Value of Membership

1
Value of Membership

• What our members said when asked
• What are your top 3 reasons for belonging to SLA?
• What is the value of membership to you?

2
Value of Membership

• Professional contacts
• Staying current in new developments in profession
• Expanding my view of the profession, especially
  the nontraditional aspects
• Meeting a variety of vendors and learning about
  their products

3
Value of Membership

• Professional Development
• Chapter meetings
• Conference programming
• Click University
• Virtual learning
• Papers
• Publications

4
Value of Membership

• Networking
• Chapter meetings
• Interaction with members in my specialty
• Annual Conference
• Discussion lists
• Communities of Practice
• Membership Directory

5
Value of Membership

• Personal Enrichment
• I have made friendships and met colleagues that
  I would consider to be priceless additions to my
  professional and personal life.
• Social gatherings
• Fun
• My closest professional friends and colleagues
  were met through 30 years as an SLA member. This
  network has been a source of moral support,
  learning and information for more than 3
  decades.
• Janet Cooper Weiss

6
Value of Membership

• Career Advancement
• Job leads from professionals in the know
• Mentoring
• Virtual advisors
• Salary survey
• Seminars
• Articles and resources

7
Value of Membership

• Career Advancement (contd)
• Career disruption assistance
• Connect_at_Conference
• Membership dues renewal at half price, a member
  exclusive care package
• Assisting members to find qualified applicants

8
Value of Membership

• Advocacy
• Allows us to discuss issues pertinent to
  libraries in general and in specialized subject
  areas
• Voice of the profession
• National governments
• International legal and policy issues
• To the public and press
• To business (employers)

9
Value of Membership

• Cares for me rather than focusing on political
  agendas
• SLA provides supportive and nurturing
  opportunities to learn, network and grow in ones
  career.
• Sue Cardinal, Chemistry Librarian, University of
  Rochesters Carlson Library

10
Value of Membership

• Focusing on the future
• Mentoring students
• Visiting faculty
• Faculty advisor to student groups
• Chapter liaison to student groups

11
Value of Membership

• A window to the profession
• Tours of libraries
• Interaction with a wide variety of practices
• Introducing students to apply their skills in
  other than the public library
• Shows me trends, causes me to think about
  strategies and understand the challenges

12
Value of Membership

• Opportunity to become known as an expert in the
  field
• From Toronto Chapter member It was because of
  SLA and the many people I came to know in the US
  that I was recruited for a job. When my future
  boss called me and said Weve got a problem and
  a lot of people down here tell me that you are
  the only person in North America who knows how to
  solve it. I was overwhelmed.

13
Value of Membership

• Reference contacts
• Research contacts
• Problem solvers in day-to-day tasks
• Source of best practices
• Source of new opportunities

14
Value of Membership

• Publications
• Information Outlook
• Salary Survey
• Division and chapter bulletins/publications

15
Value of Membership

• Leadership opportunities
• A place to develop my skills in anon-threatening
  environment
• A place to give back to the profession
• A place to learn organizational and interpersonal
  skills

16
Value of Membership

• When I was a chapter officer, the Leadership
  Summit was invaluable to me, both for my needs
  right then as a chapter officer and for career
  development.
• Being able to participate in the leadership of
  the organization has helped me to improve my
  status in my institution.

17
Value of Membership

• SLA has been a wonderful support mechanism and
  has given me an opportunity to become a leader in
  my profession and test my skills in various other
  arenas like seminar planning, conference
  planning, etc.
• Holly Bussey, MLS, Corporate Account Manager,
  EBSCO Information Services (my third career in
  the info business and SLA has seen me through all
  three!

18
Value of Membership

• Survival
• SLA was absolutely essential in preventing the
  closure of my library in 2003, due in part to
  ...documents available from SLA website.
• Promotes the value of the profession
• Cites sources credible to management
• Essential to tenure and promotion
• My employer expects me to be a member

19
Value of Membership

• Survival (contd).
• It helps my non-library colleagues see that I am
  a professional if I belong to a professional
  organization.
• Combat loneliness I am the only MLS in the
  region and I have no one else at my worksite with
  whom I can talk shop. I need to belong to a
  professional association to connect with
  colleagues in similar circumstances.

20
Value of Membership

• Through my activities in SLAI learned
  management, improved my business research
  knowledge and skills, received training in the
  use of the Internet for research, and found a
  network of colleagues invaluable to those who are
  sole professional librarians.
• Barbara S. Beverley, Director of Library
  Services, Records Management Officer Empire State
  Development New York State Dept of Economic
  Development

21
Value of Membership

• A step above the average
• Value is intangible but clear to me
  intercourse, discussion, cross-fertilization,
  innovation, development. Those who have refused
  to join a professional organization have, in my
  experience, tended to be the less able, less
  far-sighted, more insular and self-satisfied
  among us.

22
Value of Membership

• People
• Membership is diverse. The insights and
  expertise of academics, government and business
  information professionals expand my horizons
• My chapter membership gives me the opportunity to
  work with top professionals in my local area
• Gayle Stauffer, Veterans Memorial Library, Cecil
  Community College

23
Value of Membership

• A global connection
• I value being part of a professional
  organization that is international in scope and
  vision.

24
Value of Membership

• Competencies for the Information Professionals of
  the 21st Century
• Defines SLAs vision of the specific skills and
  knowledge requirements in our field. Outlines
  professional and personal competencies supported
  by practical scenarios. This is an invaluable
  tool for professional growth and assessment.

25
Value of Membership

• Value for the Price
• Chapters offer inexpensive local programs and
  networking opportunities
• Annual Conference is one of the best values
  around
• I get the appropriate bang for my buck
• Discounts

26
Value of Membership

• Networking
• Networking
• Networking
• Networking
• Networking
• Networking covers it all.

27
Value of Membership

• Business development
• A place to meet prospective clients
• A place to introduce my products and services to
  a targeted audience
• A place to showcase my business (InfoExpo)
• A ready-made target audience through advertising,
  direct mail, sponsorship

28
Value of Membership

• I believe that SLA is one of the most innovative
  organizations for information professionals, and
  because I aim to be one of the many players
  bringing library services to places untapped by
  our wires, I know I am amongst like-minded people
  when I am at an SLA event.
• Peter Cole

29
Value of Membership

• Early innovators
• Adopts new technologies and ideas that I may
  consider
• Blogging
• E-voting
• Communities of Practice

30
Value of Membership

• Diversity

31
Value of Membership

• All of the top chemistry/physics librarians and
  vendors are involved heavily in SLA its where
  the action is.

32
Value of Membership

• Community
• One belongs to a community of like-minded
  individuals working towards a shared goal, vision
  and/or cause.
• SLA is a community of like-minded professionals
  with common issuesand solutions targeted to our
  very-specific needs a niche market

33
Value of Membership

• Pride
• The fact that Im a member says to my boss, my
  chain of command Im proud to be a special
  librarian, a military librarian Im proud of my
  professional organization, and I back this up by
  joining and renewing my membership every year.
• J.G. Nicula, Ph.D., Chief, Library Division,
  Joint Forces Staff College

34
Value of Membership

• PRICELESS!