Happy autumn everyone! Perfect time for sitting among colorful leaves, reflecting on 2015, and planning for your upcoming year.
Last month DC/SLA members elected Blane Dessy (President-Elect), Jack Dale (Recording Secretary), Lois Ireland (Program Director), and Layla Heimlich (Sponsor Relations Director) to the 2016 DC/SLA Board. You can view the entire list of DC/SLA Board members for next year here. Congratulations to all of the new Board!
DC/SLA is also looking for members to serve on committees in 2016. If you are interested in volunteering, please see the list of committees and contact Volunteer Coordinator Kathy Kelly at volunteer@dc.sla.org. Note that some committees may not have spots available, so please indicate multiple committees and/or specify your interests so we can help match you to a group.
SLA also held its election, with members selecting Dee Magnoni (President-Elect), Nick Collison (Treasurer), Tom Nielsen (Division Cabinet Chair-Elect), and Mary Talley (Chapter Cabinet Chair-Elect) to serve on the SLA Board next year. In fact, three out of the four candidates elected are members of the DC Chapter.
DC/SLA kicked off October with the event “World Cultural Heritage Sites at Risk: Preservation Efforts in Iraq and Syria” at Bloomberg BNA in Crystal City. This program, which drew around 70 people, provided insight into the importance and reach of cultural heritage, risks faced by libraries and archives in the Middle East, contributions by organizations such as the Library of Congress and UNESCO to preservation efforts, and the role that the public can play in protecting antiquities and collections. You can read a recap of the event by Zeinab Mansour. The program was more than just informative; it was also a call to action. Speaker Michael Albin emphasized the lack of coverage of this topic by the media and other organizations and recognized DC/SLA’s role in providing a forum for this concern of global importance. SLA members can be at the forefront of helping to bring awareness to this issue by spreading the word to colleagues, holding programs on this topic, and writing their representatives. As we celebrate our 75th anniversary, this event is a reminder that DC/SLA plays an important part not only among members, but throughout the information profession, in the broader DC community, and on the international stage.
Speaking of the anniversary, remember to register for the Jubilee Gala taking place on Saturday, November 7th. The event is free for all DC/SLA members and each member can bring a guest at a discounted rate. Join us for dinner, drinks, dancing, and good times!
We also have other events coming up, including Search Engines for Business Researchers – October 19, 2015, Trivia Night: Third Annual Battle of the DC Librarians – October 26, 2015, Nonfiction Book Club – October 28, 2015, Webinar: Custom Information Solutions at the National Institutes of Health – November 13, 2015, Beyond the Job Advertisement – November 16, 2015, and The Louisiana Maneuvers: A Nation Prepares for War – November 19, 2015.