{"id":74038,"date":"2014-06-07T15:26:48","date_gmt":"2014-06-07T20:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74038"},"modified":"2014-06-07T15:33:01","modified_gmt":"2014-06-07T20:33:01","slug":"why-sla-is-a-must-membership-for-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74038","title":{"rendered":"Why SLA is a ‘Must’ Membership for Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Naomi House, MLIS<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Why SLA is a ‘Must’ Membership for Me<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"IMG_6534\"<\/a>SLA or Special Libraries Association is an organization I really believe in.\u00a0 I like to call it the “Specialized” <\/strong><\/em>Libraries Association<\/strong>, because that is what it truly is; it is an organization for LIS professionals in any<\/span> field who specialize in something.\u00a0 Divisions include newspapers and journalists, university librarians and public librarians, corporate, competitive intelligence, knowledge managers and more!<\/p>\n

“Beyond Borders<\/a>” is the theme this year and it is very fitting.\u00a0 June 8-10, 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada SLA (Special Libraries Association) <\/a>is holding its annual conference<\/a> and librarians and other information professionals from around the globe are attending.\u00a0 While I am not there, again this year<\/a>, I am looking forward to attending the 2015 conference in Boston.\u00a0 Even though I am not in attendance I am super-grateful for the ability to follow along on Twitter with the #SLA2014<\/a> hashtag.
\n..<\/span>
\nSo how did I get to be such an SLA superfan?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of you who have been following INALJ from the beginning may have noticed I mention SLA a lot.\u00a0 I have written about SLA 2013<\/a> and meeting SLA Leadership<\/a> in Alexandria, Virginia last year. One of my bloggers, Mary-Michelle Moore, who now runs INALJ California<\/a> also did a recap of #SLA2013<\/a>.\u00a0 I interviewed SLA’s\u00a0Director of Education and Information Services , Carolyn Sosnowski<\/a> as well as Tom Nielsen of the Solo Division<\/a> and general shout-outs of how much I love <\/a>being a member pop up all the time.\u00a0 I almost titled this article “A Love Letter to SLA” but love is sometimes unpredictable, unreasonable and often out of our control and not always good for us.\u00a0 SLA is more like a friendship and I totally feel supported.<\/p>\n

It all started when I was the library assistant at a small information center<\/strong> near K St in Washington, \"nhouse_dcsla\"<\/a>DC.\u00a0 It was a two person library and my Director, Susan Fournier, was also at the time the President of DC\/SLA<\/a> and held many of the programs at our offices.\u00a0 She really opened my eyes to all of the different jobs LIS pros can do in our field and outside of it and encouraged me to continue and get my degree. Since then I have not only attended events for SLA chapters in DC<\/a>, Maryland<\/a>, Virginia<\/a>, Louisiana\/Mississippi, Hawaii<\/a> and the UAE<\/a>, I have been an invited speaker at many events.\u00a0 In fact my very first speaking engagement<\/a> <\/strong><\/em>ever was for SLA Maryland!<\/p>\n

What I Gain as a Member<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We all spend money on things we don\u2019t need and balk at investing in our networks and careers, which baffles me.\u00a0 Put away $5-$15 a month that is it!\u00a0 It is well worth it.<\/em><\/p>\n