Lois Ireland

President’s Message:

Welcome to the Washington, DC Chapter of  SLA  (DC/SLA), the largest SLA chapter with close to 1,000 members from 30 U.S. states and 12 foreign countries. DC/SLA members lead and contribute to scores of libraries in a wide range of institutions, including national, law, science,  non-profit, corporate and federal from all branches of the U.S. government. Combined, our members represent millions of dollars in annual buying power.

In DC/SLA’s 70-year history, our members have earned more than 70 major SLA awards including Fellow, Leadership, Diversity, Innovation, John Cotton Dana, Rose Vormelker, and Hall of Fame awards. Our chapter members have also started 19 groups within the Chapter, and have founded SLA divisions, most notably the Government Information Division, the Knowledge Management Division, and the Military Libraries Division.  And, we have produced four SLA presidents (including the 2010 SLA president, Anne Caputo) and hosted the Annual Conference six times (including the June 2009 Conference).

DC/SLA supports our members’ careers and achievements by providing a forum where members can learn and meet, exchange ideas and help each other to develop skills that put knowledge to work.

We engage and inform our members through an active email discussion list, a blog and a bi-monthly newsletter.  Members follow important events and news on our Facebook page and Twitter feed. They stay informed, exchange information and support each other at the programs, meetings and networking events we hold throughout the year. We reach out to students through scholarships and programs, and to our DC neighbors through our Community Outreach Project.

To find out more about our varied Chapter events and activities, follow the links on this page. And if you’d like to get involved, you can find and sign up for volunteer opportunities or contact me or any of our officers or committee chairs.

I look forward to seeing you this year,

Lois Ireland
President DC/SLA, 2012