At last, the inside story of SLA's New Vision, Mission and Values

Information Outlook, March, 2004 by Barbara Spiegelman

Three little words.

No, not, "I Love You."

If such strong feelings seem unlikely in a professional association, then you haven't met SLA's Vision, Mission, and Values. Let me introduce you: VMV, meet the members. Members, meet the VMV. The longawaited Vision, Mission and Core Value Statements of our beloved Association.

Vision

The Special Libraries Association is the global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners.

Mission

The Special Libraries Association promotes and strengthens its members through learning, advocacy, and networking initiatives.

Core Values

Leadership

Strengthening our roles as information leaders in our organizations and in our communities, including shaping information policy.

Service

Responding to our clients' needs, adding qualitative and quantitative value to information services and products.

Innovation and Continuous Learning

Embracing innovative solutions for the enhancement of services and intellectual advancement within the profession.

Results and Accountability

Delivering measurable results in the information economy and our organizations. The Association and its members are expected to operate with the highest level of ethics and honesty.

Collaboration and Partnering

Providing opportunities to meet, communicate, collaborate, and partner within the information industry and the business community.

The Committee worked long and hard to get the VMV right. It was a lengthy and difficult process from start to finish. How could it possibly take this long? Ask any member in the Association's leadership, or a committee, task force or roundtable member who has focused on the VMV, and most will take a deep breath and proclaim that time was a precious commodity.

First, there were the basic concepts: Who are we now? What do we want to? What is the process to get from point A to point B? How can we lay new track while we're running the train? What are we willing to give up? How hard are we willing to work? How much are we willing to spend? How will we know if we are successful? At times it became overwhelming, but we pushed forward because we knew that the task at hand was pivotal to the Association's future course.

We gathered ideas from the leadership of the Association, chapters, divisions, and conference focus groups, members and non-members, and leaders within the industry and outside of it. And we have the paper to prove it.

Next was the winnowing and narrowing phase. Is Concept A the same as Concept B? Does idea 1 devalue a portion of the membership? Does the wording of idea 2 seem to encompass SLA? Perhaps we have gone too far. But have we not gone far enough?

Finally, it was time to pull it all together. At the SLA 2003 Conference in New York, the Board of Directors asked the Strategic Planning Committee to finalize the Vision, Mission, and Core Values Statements of the Association, and to present them for approval.

Members and liaisons of the Strategic Planning Committee, Doris Helfer, Gloria Zamora, Ethel Salonen, Linda Henderson, Janice R. LaChance, Cindy Hill, and Barbara Spiegelman (chair), all served diligently to see that a common goal was achieved.

The committee was very aware of the importance of our task. We teleconferenced. We read and re-read drafts created by others. We edited and re-edited our own words. In one memorable session, we found ourselves discussing the use of the Oxford comma in the values statements.

So many people; so much work; so much time.

But it was well worth the effort. Because as an Association and as individual members, we now see the vision, we all support the mission, and most importantly, we recognize ourselves in the values.

It's nice to get it right.

Barbara Spiegelman is the Chair of the SLA Strategic Planning Committee and President of the Spiegelman Group in Pittsburgh, PA.