Welcome to our Summer issue Chapter members and extended readership.

Summer has finally arrived, and although it’s been unseasonably cool and rainy, I hope that you are managing to enjoy it anyway – by taking a little vacation time, reducing your working hours, commuting more pleasurably on Toronto and GTA roads that carry far less traffic, or in any other creative way that you might devise. As usual, we will ease up on Toronto Chapter programming and business meetings for July and August, and get together again in the latter half of August for the traditional Summer Social. There we can share news of our summer ‘doings’, and inaugurate the second part of our Chapter year. Greg Barber is finalizing the arrangements, and the date and location will be posted soon.

I am going to review the events we have enjoyed since the last issue of The Courier using a librarian’s favorite approach, reverse chronological order! In this case, I am not making any judgment or pronouncement about newer (more recent) being better, because all of the events and activities discussed are equally meritorious!

We ended the first part of the year with a Best of the Web event on June 24 at the iSchool. Skillfully moderated by Connie Crosby, the session featured three presenters who toured us through their ‘best picks’ among the web sites that are useful to them for work research. Robert Fabbro, from the Ontario College of Art and Design, Valerie Hatten from the Ontario Science Centre, and Daniel Lee from Navigator Ltd held us at rapt attention and gave us a few laughs too. Frank van Kalmthout from the Archives of Ontario was unable to give his presentation (he fell ill and could barely speak), but the sites he had selected to present are included in the combined handout for attendees. Our thanks go to Sandra Craig for organizing the event and choosing the well-suited venue, and to Kathy Coorsh for handling the registration for the 35 plus attendees.

Recent Events – Best Of The Web

Chapter volunteers for the current year as well as the two previous ones were invited to be feted at a Volunteer Appreciation Event on June 2. Claire Lysnes, Sandra Craig and Shelley McBride handled the arrangements for this gathering at the Lusso Restaurant & Bar. Approximately twenty members turned out to enjoy white and red Sangria, delicious finger foods, and the Lake Ontario vista that the restaurant’s Harbourfront patio provided. Some of us were even bold enough to venture outside (it was chilly, and you know who you are!) Mostly, we enjoyed being together with fellow volunteers, and, in some instances, gaining an opportunity for face-to-face conversation with voices from the telephone and writers of e-mailed communications.

Recent Events – Volunteer Appreciation Event

The New Information Professionals (NIP) Chapter subgroup met for a social in the evening of May 27, at the Bedford Academy. Laura Warner, NIP Chair, organized this gathering. The attendees included some newcomers to Toronto, and we were all glad to take refuge from the rain in order to welcome them and chat with one another.

Recent Events – New Information Professionals Social

Again this year, Toronto Chapter arranged to host a couple of Click U Live webinars in May, despite the fact that members can now register individually and follow the presentations at their own computers without any necessity for mid-day travel. A dozen people turned out for the first one on May 7. A second one was to have been broadcast on May 20, but the presenter became unavailable, and it was postponed until later in the year. We are still pondering the future of the Chapter’s hosted Click U Live sessions.

Recent Events – Click U Webinars

At last, I come to the point in my letter where I get to report on the official visit by SLA President Gloria Zamora to our Chapter on May 13-14. By all accounts, this was a resounding success. Gloria met with the Chapter’s Executive Board members during a couple of meal breaks, and used the opportunity to learn how we allocate executive responsibilities and what operational issues we are experiencing. She asked for feedback about the interaction between our unit and the Association, and our members raised the issues of access to membership information, and usability of the Association web site. In turn, Gloria described how she sees the workplace for information professionals evolving, and expressed her firm belief in SLA’s ability to support the profession and lead it through another hundred years of change. She also provided a most interesting account of her recent visit to the Arabian Gulf Chapter. She was the first SLA President to visit there, and she was received most graciously. Hearing about it gave us valuable insight in to the Association’s focus on strengthening its international aspect.

Recent Events – Official SLA Presidential Visit

Juanita Richardson, a Chapter past President and Fellow of SLA, arranged closely choreographed meetings for Gloria with the Directors of libraries or information operations in three Toronto “special libraries”: Vicki Whitmell at the Ontario Legislative Library, Casian Moscovici at National Public Relations, and Beatrice Kerr at Deloitte & Touche, Business Information Services. The three settings are vastly different in size and scope, and it must have been interesting for Gloria to contrast their strengths and to query how SLA can continue to be of value to them and their staff members. Juanita’s company, CEDROM-Sni, sponsored these visits.

Claire Lysnes organized a meeting with the Deans of Ontario’s two Faculties of Information. Attendees at this meeting included: Claire herself, Helen Katz (as the Faculty Advisory to the SLA Toronto Student Group), Dean Seamus Ross from the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto (U of T), and Dean Thomas Carmichael from Faculty of Information and Media Studies at University of Western Ontario (UWO), London, Ontario. A general and wide-reaching discussion took place about the two institutions’ visions for educating information professionals in preparation for careers in ‘special library’ or alternative settings. Dean Carmichael expressed great interest in re-establishing an SLA student group at UWO.

I’d like to express a special thank you to Gloria Zamora for including a visit to our Toronto Chapter in her fast-paced year as SLA President. I would also like to personally thank those people who assumed responsibility for organizing segments of the visit: Stephen Abram for the AGO tour and dinner, Juanita Richardson for the visits to the libraries, Daniel Lee for the lunch with Toronto Chapter’s Executive Board, Claire Lysnes for the meeting with the University Deans, and Martha Foote for the Gala Centennial Dinner.

When we planned to have a Gala Centennial Dinner as the focal point of our Chapter’s participation in the SLA Centennial Celebration (100 years of operation, 1909-2009), we knew that it would provide the icing on the cake if we could time it to coincide with an official Presidential visit. Everything worked out (like a charm), and we were able to ‘sell’ our Gala to prospective attendees as the key celebration event that would feature the SLA President – up close and personal. Sixty-four people gathered to start their evenings off with a pleasant hour and a half for socializing and enjoying hors d’oeuvres and complimentary drinks. They were provided with a display of ‘vintage’ photographs from the Chapter archives to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over. The photo display showed Chapter Past Presidents, as well as candid shots of members at a similar celebration event held twenty years ago. We thank Frank van Kalmthout (Chapter member) and Emily Beliveau (iSchool student) for their creativity in selecting and arranging the photos. An Awards binder was also on display, showcasing members who had received Chapter- or Association-level award recognition in the past.

Recent Events – Gala Centennial Dinner

As befitting an affair held in the Hart House Music Room, we were entertained during the evening with some wonderful music, courtesy of local jazz guitarist Lee Wallace, and (his friend) Jon on the double bass. We took advantage of the opportunity to add to the Chapter’s archival collection of photographs by cajoling the attendees to assemble in various groupings and to smile for the camera! Thanks go to Laura Warner for taking official photographs of this occasion.

Martha used the early months of this year to track down the whereabouts of past Chapter Presidents, and we contacted them, describing our Gala event plans and indicating how very much we wanted them to be a part of this important celebration. We were most delighted when 23 of the 34 Presidents we contacted signed up to attend, and a further five (5) sent their regrets and also conveyed their best wishes for the success of our event. These respondents had served as Chapter Presidents across five decades, starting with the 1960s. We have clear proof that “a picture is worth a thousand words” in the new photos that show the pleasure derived by the former Chapter leaders in making contact with the current membership, in reuniting with one another, and in interacting with our esteemed guest-of-honour.

Although the past Presidents stood up for a round of applause during my Gala speech, I want to name them individually here for the written record: Daniel Lee, Pam Casey, Martha Foote, Laura Knapp, Kolette Taber, Heather Wilson, Susie Floresco, Ulla de Stricker, Beatrice Kerr, Mary Hum, Juanita Richardson, Bonnie Burwell, Vivienne Monty, Cynthea Penman, Susan Merry, Stephen Abram, Karen Melville, Cynthia Smith, Dorothy Sedgwick, Stefanie Pavlin, Maureen Roe, Jane Dysart, and Jean Orpwood. Regrets were received from: Gayle Gossen, Jane Cooney, Ritvar Bregzis, Janette White, and Barbara Byers.

At seven in the evening, we sat down to enjoy a sumptuous three-course dinner, served with a choice of red or white wine. As the current Chapter President, I welcomed our featured guest and speaker (Gloria), our sponsors (Juanita Richardson and Louis-René Dessureault from CEDROM-Sni), Dean Ross and Dean Carmichael, our past Chapter Presidents and the attendees. I spoke briefly about my own efforts this year to collate the Chapter’s 69-year history (1940-2009) into a ‘timeline’ by reading through our published newsletters, and I alluded to the richness of the information contained in them. I pointed out the significance of gathering at Hart House, a tradition that began in 1927 (before the inception of SLA Toronto Chapter), when a joint meeting of SLA and ALA in Toronto featured a Ball and Reception in that very venue.

I thanked those who had helped with the event, and the full list of the contributors includes: Martha Foote, Heather Foulkes, Frank van Kalmthout, Emily Beliveau, Sandra Craig, Jennifer Burns, Heather Brunstad, Bruce Harpham, Laura Warner, Claire Lysnes, Daniel Lee, Britta Jessen Charbonneau, Tylene Reaume, Heather Ritchie, Jan Moffatt, and Brenda Wong. I also acknowledge Juanita and Louis-René’s help with the room set-up and the speech-making – they arrived early, and ‘held my hand’ when required!

I turned the floor over to Louis-René who introduced Gloria as the featured speaker, highlighting aspects of her impressive biography, sometimes in a humorous mode (although her accomplishments are no laughing matter). Gloria spoke eloquently about her passion for the continued role of SLA in educating and advocating for information professionals in the coming 100 years. She focused much attention on the importance of the Alignment Project findings, and the next steps to be taken in order to derive full potential from this work. We will fulfill Gloria’s every hope for us when we heed her word, and ‘Align in ’09.’

Juanita thanked Gloria for her remarks, and together we presented her with a small gift of appreciation. CEDROM provided bottles of Champagne as door prizes, and I drew the names of their winners, Margot Mason of Sun Life Financial and JoAnne Gulliver of PWC Management Services.

These SLA Student Awards for 2009, first announced at the Gala Centennial Dinner, were awarded to the following students for their academic accomplishments:

Congratulations – Awards And Honours 2009

• Matthew Blacquiere, for high standing and aptitude shown in the overall course of study prescribed by Seneca College’s Library and Information Technician (LIT) program
• Christine Beamish, for the highest standing in the LIS program of study at the University of Western Ontario
• Eve Leung, the Kathleen Reeves Memorial Award for the highest standing in the University of Toronto, Faculty of Information course, Management of Corporate Libraries and Special Information Centres

Stella Palikarova, who is an SLA student member from the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, was recently awarded a SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) graduate scholarship. Stella was selected among national applicants on the basis of academic standing and grade point average. The Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program (CGS) will provide her with $17,500 towards a research study that she will conduct in 2009-2010 on the topic: Ways in which cybernetic enhancements (i.e., the brain computer interface) enhance the lives of people with disabilities in their ability to communicate and to be more fully integrated in society.

Student Member Receives Scholarship Grant

Stella is active in the SLA Toronto Student Group and is also ‘a regular’ in attending our Toronto Chapter events. Our hearty congratulations go out to her for this major accomplishment.

More than 40 Toronto members traveled to DC to take in the annual conference in this historic year and overall, the attendance at the conference was the highest it had been in six (6) years. I had never been in DC before, and I was most impressed by its beauty and the wealth of its attractions.

SLA 2009 Annual Conference & Info-Expo (In Washington, Dc)

Everything about the conference was special: the warmth and meaning conveyed by General Colin Powell’s remarks to us at the Opening Session, the impressive array of award recipients who were honoured by the Association, the charm of the venues that were selected for Receptions, the availability of (cut-out versions of) President Obama and Vice-President Biden to be photographed with us at the entrance to the INFO-EXPO, and the upbeat nature of the remarks by SLA’s President, Treasurer and CEO at the closing session. I was ‘blown away’ by the beauty and grandeur of the Library of Congress’s Great Hall and Reading Room. The Western Canada Chapter did a wonderful job in finding the Morrison-Clark Historic Inn and Restaurant for the Canadian Reception, and in organizing it with the sponsorship of CEDROM-Sni.

I was particularly gratified to speak with leaders from other units whom I had last seen in Savannah in January, and to hear them express their admiration for how active our Chapter has been this year. At the Chapter Cabinet meeting, we were recognized by the Association leaders who monitor unit activity – for our unique Career Development series (a Top Event Idea, noted in the Chapter Idea Bank), and for our Networking Nights (akin to other Chapters’ ‘pub crawls.’)

I am not quite sure that I can do justice to the Alignment Project in the space that is left here, but watch for SLA’s roll-out of the Alignment Project Portal, where you can stay in touch with future developments as they happen. For now, you can find information at http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/alignment/index.cfm. Suffice it to say that the Association is most pleased with the findings of the project, and hopeful that it will provide the correct blueprint and new direction for the continued success of SLA in supporting information professionals. The Alignment Project work was conducted by Fleishman-Hillard, Andy Hines of Social Technologies, and Outsell Inc.

The Alignment Project Update

In a moment we had anticipated or at least contemplated, the announcement came at the DC Conference that the findings all point to the advisability of selecting a new name for SLA (Special Libraries Association) because the phrase ‘special libraries’ has so little resonance in the outside world with CEO-level people, or even within our own professional communities. SLA will definitely be looking for our help in finding the right ‘new’ name once they have defined the process to be followed.

Enjoy the summer hiatus, but do tune in to the SLA web site from time to time (or pay attention to your delivery by RSS feed or digest), because next up in an action-packed year are the following events (some scheduled, some still being planned):

In Closing …

• Summer Social (date in August will be forthcoming)
• Career Development series events (September 8, October 6, and November 10 at the Faculty Club)
• AGM (date in November is forthcoming)
• Joint Holiday Social with CASLIS Toronto and FIAA (Faculty of Information Alumni Association) (December 2 at the Arts & Letters Club)

And to whet your appetite further, we are also working on:

A library tour
• A KM (Knowledge Management) event
• A third seasonal (Fall) Networking Night

Please watch your e-mail too, where you will soon receive the Toronto Chapter’s Membership Survey. It will provide you with an opportunity to express your opinion about how we are doing, and ultimately to help improve our Chapter when you rank our activities, and contribute your thoughts and ideas. We do welcome your guidance, and we are certainly aware that it is hard to get it ‘just right’, given the constant changes in the membership, the environments in which members work, and the revolving cast of volunteer members who put on ‘the show’ for you each year. And remember that it is always acceptable to speak up individually to the Chapter President or members of its Executive Board – just be prepared to be part of the solution to any problems that you raise!

Joy Shanfield, MLIS
President, SLA Toronto Chapter

While preparing this issue for publication, it’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the half-way point of our ‘way-too short’ summer; hopefully you will all have had the chance to take a little time for yourselves.

For those not fortunate enough to travel to Washington, DC for the conference this year, check out some of the experiences had by your co-members in this post-Conference issue. We are so pleased to have so many of our members contributing articles on their experiences at recent events – our thanks those who reported for us or volunteered their time.

Once again our president has dug up a fascinating article from the archives; a summary of the Chapter’s first ten years written by the Presidents of the time. In reading this issue’s President’s Letter, it is striking how much has changed, but even more, how much remains the same.

We hope you enjoy this issue. As always, we are looking for writers, occasional and regular, to contribute ideas, comments, thoughts, and news items. Share your experiences with your colleagues. Contact us directly anytime for more information.

Gillian Horwood
ghorwood @ devongroup.ca

Heather Postill
hpostill @ sympatico.ca

Information sharing

Now, have you filled out the 2009 Salary Survey questionnaire? Here’s another opportunity to share information with your professional community, and help bolster those requests for salary increases…which might be a tough sell in this economy. Having data, recent data, to present in a salary negotiation will, ultimately, benefit the membership as a whole…and it’ll help *you*, too.
Read more: http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_blog/2009/06/information-sharing-.html

Why SLA Must Consider a Name Change

It’s in Your Hands

Hearing from Your Peers

Eight Will be Great

What Do You Do for Young Professionals?

Guest Message from SLA’s New Membership Director!

SLA Honors 12 “Green Champions” With Special Presidential Citation

President’s Video Part III: What To Expect From Your SLA Leaders

Here are some of the upcoming events presented by SLA Toronto Chapter. See the Toronto chapter website for details.

August 1, 2009

TBD

Joint Summer Social

September 8, 2009

5:30 PM (registration) , 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM (event)

The Faculty Club – W.D. FOULDS DINING ROOM

University of Toronto

Speaker: Ulla de Stricker

Self promotion, no cringe: Gaining visibility through giving

October 6, 2009

5:30 PM (registration), 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM (event)

The Faculty Club – W.D. FOULDS DINING ROOM

University of Toronto

Speaker: Ulla de Stricker

Dealing with people: Challenges in the workplace

November 10, 2009

5:30 PM (registration), 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM (event)

The Faculty Club – W.D. FOULDS DINING ROOM

University of Toronto

Speaker: Ulla de Stricker

Looking professional: Dressing “up” on a budget – with style consultant Wendy Buchanan

Barbara Dance retired on June 30th after a 30+ year career as a business information specialist. After positions at the University of Toronto, Touche Ross (now Deloitte), the Royal Bank of Canada, and Imperial Oil, she returned to the Rotman School of Management’s Business Information Centre where for 17 years she did research and information monitoring for a corporate client. Barbara was recently awarded the President’s Award by the Toronto Chapter. She can be contacted at barbara.dance @ sympatico.ca

(MISt, 2009) is now the Research Librarian at Devon Group, a government relations, public relations and research firm. Her new email address is ghorwood @ devongroup.ca

Gillian Horwood

Happily employed with the Knowledge Management Group of PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada for over two years, Claire Lysnes (MISt, 2004) has recently earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and is working toward obtaining her Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) designation. At PwC, Claire is responsible for managing the PwC Canada B2B intranet, which services over 5,000 partners and staff, as well as overseeing several knowledge management related projects. In addition, in June 2009, she concluded a two year term as President of the University of Toronto Faculty of Information Alumni Association; however, her work with association executive boards is not over – currently serving as President-Elect of the Toronto Chapter of the Special Libraries Association (SLA), Claire will take over the role of President in January 2010. Claire can be reached at clysnes @ gmail.com

People on the Move will be a regular column highlighting the achievements of our members and help keep us all in touch. Please share your career changes, retirements, life changes, volunteer work.

Submit your news to Frances Wong.

This year marks SLA’s 100th anniversary, and the Toronto Chapter hosted a gala dinner on May 14 to celebrate this special milestone. The event, held in the Music Room at the University of Toronto’s Hart House, was a chance for members to reflect on the past and to look ahead to the future. It also provided an excellent opportunity for members to reconnect with old friends and to make some new ones. Many of the chapter’s Past Presidents were in attendance, and there was definitely a festive feeling in the air as the evening got underway.

To showcase how much has changed in the world of special libraries over the past few decades, attendees were treated to a display of photographs and newsletters from the chapter’s archives. These included photos of libraries from the 1950s, as well as more recent snapshots of members from various Chapter events. It was also fun to flip through old issues of The Courier, some of which sported hand-drawn covers.

Our special guest and keynote speaker for the evening was current SLA President Gloria Zamora. It was nice to have an opportunity to chat with her and to hear her thoughts on the profession and the SLA of the future. Much of her talk focused on the SLA Alignment Project, an initiative designed to help clarify the core identity of the Association and to give members the tools they need to be successful information professionals in tomorrow’s organizations. To find out more about the Alignment Project, visit http://www.sla.org/content/SLA/alignment/index.cfm.

The celebration wrapped up after dinner, amid much smiling and laughter. It was a great evening.

Photos from the gala are now available on the SLA Toronto Facebook page at

On the flight to Washington, D.C., I couldn’t stop thinking about everything I was looking forward to seeing and doing. I am grateful to Fpinfomart for the grant which made it possible for me to attend the conference. By any measure, I must count this experience as a success: I met professionals from all over the world, learned about new topics and enjoyed some excellent parties. My business card holder had been emptied of my own cards and was full of cards from the many people I met.

My participation at the conference began with courses on marketing and knowledge management. I had some familiarity with these, but the courses helped me go further (particularly since one course left me with a CD full of PDFs to explore!). I also volunteered to support a course on copyright issues. I expect I will continue to take SLA courses as I continue to develop my skills. These courses are well complemented by the “best practices” style of sessions where I learned about knowledge management as practiced by organizations in the District including the World Bank and Mitre corporation.

Though I am not (yet) in a position to make any purchases from vendors, I attended their presentations and learned about the wealth of resources available, particularly in the fields of science and business. I was impressed to see that some vendors were supporting libraries in developing countries and other worthwhile projects.

Organizationally and logistically, the conference organizers impressed me on several levels. By providing a post office in the conference centre and free wireless Internet access, it was easy to stay plugged in and connected. The opening session of the conference is one of the most inspirational professional events I have ever attended; each award to a member was accompanied by interviews with others in the association explaining the award winner’s merits and accomplishments. These video introductions made it easier for me, as a new member, to understand the breadth and depth of the profession.

In addition to all the formal events and educational materials, I also took the opportunity to enjoy some of the local sights. Visiting the US National Archives was a highlight for me – never have I seen so many significant historical documents – the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and more – in a single room. The SLA reception at the Library of Congress was even better as the librarians there pulled out all the stops for us. Not only did I get to see Thomas Jefferson’s books – which restarted the institution’s collections in the early nineteenth century – but I also had the privilege of browsing the main reading room. Further, Colin Powell’s opening keynote address offered some interesting insights on leadership in today’s world.

I found the conference so valuable that I am already planning to attend next year’s conference in New Orleans.

Bruce Harpham is completing his Master of Information Studies degree at the University of Toronto in the summer, with a thesis on the net neutrality debate in Canada and the United States. While studying at the University of Toronto, Bruce worked as a cataloguing fellow on an academic project and has previously worked in academic libraries, archives and government. Bruce’s blog, A Curious View of the World, can be found at bruceharpham.ca

As a very recent graduate of a MLIS program, and an even more recent entrant of the workforce, I had the opportunity to attend SLA Info-Expo 2009 due to the generous funding of the SLA Scholarship Program. It was a fantastic experience; from Colin Powell to the vast Info-Expo hall, from the First-Timers session to the many fun-filled open houses, it was four days of eye-opening experiences towards the life of opportunities that are ahead of me, and the many other graduates like me, who are embarking on their careers as Special Librarians and Information Professionals.

There were three things that will stay with me for the rest of my life and career: the friends you can meet through the SLA, the immense array of areas that require information professionals, and the enormous changes that are occurring in the field of information itself.

I have to say it, first and foremost, the friendliness and openness (including party-ness!) of the members of the SLA was incredible. I met numerous attendees simply by being in the hotel elevator with them; I met others at the sessions, and others still at open houses. Everywhere I went I was welcomed, introduced, and guided around. One particular woman sticks out in my mind, a very nice lady from Georgia who started speaking to me while we were walking towards the conference centre and took me under her wing, introduced me to her friends (all of which she had met through the SLA) and invited me to join her group at various open houses so I didn’t have to go alone. This lady had actually been forced into retirement by a corporation she had worked over 30 years for, but she was at SLA to see her friends. It was a yearly tradition that retirement wasn’t going to stop. What an amazing organization the SLA must be to have all people at all stages of life and career attend for their friendships.

The variety of exhibitors was also astounding; everything from physics information to movie information and everything in between. The wide range of institutions, corporations, and organizations that require information professionals really amazed and to be honest excited me. The possibilities of my career are not limited to a few areas, everyone needs a librarian or information professional to help them find and organize the information they require to do their jobs. The session entitled “International Opportunities for Information Professionals” was profound. Three presenters discussed three completely different ways for information professionals to work internationally: one created an international library by using existing out-sourcing and employing librarians in India, one was an academic who proved how interrelated the world was through capital flows, and one was a former World Bank librarian who put her own paid career on hold to establish libraries for street children in Malawi. As bizarre as it sounds, seeing a woman speak so passionately about her commitment to bettering the lives of street children through providing information was the defining moment of the conference for me; I can affect world change. A librarian was doing something to help international development through doing what she knew how to do best, provide books and information. It was inspiring.

Finally, and something that builds on the above two experiences, were the rapid changes occurring in the information profession. I watched attendees hiss at Colin Powell for using Google, I witnessed a robot have a discussion with people, I saw more computers than books in the Info-Expo, I heard numerous stories of lay offs and downsizing, and even more stories of using those lay-offs to do something they’ve always wanted to do, whether it be consult, travel, or find a more satisfying job. Mostly I encountered people filled to the brim with positive messages of their careers and lives as information professionals, and I left SLA 2009 with the feeling of being in the right place at the right time; the future is bright for information professionals and even brighter for those in the SLA.

Sarah Burns is a recent graduate (April 2009) of McGill University’s School of Information Studies and is a recipient of a 2009 SLA Scholarship. She is currently working in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada as an Information Management Analyst and is hoping for a long-lasting, interesting, and international career in the Information Profession. She can be reached at sburns01@gmail.com.

On June 2nd, the SLA Toronto Chapter Volunteer Appreciation Event was held to thank those who have volunteered for the Chapter in the past two years. The event was held inside and on the patio of Lusso Restaurant & Bar down at Queen’s Quay, overlooking the beautiful Toronto harbourfront. On this sunny day marking the start of summer, refreshing red and white sangria, tasty appetizers, and great conversation was had by all!

The event drew 18 attendees, including President, Joy Shanfield and, in no particular order:

• Paul Cheeseman (Past Chair, Solos Group)
• Ulla de Stricker (Career Guidance Chair and Past President)
• Martha Foote (Past President)
• Gayle Gossen (Past President)
• Gillian Horwood (Courier Co-Editor)
• Heather Postill (Courier Co-Editor)
• Ricardo Laskaris (Volunteer Pool member)
• Erika Steffer (Volunteer Pool member)
• Daniel Lee (Past President)
• Faye Mitchell (Past Treasurer)
• Sandra Craig (Events Coordinator)
• Shelley McBride (Registrar)
• Evan Vella (Past Partner Relations Chair)
• Laura Warner (Chair, New Information Professionals Program)
• Heather Wilson (Past President)
• Brenda Wong (Co-Archivist)

Having had a great time herself, Joy Shanfield commented afterward, “It was really neat that I was able to meet and thank ‘the person behind’ our excellent Courier issues for some years now, editor Heather Postill. It was remarkable too that I got to make introductions between Heather and Gillian Horwood, who is her 2009 co-Editor. It was lovely to have Laura Warner there for the NIP subgroup, and regrettable that Amra Porobic, chair of the Solos subgroup, and Jan Moffatt, past Chapter Secretary, were unable to come at the last moment. Former Chair of the Solos Group, Paul Cheeseman, was able to attend. It was nice to have Brenda Wong, new to the Archivist role this year, come out and join us. The group included members of our current Executive and Advisory Boards and our Volunteer Pool, as well as volunteers from previous years (Evan Vella and Erika Steffer – 2007, Gayle Gossen – 2008). Perhaps we’ll lure them back yet!”

Once again, thank you to those who devote volunteer hours to the Chapter. The Chapter Executive Board is greatly appreciative of and inspired by your efforts, and we know that the Chapter would not be able to offer half as much to its members without your help!

Joy Shanfield, President, SLA Toronto Chapter
Claire Lysnes, President-Elect, SLA Toronto Chapter

The following are excerpts from the Toronto Chapter Special Libraries Association: Bulletin, vol. 10, no. 3, Spring [1950] Issue. This is a summary of the first ten Chapter President’s years in office, written by those individuals. Some text has been abridged for the sake of space. For the complete article read the attached pdf version.

The Toronto Chapter of Special Libraries Association owes its being to the enthusiasm and foresight of a young Englishman named Peter Morgan, who was Librarian of the Confederation Life Association ten years ago.

Miss Pauline Hutchinson 1940-1941

In 1940, unlike to-day, the hotels were begging for Conventions, and two convention-minded gentlemen were very anxious to have the Special Libraries Convention in Toronto in 1941. They were Mr. Street, Convention Manager of the Royal York Hotel, and Mr. McNally of the Toronto Convention and Tourists Association.

These two gentlemen got in touch with Mr. Morgan and prevailed upon him to invite to a dinner at the Royal York a representative group of Librarians, with a view to discussing the possibility of inviting Special Libraries to meet in our city.

Young Mr. Morgan saw in this the very opportunity he’d been looking for, and invited eleven Librarians to meet Mr. Street and Mr. McNally and partake of a very excellent dinner as their guests.

[...]

The group realized the inadvisability of attempting to entertain an International Convention without a local organization, and while this was forsaken, the Toronto chapter was definitely launched then and there. [...] by the time our petition to form a chapter was presented to the June Convention of Special Libraries, there were the necessary ten [members].

With the first monthly meeting scheduled for September, 1940, disaster befell us, when Mr. Morgan received his long-awaited call to the Royal Canadian Air Force, and departed forthwith, leaving the fledgling with a substitute Charter President.

In the first and second years, through the kindness of Mr. C.R. Sanderson, the Chapter was able to hold its dinners and meetings in the Public Library Staff House, a delightful arrangement. The surroundings were lovely, and the food delicious.

The first meeting, in September, was concerned with organization and the adoption of the Constitution. During the year, the Chapter visited the David Dunlap Observatory and the Canada Life Library, and did a tour of the Public Library. As speakers, we had Mr. R.M Fowler who was then much in the limelight in connection with the Rowell-Sirois Commission, and Mr. Kyte of Queen’s University, who spoke on cataloguing and appraising collections of English Country Houses.

When the first bulletin was issued in January, 1941, 29 members were listed, six of whom were inherited [from other parts of the country]. This left us with 23 local members. When the May, 1941 bulletin was issued at the end of our first season, eleven new members were listed which indicated a growing interest in the new Chapter.

In the May, 1941 bulletin, the editor said, “With the May meeting, we bring the activities of the organization year o f the Toronto Chapter to a conclusion. We feel it has been a good year – both a profitable and an entertaining one. The chapter is firmly established now, with a keen and rapidly growing membership. We have acquired a sound basis of experience on which to build another year’s programmes, and an increased confidence in the value and future of the organization.

I can report no world-shattering events during my term of office; a pleasant but relatively uneventful year.

Miss Edna M. Poole 1942-1943

One of the highlights was a visit to the Canadian Military Institute. Dr. J.H. Elliott, then the Honorary Librarian of the Institute, invited us to have dinner there as his guests (I think it was the first time that ladies had dined there) and it was a delightful occasion. Dr. Elliott told us something of the collection and we saw many interesting things. Another pleasant social event was tea in the beautiful library of the School of Hygiene. But the year was by no means a series of ‘pink teas’ – we had several serious meetings at which library matters were earnestly discussed and we had a “Question and Answer” evening. We also sponsored and set up a library in the R.C.A.F (W.D). This last was under the guiding hand of Miss Mary Silverthorn and continued as long as a library was needed.

The membership of the group was 42 and the average attendance 24.

[...] The real highlight of the year, however, was the meeting of February 22nd, 1944. We had invited Miss Cavanaugh, the President of the Association, to visit us and speak at that meeting and she had graciously accepted. As you may imagine our preparations were tremendous. Mrs. Sutton for the first time had persuaded her Company, the Confederation Life Association, to allow us to use their magnificent staff house; the dishes to be served at the dinner had been carefully chosen; attendance was the highest ever – it was actually 45 and Miss Gillies had purchased gardenias for the President’s corsage. The great day arrived; there was a bit of snow in the air all forenoon but I had no premonition of impending disaster. About 3p.m. a telegram came from Miss Cavanaugh. She was in Ottawa with all planed grounded – a simple message but how devastating.

Mr. George A. Johnston 1943-1944

[...] It was Miss Foreman who saved the day with her suggestion that I ask Mr. Wallace, the University of Toronto Chief Librarian, if he would speak. [...] to my intense relief, he agreed, on about two hours notice, to speak to us on “Library English”. Those who were at the meeting will remember what a delightful address he gave us.

We started our year by changing the date of our meetings to the third Thursday. Changing dates is always a difficult thing to do – and this, I assure you, was no exception when it came to difficulties. [...] During the 1944-45 year, we were very proud that we obtained Miss Bassam’s consent to give a short course in cataloguing to the members of our Chapter who had not attended Library School.

Miss Catherine Gillies 1944-1945

The gathering of the material for the Directory of Special Libraries in Toronto was completed and handed on to the new Executive for publication.

We had an average attendance of 36 at our meetings; and we closed our year with a membership of 64 – 15 of these being new members.

History was made at our April meeting when we had the first meeting out of the city. Mrs. Barber, a former member of the SLA who is now at MacDonald Hall, arranged a visit to the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, to which we traveled by special car .. C.N.R.

Marion Thompson 1945-1946

Extra-curricular activities or achievements for the year included the completion of the directory of Special Libraries in Toronto. A change was made in preparing the Bulletin. The editor had found it increasingly difficult to both collect and edit all the material so the Bulletin Committee was enlarged to consist of the editor and three assistants: one to represent banks and insurance; one for University and government libraries; and one for commercial and other libraries.

Old Man Bad Luck caught up with Miss K. Gillies who broke her ankle, Miss B. Bassam, who broke her arm, and Mrs. Packer, whose house burned down.

1946-47 was not only the seventh year of our Chapter’s existence; it was also the year when the Americans exploded some atomic bombs over Bikini and SLA national president exploded a bomb in our midst by actually paying us a visit.

Mrs. R. Jacobsen 1946-1947

To finish off the year, we stuck the succeeding Executive’s collective neck out by committing them to play host to the first Regional Conference of the Toronto, Montreal and Western New York Chapters.

This was a year of great events. It was the year that Britain’s long rule over India was formally ended and the country achieved independence; the Marshall plan was launched; and the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year. It was the year the Toronto, Western New York, and Montreal Chapters of SLA held their first Regional Conference in Toronto.

Miss Phyllis Foreman 1947-1948

[...] just 2 days before the conference the chairman of the committee, Miss Hutchinson, ‘phoned the Barclay Hotel to confirm the menu that had been planned for our banquet. It seemed that the Barclay Hotel had never heard of us – the Maitre d’, with whom we had made our arrangements, had left and left no word of the SLA. Fortunately the Barclay rose to the occasion and the dinner came off as planned. And then there was the man who returned his form stating that he planned to attend the Regional and in the space where the question was asked “would you be willing to share a room”, he noted, “yes with another male member”.

The first highlight of the year was the Washington Convention at which Canada and this Chapter were recognized by the fact that I was asked to give the speech of thanks to the banquet speaker, Mr. Howard Sargent, Under Secretary of State for Information in the United States. It was my greatest pleasure to be seated between Mr. H.W. Wilson, the oldest living member of SLA and Dr. Luther Evans, Librarian of the Library of Congress.

Mrs. R. Bull 1948-1949

In January this chapter was hostess to Miss Rose Vormelker, National President of SLA at dinner in the Confederation Staff House.

The first [highlight] is the regional conference held in Montreal, Sept.23 and 24, 1949, and in which our chapter participated with Western New York and Montreal chapters. Miss Rowena Phillips, our vice-president, represented the Toronto chapter on the programme. For myself, it was an experience meeting that fabulous figure Mayor Camillien House, and on behalf of the Toronto Chapter, signing the City Hall visitor’s book, with the famous gold pen.

Clara Miller 1949-1950

I represented the chapter at two advisory council meetings – in New York in November, and in Washington, D.C. in March. At both these meetings the proposed constitution changes were discussed at some length, and with much heat and fervor.