynn Penner, and Mary Lou Van De Bon. 

I am so excited for the next few years. There is so much work being done to continue to grow the SLA to best meet member needs. I have worked with amazing board members over the years and I am thrilled with the board members currently serving (including our incoming President). The current Board supports you from a lot of different backgrounds, especially in their regular life roles. This ensures that the discussion and decisions coming up at the table are richer than ever before.

The 2023 conference was a good example of the amazing work that can come out of SLA. I would like to thank the Conference committee and the amazing office staff for the excellent conference that had something for everyone. 

I would like to encourage you to consider serving on the Board in the years to come. If you are not sure what that would be like, consider joining one of the many committees on offer. There is something for everyone, and everyone is welcome.

Signing off and wishing you the best summer!

Regards,

Amy Rankin

Survey on Stress Seeking Participation from Digital Preservationists

If you work in a Canadian memory institution and view your role as being at least partially responsible for the digital preservation of born-digital materials in the holdings of your institution, then you are invited to participate in this research study about stress and its impacts on digital preservationists in Canada.

If you consent to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete an online survey that is expected to take approximately 30 minutes. The survey closes on June 30, 2023.

Click here for more information about the study. If you have questions about this research study please contact the Principal Investigator, Brett Lougheed, at b.lougheed@uwinnipeg.ca.

If you choose to participate in this study, please click on the link below to access the online survey: https://uwinnipeg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6R01m6pG78JHTG6.

Stronger Together Conference Seeking Presenter Proposals

The Stronger Together planning committee is currently seeking innovative and industry-leading proposals for in-person and virtual sessions as well as asynchronous poster presentations. The target audiences are library trustees, library managers, and general library staff.

The preferred topics are:

• Leadership
• Programming
• Advocacy
• Customer Service
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Library Technology
• Collection Development
• Board Development

The application deadline has been extended to June 16, 2023. The committee is open to a variety of topics and themes; if your topic does not neatly fit into the above categories, they still welcome your proposal. If you have any questions before submitting your proposal, please email librariesarestrongertogether@gmail.com.

Click here to learn more and to submit your proposal!

CFLA Congratulates Canadian Representatives to IFLA

Following the recent elections of a new Board, the Canadian Federation of Library Associations/ Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques wishes to congratulate National Librarian Leslie Weir on her election as President-Elect of the International Federation of Library Associations.

IFLA’s work is critical to creating a united library sector internationally. As president for the 2023-2025 term, Leslie and the Governing Board are responsible for the management of the Federation and providing strategic leadership to the international library community.

In addition to Leslie, there is a strong Canadian presence among IFLA’s governance leadership and committees. CFLA-FCAB extends its congratulations and gratitude to the following individuals for representing the Canadian Library voice in the international community through participation at IFLA:

North American Regional Councillors: Camille Callison, Andrea Cecchetto, Loubna Ghaouti, Susan Haigh, Diane Koen, Amber Lanno, Vivian Lewis, Pilar Martinez, Francesco Manganiello, Shawn Mitchell

Special Interest Groups - Committee Members:

• Julie Anderson – Artificial Intelligence
• Joseph Hafner – LGBTQ Users
• Guoying (Grace) Liu – Library Publishing
• Dr. Mohamed Teher – Religions, Libraries and Dialogue

Advisory Committee Members:

• Christina de Castell – Copyright & Legal Matters
• Ry Moran – Cultural Heritage
• Victoria Owen, Pat Riva, Christine Oliver - Standards

Professional Section Members:

• Ramina Mukundan - Acquisition and Collection Development
• Casey Hoeve - Acquisition and Collection Development
• Vivian Lewis - Education and Training
• Silvia Vong - Knowledge Management
• Sonia Smith - Law Libraries
• Nathalie Soini - Libraries for Children and Young Adults
• Carolyne Ménard - Library and Research Services for Parliaments
• Suzanne Payette - Library Buildings and Equipment
• Debbie Schachter - Library Theory and Research
• Jeannie Bail - Management and Marketing
• Micheline Brûlé - Management of Library Associations
• Colleen Cook - Statistics and Evaluation
• Shawn Mitchell - Statistics and Evaluation
• Christine Brown - Statistics and Evaluation
• Stacy Allison-Cassin - Subject Analysis and Access

For more information about IFLA, visit their website. CFLA-FCAB looks forward to collaborating with international partners including IFLA towards a shared vision of a strong, cohesive library sector.

Saskatchewan Library Association

12 - 2010 7th Avenue

Regina, SK  S4R 1C2

Phone: 306-780-3633

Email: info@saskla.ca

Web: saskla.ca 

Have something you want to see in SLAte? Send us a submission! The deadline for SLAte submissions is the 25th of each month, and submissions must be emailed to lpenner@saskla.ca. SLA reserves the right to change or edit any submission, or to refuse publication in its entirety.

SLAte is an open-access publication under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY-NC-ND copyright license, excluding all logos and other material where indicated. 

Everyone, Including Culture, Wins When You Buy Lottery Tickets

 The core funding that SLA receives through SaskCulture is part of the Lottery Trust where a percentage of every lottery ticket sold goes to support sport, culture and recreation groups within Saskatchewan. It appears that recent lottery sales are not meeting expectations, which will not have an immediate effect on SLA. However we encourage you to remind audiences and arts council members that buying lottery tickets benefits the entire community. Saskatchewan Lotteries has also launched an app that you can download in the App Store or Google Play. More information is available on the Saskatchewan Lotteries website.

The Saskatchewan Library Association gratefully acknowledges the support

of our funding agencies.