Guest Blog: SLA President Gloria Zamora

Dear friends and colleagues in SLA,

It is difficult to find the words to convey what an opportunity and responsibility serving this association has been.  My predecessors know exactly what I am talking about.  I would like to share some observations with you.

My year has focused on the alignment with the phase “Align in ’09.”  And you know I have been citing Seth Godin’s, latest book, Tribes.  I think his description of a tribe as a “movement waiting to happen” describes SLA from its inception in 1909 right to our present alignment project.  Building a tribe involves leaders connecting people to an idea and those people communicating the idea to create the tribe.  The Board and staff, with the help of a dedicated group of alignment ambassadors, have been leading the alignment tribe and gaining recruits. All of the research is available on the Web site for our members to use, and SLA is rolling out tools to help you use this information to sell your valuable services.  The alignment project is vitally important to the future of our profession. 

 
High points of my year as SLA’s president have included attending the Arabian Gulf Chapter’s 15th annual meeting.  I learned that it is the similarities in our situations that connect us.  I also learned that if we are an international organization, we must find ways to provide services to an international community.  I am happy to say that the association staff is working diligently in this area, and we will continue to seek improvements in working with this diverse membership.  Other highs included the opportunity and privilege to speak to our members in the United States, Canada and England.  Some of the most exciting visits were with the future leaders of the profession, the I-school students.  Their enthusiasm for this profession is inspiring, and I cannot even imagine where they will take us in the future.

On many of my visits, I was also privileged to visit the members’ places of work--to witness first-hand the remarkable work that is being done in providing knowledge services.  This convinced me, if I needed any further convincing, that the services our members provide are essential to the success of the organizations they serve, and these services are so much broader than what can be conveyed by the word library.  I also came to realize that there is a misunderstanding among many people outside our profession about what we do and the value that we provide.  The alignment research said that our employers still need an evolution in thinking about the value of information/knowledge professionals to ensure our very survivability and success.  We have been making this case for 100 years, and it is time for our professional revolution to take place.  The alignment tribe must communicate this message of value up through the organization.

Due to the financial difficulties of the past year, we saw many of our colleagues lose their jobs, and we saw library/information centers close.  I fear that those jobs and those centers will not return;  SLA needs to position its members for a future state where jobs are not connected to places so much as to the intellect of  individuals–to what they bring to the table through education and experience, how they are able to turn information into knowledge.  There are those who said during the recent debate that we do not provide knowledge.  To them I say yes, many of us do provide knowledge.  If you don’t, you should aspire to provide that link to knowledge and aim to make yourself vitally important to your employer, whether it be a law firm, a corporation, a hospital, an academic institution or any business that requires timely, accurate, insightful information.  That must be the future of this profession, and SLA is leading the way.

Now to the lows . . .  It is true that there were many inspiring moments during the recent discussions of the proposed name change.  I appreciate all of the feedback I received about the name that was put forward and the process used to present it to the membership.  I wholeheartedly agree that this vote was about change, the change of the name of the association!   A majority of our members who voted did not like the name.  Many agree that there is a need for a change, but this was not the change they wanted.  In all of my travels, I have heard from those who have taken the time to read the alignment research that they clearly see the need for change, and believe the research will provide the tools we need to move us forward into our second century.  The alignment will continue, and we, the SLA staff and the Board, will use the research to provide you with the skills and tools you need to market yourself and the knowledge profession.  To those who participated in the discussion and the vote, on both sides, I extend my appreciation and thanks.

I would be remiss, however, if I did not speak about one major low: the tone that this discussion took at times.  I asked the Board, including our newly elected officers, the alignment ambassadors and the staff to participate in the name discussion in whatever venue they felt comfortable.  I believe you saw the Board, the ambassadors and the staff prominently represented during the entire discussion and voting period.  There was no doubt where we stood.  That stand was questioned by some of our members who felt we should listen and be non-partisan.  To that I say that you elected us to be informed and to lead, and every member of this association has a right to know where your leaders stand on the issues of this association.  I return to Seth Godin here, as he addresses this issue.  He states, “All tribes are made up of partisans, the more partisan the better.  If you’re a middle-of-the-roader you don’t bother joining a tribe.  Partisans want to make a difference.  Partisans want something to happen…Leaders lead when they take positions, when they connect with their tribes and when they help the tribe connect to itself.”  I contend there were partisans on both sides of this debate, and all tried to influence the outcome.  Where this fell apart was when we lost the civility in the debate, when members questioned the motives, the ethics, the intellect of those who were on an opposite side of the debate.  What was extremely disturbing to me was that this was carried out in very public forums--not just within our discussion lists, but on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools.  I don’t kid myself that SLA’s proposed name was as hot as Sarah Palin or Tiger Woods, but people outside of our profession saw the discussion and heard its tone.  In my recent travels, several heads of companies have remarked upon this.  I know that only a small minority of our members were disrespectful of their fellow members’comments, and that the discourteous remarks were not aimed only at the Board and headquarters staff but extended to colleagues with whom they did not agree.  I ask, was this necessary?

Janice Lachance, in her first year with our association, addressed this issue of rudeness that she viewed during another issue.  She said this was not how professionals should act.  We can disagree without being disagreeable.  It was quite hurtful for me to watch our staff, Board, and colleagues beaten down, in public, by some of our members.  Their every move was criticized from support of the name to the very words used to announce the results.  I am glad that these critical people have never made a mistake, never made a misstep, and never used the wrong word.  I hope they someday have to stand up for something they believe in and withstand the critics.  Every member of the staff and the Board undertook this effort with the best of intentions and following what we believed were the results of the research.  We acted with commitment to communicate the reasons for our support.  The members voted against the name, but you cannot question the sincerity and commitment of the leadership.  I am extremely proud to have taken part in this discussion and to be in the same tribe with these people.

I have two quotations on my wall in my office.  One, from Peter Drucker, sums up my reasons for endorsing the alignment and the proposed name: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”  We can no longer act as victims of the economy, technology and society.  We need to create a future where library/information/knowledge professionals are vital to society.  That is the future I want to strive for, and I believe the alignment will help us do this. 

The second quotation is from Gandhi:  “Be the change you want to create.” I see through the alignment a society that demands and thrives on timely, accurate, analyzed information, and we will do everything we can to be the change that creates a future that ensures that SLA is the association of first choice for those who see this as their mission.

We have made a great start at “Align in ’09,” and I am confident that under the very capable leadership of your 2010 President, Anne Caputo, the Board, and the staff, SLA  will thrive and prosper in the future.  The only thing holding us back is fear.  Why not take the leap and join the alignment tribe?

Please accept my thanks for the opportunity to serve such a vibrant, rich and growing professional organization.  Have a wonderful holiday, and return in 2010 to help us continue to build the alignment tribe for a better future for all of us.

Comments

[Pcia100]

Gloria, thks for leading the way in this vital charge to the future & having us in your tribe -It's an honour

[David Stern]

Every year is filled with challenge and passion ... and accompanying lessons learned. Thank you to our leadership for moving us onward. May the membership continue to be involved and developing as individuals and as a tribe.

[Nancy Hicks]

I'm truly embarrassed that members of our profession behaved so badly. I thank you for your service and dedication to SLA and whatever we call ourselves in the future. Many people have such a problem with change that the world passes them by. They need to recognize their lack of vision as a deficit in our profession, a profession that thrives on cutting edge knowledge and technology and dare to change.

[Juanita Richardson]

Gloria – Please accept my thanks to you and your entire Board this past year for your leadership. We should be reminded that all our Board members are VOLUNTEERS – who were willing to take the risk of putting their names forward for election – and who we ELECTED to lead us. They should be commended for their dedication, their passion and their commitment to our Association – and for their willingness to take on what can sometimes be a thankless task. I would like to add my voice to those saying: thank you. Now, to the rest of us: are we ready to be the change we want to see?

[DV F]

Gloria- I followed the discussions on the SLA solo list-serv with horror. After a while, I just couldn't take it anymore and stopped reading.

Although I did not agree with the name change, the tone people took was unbelievably ugly.

I must be honest- as a newbie information professional (2008 graduate) who has been working as a solo since then, the entire debate has made me question this career path. Are these the people that I want to align myself with?

[Cindy Shamel]

Information professionals generally rank very high in intellectual intelligence. I am told that as a group we do not rank as well in emotional and social intelligence. Perhaps therein lies an opportunity for future program planning.

Kudos to our association leadership for pressing forward to advance the profession, our organization, and our members.

[SPL]

Gloria's self-serving screed, and hand-wringing over the so-called rudeness of many of SLA's members, shows how out of touch she and the SLA leadership were, and continue to be, in regards to what is important to the majority of the profession. Most gallling, the fact that the name change was voted down is now regarded by Gloria and her ilk as a reflection how intellectually and emotionally ossified the majority of SLA's membership is. Unbelievable!

In the midst of what is coming to be called "the Great Recession", SLA leadership decided to spend huge amounts of money and time on a glorified marketing initiative, instead of focusing on more substantive issues like improving resources of job seekers. As of now, there are only 14 jobs listed on SLA's career website. Fourteen jobs posted on the website that considers itself to be not only national in scope, but international! There are local library websites that have many more listings.

Instead of deflecting blame and trying to weave a silk purse of the sow's ear that was "AskPro", maybe SLA's leadership should spend its time trying to get more job ads posted on its website - that would be something that would truly be of value to SLA's members.

[Volker from Germany]

Hallo,
ich kam durch Zufall auf diese Seite und möchte einen netten Gruß hinterlassen. Ich würde mich freuen, wenn ihr auf meiner Homepage auch einmal vorbei schauen würdet! Vielleicht wollt ihr einmal auf Sylt Westerland http://www.MeerblickSylt.de oder an der Ostsee http://www.OstseeblickHolm.de Urlaub machen?! Wir haben dort sehr schöne Meerblickwohnungen. Vielleicht bis bald einmal!
Herzliche Grüße