Education Libraries, Volume 37, Number. 1-2, Summer-Winter 2014 14 Laying the Groundwork For the 90’s; The Education Division of SLA in the 80’s By Anne M. Galler When Charles Missar, our current Chair of the Division asked me to speak about the Education Division in the 80’s, as the person deeply involved in the Division during that time, it was only after I – foolishly—said yes to giving this address when I realized that although I have been a member of SLA since 1958, long before our Division was formed, I only joined same officially in 1984. This is the bad news. The good news is that thanks to Suzanne Brown, Past President whom I approached for help, and who referred me to Lois Renter, our archivist, I was able to collect sufficient background material to fill in the gaps. So you can relax, this is not going to be just a bunch of anecdotes thrown together, I will endeavor to provide you with as complete a picture as possible of the activities, growth and influence of the Education Division in the 80’s. Pittsburgh It is only fitting that we should celebrate our birth here, in Pittsburgh, where the Division was officially sanctioned by the SLA Board in 1973, 17 years ago. It is also fitting that we celebrate our 15th anniversary in Pittsburgh, with Charles Missar as Chair, under who helm we started the decade 10 years ago. When I looked at the list of Chairs of the Division, who led us during the past decade, I was pleased to see that most of them remained active in the Division, and have not only attended most of the conferences since their term of office expired, they also remained actively involved in the various projects of same. Some of them have gone on to serve on Board-wide Committees of SLA, have served on SLA’s Executive, and are also active members of other Divisions and Chapters. Among past presidents of our Division with SLA-wide responsibilities, I would like to mention Suzanne Brown, who served recently on the SLA Structure Committee, Pauline Rothstein who is on the International Relations Committee (89-92) and myself, the Chair of the Standards Committee; JoAn Segal, Board member. Among the membership, I would like to single out Kaycee Hale, who has been a member of our Division for many years and, as you know by now, has become a Board Member of SLA. She also Chairs the President’s Task Force on the Image of the Professional. Toni Carbo-Bearman, another member of our Division serves on the Research Committee of SLA (89-90). This is quite an achievement for a small Division like ours, with a membership of 238. Growth of the Division According to figures received from Headquarters, the Division grew from a membership of 206 in 1980 to its current 237, with a dip to 189 in 1982. These figures are always given at the end of the year, i.e. on December 31, 1989. To (June 11, 1990) the figure stands at 241. I would like to emphasize that an approximate growth of 15% over a decade is not enough that we can now relax and sit on our laurels; the responsibility for further growth remains in our hands, and is two-fold; we must try to attract new members, while at the same time making sure that we also retain them. I believe that we have laid a solid foundation during the 80’s on which we can build in the 90’s. Areas of Concern in the 80’s Programs The Education Division led by its Chairmen, has always Education Libraries, Volume 37, Number. 1-2, Summer-Winter 2014 15 distinguished itself at SLA meetings by having good programs, which in turn attracted good audiences. Some of the workshops we did alone, some together with other division. A very high number of attendees was achieved in 1987, when the Education Division led seven other divisions in presenting a CD-ROM Workshop, a topic still relatively new and provocative then. In 1989, we again achieved the organization of a successful joint workshop with seven other divisions on the Pricing of Journals, an equally interesting albeit controversial topic. Since planning of a program for an SLA Conference always starts 18 months ahead, it is not always possible to anticipate current topics of interest. However, we have done it successfully in the past; we should be able to do it in the future. If I can be so bold as to suggest a course of action for future presidents, I would suggest that they get involved with other divisions, preferably in a leadership role, and organize workshops which by their very nature will be of interest to large audiences. While number of attendees is not always a measure of success, the problem as you know with many of the SLA Conferences, is that so many excellent divisional programs overlap. It is also easier to get good speakers when the budget of several divisions is merged. I have also found that there is no problem in attracting other divisions to co- sponsor a workshop, as long as we are willing to Chair the group, and thus assume the main responsibility for its organization and success. I cannot deny the fact that this means a lot work, but the rewards and satisfaction are the highest pay we can expect. In addition to divisions, let us not omit contacting the committees, some of whom are also organizing workshops and may welcome co- sponsorship. For example, the Standards Committee has organized very interesting and well attended workshops in 1989 and 1990 and I would like to extend an invitation to all of you for this workshop which will be held tomorrow 10:30-12, entitled Standards—An International View. The panel members will address the question of what individual members can do to participate in the standards process and the importance to them and their respective employers in the role they could play. Communication with Members The Division can look with pride on its achievements in this area. The Education Division Bulletin, whose editors since 1980, i.e. Jane Westenberger, Suzanne Wise, Jennie Cross, Mary Sue Stephenson and Edith Drummond have kept the information flowing, and filled the Bulletin with interesting and informative articles, not just press releases and handouts from SLA Headquarters. I believe that involving a Canadian in the editorship gave the Education Division an added perspective, even if a slightly higher cost. SLA itself so often forgets that approximately 1/10th of its membership comes from the large country to the north of the U.S. Charles Missar has also been able to attract a new editor who is starting her term of office now and increase the number of issues from Education Libraries, Volume 37, Number. 1-2, Summer-Winter 2014 16 two to three per annum. Education Libraries, had three editors since the 1980’s, first Susan Baughman (1981-1985) then Hope Tillman (1985-89) and Lucie Olson (1989-90). Two of the editors, Susan and Hope have also served as Chairs of the Division. Unfortunately, due to Lucie Olson’s move across the country, she had to resign her brief stint as editor, a great pity. However, I understand that three guest editors, Hope Tillman, Diane Childs and Cathy Brown have agreed to tide Education Libraries over until a more permanent solution can be found. Education Libraries became free to divisional members during the 80’s as part of the drive to offer better and wider services to the membership. This represented a financial loss, which the Division is still in the process of remedying by endeavouring to attract more paid advertising to its pages. There is also a movement afoot to convert Education Libraries to a refereed journal. Several members have expressed interest in serving on an editorial board; more volunteers are required. There is need for such a refereed journal and we hope that this will become a reality in the 90’s. Strategic Plan A strategic plan for the Division was also formulated during this decade. First, it was called a long range plan established in 1987 and spanning a five year period until 1992. This plan has been revised, and became the Strategic Plan for 1989-1994. This is an important step for a Division, namely, to commit itself to a long range plan. But constant updating must be maintained to allow the Plan to remain meaningful and to flourish. Janet Williams, past Chair worked on the first draft during 1985/86. Deanna Roberts is currently chairing the Strategic Planning Committee. Scope Note & Bylaws & Membership The scope note, describing the terms of reference of the Division was amended in 1984 to bring it up to date. The bylaws were also amended and bright up to date in June 1984. These are included with the membership directory. A note of regret: Although we include library education as one of our objectives and count a few library educators among our membership, we have not been able to attract such well known educators and prominent members of SLA as Jim Matarazzo, Miriam Tees, Mark White, Elizabeth Stone. The question is why they do not belong to our Division. Upon consulting the Directory, I discovered that they all belong to the Management Division. Maybe some well- intended recruitment in the 90’s could attract more library educators to our ranks! Membership Survey The first membership survey was sent out in 1983-84, and the results subsequently published. The membership directory was a result of the survey and was compiled and sent to members in 1985. The addition of a geographical index was particularly welcome. As you all know, the latest edition of the Directory was published this year, with an attractive new cover. FAX number, where available, were Education Libraries, Volume 37, Number. 1-2, Summer-Winter 2014 17 added, indicating that the Education Division is always in step with new technologies (and I might add ahead of the SLA Membership Directory. Both editions were prepared under the editorship of Hope Tillman. Participation in Annual Meetings I can state with assurance that our membership has always been supportive of the annual conferences by participating in them. Unfortunately, with shrinking budgets everywhere and fewer librarians expected to do more work, some of us find it increasingly difficult to attend meetings or accept responsibilities in Chapters, Division and Committees. Despite this fact of life, I am confident that our members will overcome these difficulties and make continued efforts to attend, and to actively participate. I would like to share with you the triple effect that I feel conferences should have on the membership to make it worthwhile for them to come to annual meetings: 1. The workshops should keep members up to date with new technologies and development sin the field much better faster and more effectively than journal articles can. 2. The contact with colleagues at least once a year should and does provide a wonderful forum for networking. 3. Visiting the cities across the U.S. and Canada where SLA conferences are held allows members to visit these places and accumulate new experiences and sensations that one would never be able to encounter otherwise. An additional benefit that I would like to mention is the opportunity that these conferences provide to become involved. Dear colleagues, I would like to reiterate the fact that it is not enough to attend conferences, to be a dues-paying member of your association or associations, it is your duty as a professional to get involved. A good example of early involvement is Diane Childs, our incoming Chairperson. Eighteen months before the Anaheim Conference was to take place, I wrote to the members of the Division located in the Southern California region. Of the 11 person contacted, only one answered, and that person was Diane, who called me and offered her help. Her input as a local person was invaluable, and thanks to her efforts we had an excellent program in 1987. She subsequently became secretary- treasurer, and after holding that position for two years, she became Chair-Elect in 1989. My own involvement started in 1983 in New Orleans when I attended the Education Division breakfast. I came because I was curious to see what the difference was between the SLA Education Committee and the Education Division. Luckily I picked the Divisional Breakfast (I believe the two meetings were in conflict). I joined the Division in 1984 (I guess I liked what I saw). In the course of that year I was approached to suggest a speaker for the Winnipeg Conference. As Education Libraries, Volume 37, Number. 1-2, Summer-Winter 2014 18 so often happens, people tend to forget the vastness of Canada and assume that being in Montreal I am familiar with colleagues in Winnipeg, approximately 3000 miles away. However, I was able to provide a contact—Margo Walker from Montreal who did a program on The role of the librarian in corporate training and I believe the program was a success. I subsequently was asked to become Chair-Elect in Winnipeg in 1985, and became Chair in Boston in 1986. After I completed my year as Chair in Anaheim, in 1987 I was asked to become President of the Eastern Canada Chapter in 1988. Well, Diane, this is my way of preparing you for the fact that when you retire as Chair in 1991, you will be expect to continue serving SLA in other capacities. As we now have a retired members caucus, even after retirement we cannot and must no stop our commitment to SLA. In closing I would like to mention the fact that I am delighted that we have now established an award system for our Division alone. However, I would like to remind you not to forget to nominate members also for the SLA awards. Since to date we only had one honorary member chosen among our ranks in the person of Barbara Ringer (in 1977) and one person to the Hall of Fame, Murray Wortzel (in 1989), we should remember to send in our nominations. I am sure that there are members among the Education Division, many of whom, richly deserve such honors. Anne M. Galler is Associate Professor, Library Studies, Concordia University