SLA 2007

This week I had the opportunity to go to the 2007 Saskatchewan Library Association Conference in Saskatoon. It was a great chance to meet a lot of my new colleagues throughout the province's library world, and to also catch up with some FIMS friends, too! There were a lot of us Western folk kicking around. Though frankly, with the way the MLIS program turns out grads it wasn't completely shocking.

Learned about so many unique initiatives taking place in Saskatchewan, and got to meet a few of the librarians I've been "reading" these last few years. Such as Darlene Fichter, from the UofS, who is doing great work on digitization and archiving projects. Brian Bell (whom I saw speak at OLA in January) was there representing Allouette Canada, a really exciting organization that is connecting digital history collections from across the country. The whole conference was a good learning experience, but there were a few shining moments.

The overall theme of the conference was "Just How Literate Are We? The new ABCs". It fit right in with my belief that we should respect the fact that people are literate in different ways and contexts. Thursday night's lecture with Robert J. Sawyer was amazing. He is a Canadian sci-fi author who has had a lot of success, and now ranks as one of the best speakers I've seen. Really engaging talk about the problems that arise when we try to apply "genre labels", such as "sci-fi". He made the argument that sci-fi could actually be called "Ideas Fiction" since it examines so many of the big ethical, political, and social debates of one's world. If you ever have the chance to see him speak, you will not regret it. It had been a long while since I'd been in a room where you could tell everyone was completely captivated by the speaker.

The other standout session to me was titled "Libraries Can Be Scary", and featured an adult learner, Carey, who was not able to read until her early 20s. She talked about her experiences in the school system and how she was able to navigate her way through and receive her highschool diploma. Amazing story of working as a waitress without being able to read the menu, but learning to memorize the photos on the menu with the corresponding dish so that people would think she could read. It was when she was expecting a baby and knew she wanted to be able to read to and with her children that she took the very big step to seek a tutor and learn to read. I was absolutely blown away by her story and her bravery. She gave her ideas about how libraries could improve the services we offer to people who may be intimidated by libraries or feel that they don't belong there, as so many adult learners feel.

Despite federal cuts to literacy education in Canada, the fact remains that 42% of Canadian adults have significant difficulty with reading and writing. I was aware of this, but going to the conference and learning more about literacy and the way it impacts our country and my profession, has really motivated me to get involved at the ground level.

I certainly feel lucky to be involved in a profession where I have the opportunity to learn and take action on the issues that matter to me. There were many moments this week when my decsion to come out here was re-affirmed, whether it was by the excellent people that I met, the speakers that I heard, or the lovely scenery! Or even the wacky form of SIAST transportation we took to Saskatoon. The driver was my supervisor, Rian, and standing is a new acquaintance, Elgin, from the Provincial Library.

And now a challenge for you. Since this conference was about literacy, can you spot the little literacy slip-up on my name tag? It does lend something quite continental to my title!