SLA Membership: New Importance in Challenging Times

When we experience unemployment or budget cuts in the workplace, our first reaction often is to go into survival mode, cutting all expenses that seem unnecessary. During tough times, some of us place association memberships in this category.

During transitions, when it feels like you’re drowning in a sea of ambiguity, your SLA membership can be a virtual life raft. See it as your toolkit to find a job or help you keep yours. The toolkit SLA offers includes:

• Access to a searchable, continuously updated Membership Directory to help you locate fellow professionals at other organizations
• Free affiliation with a local Chapter that may offer discounted program fees for unemployed members, and a Division, for gaining new knowledge in your field. These build your network to help you find a new job.
• Free or low-cost Click University courses to enhance your existing skills and learn the new proficiencies that employers are looking for

In particular, the Business and Finance Division offers:

• Continuing education courses and educational sessions that offer practical, hands-on advice that can be implemented immediately
• The B&F Bulletin, our newsletter which features book reviews and other information that helps you to keep current in the field
• Specialized sections and a roundtable to target your networking (College and University Business Libraries, Corporate Information Centers, Financial Services, and Hospitality)
• Grants for professionals to attend the SLA Annual Conference
• A mentoring program to connect with seasoned practitioners

SLA also offers a discounted dues tier for unemployed and underemployed members. SLA members earning less than $18,000 USD per year pay only $40 for an annual membership.

The information industry is undergoing a time of unprecedented challenge, and no one understands this more than your professional colleagues (at times it can seem like they are the ONLY people who understand). Keeping professional connections alive is critical. We don’t know what the new reality will be, but we know that we will be in it together.