Total Started Survey
74
Total Completed Survey
51 (68.9%)
Page 1
Question #1: How long have you been a member of SELA?
0 – 2 years
14.9% 11
3 -5
years
24.3% 18
6 – 10
years
20.3% 15
Over 11
years
40.5% 30
This shows that SELA needs to do a better job of recruiting new members.
Question#2: What committees have you:
Been a
Currently
Response
member a
member
Awards
100%(15)
26.7%(4)
15
Budget
100%(7)
14.3%(1)
7
Conference & Exhibits
100%(11)
0.0%(0)
11
Conference Site Selection
100%(6)
16.7%(1)
6
Constitution & Handbook
100%(12)
16.7%(2)
12
Continuing Ed & Staff Development
85.7%(6)
28.6%(2)
7
Honorary Membership
100%(4)
0.0%(0)
4
Intellectual Freedom
100%(11)
45.5%(5)
11
Legislative
100%(3)
0/0%(0)
3
Listserv Management
100%(1)
0.0%(0)
1
Membership & Mentoring
93.8%(15)
31.3%(5)
16
Nominating
80.0%(4)
20.0(1)
5
Planning
100%(7)
28.6%(2)
7
Public
Relations & Marketing
100%(4)
0.0%(0)
4
Regional Cooperation & Partnerships
100%(5)
20%(1)
5
SE
Librarian Editorial Board
75%(3)
75%(3)
4
Southern Books Completion
100%(6)
0%(0)
6
Website
50%(2)
75%(3)
4
The response to this question possibly shows that committees with smaller number
of members need to promote themselves better.
Possibly, because we have fewer new librarians, a committee like Website
is not as popular as the older traditional committees.
Question #3: What sections have you
: Been a
Currently
Response
member a
member count
Library
Education
57.1%(4)
57.1%(4)
7
Public
Library
86.7%(13)
73.3%(11)
15
Reference & Adult Services
95%(19)
40%(8)
20
Resources & Technical Services
83.3%(10)
50%(6)
12
School
& Children’s
66.7%(2)
66.7%(2)
3
Special
Libraries
66.7%(2)
33.3%(1)
3
Trustees & Friends of the Library
90%(9)
60%(6)
10
University & Colleges
72.5%(29)
85%(34)
40
This question shows more academic, and reference and adult services have the
largest membership in SELA. It clarifies where SELA needs to increase its
recruiting efforts.
Question #4: What roundtables have you:
Been a
Currently
Response
Member a
member
African
American Issues
75%(3)
100%(4)
4
Circulation & Reserves
100%(3)
33.3%(1)
3
Government Documents
100%(2)
100%(2)
2
Library
Instruction
78.6%(11)
57.1%(8)
14
New
Members
71.4%(5)
42.9%(3)
7
Paraprofessional
100%(1)
0.0%(0)
1
Preservation
100%(3)
33.3%(1)
3
The information from this question shows, at least to me, a direct correlation
to the largest membership block –
academic librarianship and Adult Services.
By far Library Instruction had the largest number of people who responded
to this survey and that correlates to the largest active membership in SELA
(i.e. Academic Librarians).
Question #5: Is there a need for additional committees, sections or roundtables?
If yes, please list and explain your suggestions.
Some common comments:
7 said yes
12 said no
Digital Services & Libraries
Electronic Resources Management (Tennessee Library Association has this type of
roundtable)
Round table for administration (library directors, assistant directors, heads of
departments). This group could
share management issues, problems and solutions.
Committee for trustees. One other
comment said the trustees committees are basically inactive or do not offer
pertinent programs.
Technology – provide information on current technology - separate fads from
trends.
Service to immigrants – Outreach/ increase diverse community
Not enough diversity of answers to have a common thread except for technology
related items.
Question #6: Is there a need to eliminate any committee, section or roundtable?
If yes, please list and explain your suggestions
6 said no
African American issues does not seem like a RT for a library association and
the name itself indicates there is a problem, rather one exists or not.
It is a bit out of place on a list for a library related roundtables. If
it is indeed a viable group, I would suggest changing its name to something less
controversial like Multicultural RT or Cultural Diversity RT.
Any [committee section roundtable] that hasn’t done a program or met for at
least four years (2 conference cycles).
It would be better to get people on more active committees.
Unless the sections and roundtables become more active, I am not sure what good
they are. I would suggest taking a closer look at each of them to see how many
members they have and especially how active they are in working for their
membership. To be perfectly honest,
the only parts of SELA I see really doing
anything are the Membership Committee (I didn’t write this) and the Southeastern
Librarian
There are way too many choices for such a small organization. Perhaps the
sections, roundtable, and
committees should all be eliminate and the current leadership should start from
scratch with the goal of being fewer than 5 overall “choices.”
The number of “divisions/choices” is overdone to the point of absurdity.
Not sure but maybe some sections (Resources & Technical Services, and Reference
and Adult Services for example) could become roundtables.
I’d have to revisit their definitions and the distinguishing criteria for
the types.
The consensus seems to be too many sections, roundtables, and committee
sections, and eliminating some of them.
On the survey, it is broken down into two pages, each page starts with question
number 1.
Page 2
Question #1: If you have attended a SELA Biennial Conference, what has been your
experience?
Good, excellent, favorable – 29 comments
Fair experiences - one comment
Conference in Louisville- well planned and include helpful sessions for academic
and public libraries
Like having it in Atlanta- convenient at airport hotels or hotels within Marta
distance
I attend meeting when I was a member from 1994 – 2002 or so. My experience was
pretty good until 2000 at Jekyll Island.
The location was wonderful.
The meeting was so poor I wanted to refund my institute for the expenses it
paid. To counterbalance, the 1994 meeting was excellent. I dropped out for few
years and then rejoined, but have not attended a conference because of budget.
Been to a few – enjoy them and more informal than ALA and feel casual and still
useful
Enjoyable leaning experience
Enjoyed the conference in Louisville
Good. It is a great way for a new librarian to go to and out offsite conference
without being overwhelmed by which can be the case if you attend ALA or PLA
Attend the SELA and SCLA in Charleston (2003?)
it was helpful, productive, entertaining, speaking as both
an attendee and a presenter
Usually excellent, especially with broadened program offering in partnership
with a state library association
Rewarding and enjoyable, there is much to be gained from relating as a region
and in regional planning and sharing of experiences
NC was better pulled together and interesting then TN
More advantage to partnering with other state annual meetings rather than a
standalone SELA meeting
Lots of information was gathered. Exhibits were especially helpful
Low Key, not as many vendors as ALA but usually in cities that are more
affordable
SELA added to the state conferences is a good idea.
Expand opportunities of everyone.
Interesting presentation; good speakers
Positive although some state members look at us as interlopers on ”their”
conference
Conferences have been great but not sure how much of the credit goes to SELA
Very good experiences due to well selected programs and enjoyable socials
Haven’t attended due to budget constraints
Very well planned meeting
A variety of speakers and topics to choose from
Great opportunity to learn conference planning strategies and to find new
speakers.
Attended KLA/KSMA/SELA/ARL was well pleased with the choices of programs
KLA was great
Have always enjoyed the conferences and networking with librarians from other
states
I always look forward to attending the conferences, which are some of the best
professional conference experiences I have had
Overall, it has been good. I much prefer
these to ALA which can be overwhelming
Need to attend if you want to be active within the SELA organization
Educational
Much more manageable than ALA.
Interesting programs and activities.
Good except that the programming shouldn’t be separated, i.e. only some sessions
for SELA members and some for the state association. Being a joint meeting
should merge ideas/programs of both groups
The respondents generally enjoy the conferences and the content of the programs.
Question #2: If you have attended the SELA Biennial Conference in the past; how
do you feel it can be more beneficial to you?
Collaborating with other conferences
More smaller academic library in nature
Having a keynote speaker or someone to address current issues
More sessions that deals with my interest (college and university librarianship)
Continue to have outstanding and interesting speaker on current ”hot” topics
Replicating an ALA or national (SLA) program which can add to state association
program
More programming focusing on regional issue like service to immigrant
populations
Consider a yearly event
Just to be able to attend professional conferences without spending a thousand
dollars to get to, stay and pay for conference fees
More regional issues
More SELA Involvement – more sessions sponsored by us and more interaction
between us and our host organization
More instruction presentation since I work in that area.
Continue joint programs between SELA and the host state
Have more SELA related activities
Add subjects of interest to trustees
I am retired, I enjoy hearing authors, visiting libraries, etc.
Should consider doing annual rather than biennial type conferences
Since we are getting a variety of ideas, I think our mix of programs is pretty
good. I do think there is a strong desire to do more SELA related programs such
as regional/local related issues and some connection to the SELA organization,
Also, some activity during the year when
we do not have a conference.
Question #3: Do you feel you have been given the opportunity to participate on a
SELA committee, roundtable or section that you were interested in?
If No, please explain or suggest ways to improve the situation.
29 said yes
The choices are wide open. I have chaired one section and one roundtable
If you want to participate the opportunities are here.
I have been on a committee for several years and we only had one meeting with me
and the chair attending, and nothing after that
Somewhat but there has in general been very little contact from SELA since I
signed up
It would be great if you had people who would stay in touch with new members for
a couple of years, and who could put them in touch with others in their area.
Yes, because I responded to an email solicitation for assistance on a committee.
I am generally unable to attend conferences, when committees often meet, due to
budget restraints. I would like to see more committees doing their work and
having their meetings electronically--and would like to see that emphasized in
the solicitation for members. Then I could participate more.
I "fell" into helping with the mentoring program by responding to an email
asking for help--did not feel that there was a very good way of immediately
participating in other committees, etc.
Participation is murky when you register for membership; very little
communication unless you attend the Biennial Conference.
The only way to participate I've found is to indicate on membership form and
confirmation is late in coming or at times not at all. A confirmation e-mail
should be sent with the chairs e-mail or phone number so communications can
begin on how to get started with the group.
More people than not said yes, meaning they felt pretty good about their
connection to SELA. The negative comments seem to be saying members do not feel
connected to SELA and that the organization forgets about them once they join.
The members want to be involved but once they area on a committee, they
either do not hear from the chair or they are inactive.
Question #4: Do you have any ideas on how SELA can:
A.
Recruit new members
Get a new sponsor for the Conference Grant and require recipients to join SELA
for two years
Keep improving the journal to the point that members would be attracted to SELA
just to subscribe to the journal.
Invite newly hired librarians to join. Give them a simple membership kit
developed and distributed via email by the Membership committee.
Email recruitment/membership letters from SELA members to their state listserv
The best way still is one on one. Urging younger professionals is good, but we
must offer something for them. A new member’s roundtable should stimulate new
members with offerings geared to their needs.
Provide scholarships to attend the conference - Continuing education committee
is working on this
Have a program at every state conference.
Staffed tables at all State conferences.
Give value for the money -- eg. develop The Southeastern Librarian to be an even
better journal
Larger presence at state conferences even when not part of the conference,
outreach to MLS program participants
Hold conferences closer to the largest # of members
Publicize more through electronic communications
Be a presence at each state conference. Show what SELA can do for them
You aren't going to recruit new members until you can show that the organization
is alive and vital to what people want and need. We need to recruit younger
librarians to add some life into the organization, new leaders with fresh ideas.
Members should involve non-members to serve on panels and programs
More communication through statewide listservs
Aggressive e- mailing
Find new funds to support new member conference attendance
Reduce membership fees
SELA needs to raise its visibility among librarians/staff
We must contact our state library associations, library schools, as well as
individuals contacting their colleagues.
Advertise more at the state level with state reps
According to the comments, SELA is not proactive enough.
Plus people feel the state reps need to be more involved in the promotion
of the organization at state related activities and conferences, and
organizational meetings. SELA is
not as well known as it should be and the organization need to use all available
sources (electronic and paper) to inform library personnel (professional staff
and paraprofessionals) about themselves.
B.
Retain members with renewals
Personal email from the SELA state representative to those that did not renew
their memberships within their state
Drop the dues. Year after year with the only benefit being the journal
subscription and getting to the conference once in awhile -- the dues, on top of
those for ALA, ACRL and our State association are a little much.
Offer national programs at SELA, since those meetings are expensive to attend.
Provide at least one free online continuing ed class to members. (Helps meet
their state certification requirements.)
Keep committees active.
We're getting killed with membership fees -- ALA, ACRL, our State Assn and SELA
-- it's easier to drop SELA than to keep it esp. during the "off year."
UPDATE THE WEBSITE. I can't even change my address online. Nor was the contact
info current the last time I was on there
We need to make SELA more relevant to the librarians of today
On-line membership renewals coupled with postcard reminders.
More communication
Accept purchase orders
Designate a state captain or use the state rep to contact members about renewals
Reduce membership fees
Perhaps SELA could be more assertive in contacting members who have not renewed
Have memberships be annual from month of joining instead of Jan-Dec
State reps and e-mail reminders for renewal
People prefer different methods of renewing their membership in SELA and to be
contacted about membership renewal (something in addition to snail mail)
c. Get members involved in committees/roundtables/elections
Each committee chair should send a personal email to all state listservs
Regular contact to create a sense of community would be useful.
Make sure the committees have access to the website and give them sufficient
funding for a programs.
More virtual meetings, more information about what the committees do.
As us. I am willing to serve but it seems to be very cliquey
New energetic leaders (like Hal) [I didn’t write this] to create some enthusiasm
about being on a committee, etc.
Members should involve non-members to participate.
The committees, roundtables, and sections need to be more visible, more active.
Call members and ask them to participate
Post more requests on the SELA list
More active listserv usage
Not sure because those who typically serve will ask to get involved
The general comments seem to be saying committees need to be more active and get
people involved.
Question #5: Do you feel there are any barriers to joining a SELA committee,
roundtable or section? If Yes, please explain:
11 said no
Expectations to complete task
Just that old people like me keep getting reappointed
Yes, since most committee, roundtable, and section breakout meetings are at the
same time it is hard to participate in more than one breakout meeting
It is hard for school librarians to leave school or be away from their buildings
Just time! With budget and staffing
cuts – it is more and more difficulty to get time away from work
Time for professional activities and budget allocations for professional
development increase
Yes! No one reaches out to the
members or potential new members to offer a place on a committee.
The same people stay on a committee for a lifetime; it seems, with no
chance of changing committees.
No, other than not wanting to take time away from work
This might be the time to stress virtual membership
There has been no word about committee appoints this year.
This should have been addressed during the first part of 2009
Communication; travel funds
Ability to attend the meetings.
Only barrier I can think of is to know if you’ve been selected or not to serve
and if you are not is there a way to offer another group that may need members.
Time and travel funds/budget cuts are providing barriers for people to
participate in committee work.
Question #6: Is there anything about the SELA website; biennial conference;
rules of organization that you feel should be changed? If
Yes, please explain:
9 said yes
13 said no
Offering more national type programming that would offer ore than the partnering
state association
The main thing is to give each committee, roundtable and subdivision a page the
chair can edit with at a minimum a description of the organization, its charge
and contact information for the chair.
Need to keep leadership directory more current
Good website
Update the website
The website is very dated and blah, and could use some updating and energizing
to make it more relevant to the librarian of today. We need a conference every
year, every other year allows people to forget about us.
Utilize the list and the website more.
The SELA website has not been kept up-to-date. I did not look before doing this
survey, but last time I looked the Southern Books Competition winners were not
current.
Social networking as mentioned below should be employed.
The SELA general membership are using the listserv and website, and they are
saying they need to be improved, updated and used more as a communication tool.
Using social networking tools are also suggested.
Question #7: Is SELA providing services you need as a professional or
paraprofessional? If No, please
explain or suggests ways to improve the situation:
14 said yes
11 said no
I like the Southeastern Librarian publication and that is what drew me to join
SELA to start with, but I have not been a part of much activity as I had
expected. I am aware of the listserv which is useful most of the time. I am
aware of the Biennial Conferences, but as a librarian in a small academic I have
to pick my events carefully and over a period of years.
SELA has been providing the opportunity for people to discuss common themes in
librarianship throughout the south -- issues that may not affect other regions.
I would like to see this continue.
No, not really. The only real benefit I get is the journal and more could be
done there to encourage more content.
During tight budgets I wonder if we need more online offerings and programming
since travel is expensive.
Yes, opportunities to present and attend conferences on a regional level at
reduced cost from national.
Except for the journal and the conference that I attend every several years SELA
does nothing for me.
What services? The only one I see is the Southeastern Librarian and maybe the
mentoring service.
SELA is providing services along with numerous other associations and
organizations.
No, because budgets are just so tight, and there are so many other ways to meet
needs, SELA is moved to the back burner when one has to decide how to allocate
travel time and money.
We need to be in greater contact with each other to plan exciting programs.
Most years it is a line on my annual self report that I belong to an
organization.
The theme here is that SELA needs to offer more services and be more active.
Question #8: Do you think SELA does a good job of marketing or promoting itself?
If No, please explain or suggest ways to improve the situation:
9 said yes
19 said no
It might be helpful to have a Facebook group page for SELA members to join and
receive updates.
SELA could do a better job marketing itself -- maybe more emails targeting
libraries that do not attend SELA? Maybe some dynamic displays at state
conferences?
More information prepared by Membership Committee could be shared with members
to use in recruiting new members as new librarians join library staff.
Be more active at each State association (SELA). conference. Purchase ad space
and submit articles to all state assn. (SELA) newsletters and journals. Be more
active and visible at all Library Education program in SELA states.
No, I think its word of mouth that so many longtime members promote. SELA needs
more electronic emails to ALL the state associations' members in the SE region.
We should probably continue to work through the states.
I think that SELA is incredibly affordable and potentially accessible (less
intimidating than ALA) but I've been members of roundtables/etc in the past and
there was nothing going on. You can see now that I can't remember what
committees I'm on in SELA right now b/c I haven't been contacted by anyone since
I joined.
we need to have a presence at ALA, a link on every state organization website,
and a booth at every state conference.
Need to be more visible at State conferences and events.
Not really -- only the journal is really relevant to my career as my State assn
gives me as much value as SELA.
Make yourself a household name.
It's good to have the SELA exhibit at conferences, but committees, sections, and
roundtables need to be more visible.
Continue developing the mentoring program and stress professional development
opportunities for new members.
Not really--most SC librarians don’t know this association exists or how it
would be beneficial. Need a clear message of how SELA is different than ALA or
their state association but still useful to join.
it needs more presence at the state meetings. Participating in the Georgia
conference in October is good idea.
marketing needs to become more of a priority with the association.
Needs to be more assertive.
We should become more involved with social networks, Twitter, Facebook, You
tube, podcasts and the like. With the association's members being spread
throughout the Southeast these would enhance promotion and communication amongst
current members.
Should be promoted more with the state reps and also through the listserv which
is not as active as some of the other lists I'm on.
There was a lot of feedback for this question and the membership doesn’t think
SELA is promoting itself enough. Also, the responders feel SELA needs to be more
active with state organizations. It is interesting that some people specifically
refer to the State Reps as a method to promote SELA.
Question #9: Any additional comments?
From what purpose was SELA established and does it meet the intended purpose?
Chairs, co-chairs, and committee members should be informally evaluated. If they
didn't contribute to the committee, roundtable, etc., they should not be
selected again & again to serve -- pick some new people.
Better marketing may be the best solution to help SELA.
I attend SELA conference based on the location (within driving distant for me)
and the conference program - how many programs are related to public libraries.
We need to put new members in responsible positions and let them have fun.
Develop The Southeastern Librarian into a truly first-rate library journal.
I very much appreciate The Southeastern Library Journal and its focus on
publishing articles from southeastern libraries and librarians.
Annual conferences are out for me at the moment, the economy. How else is it
possible to get together with members in my area?
I'm sorry that I have been so negative in this survey, but I really feel that we
need to rethink how we do things, get some younger librarians and
paraprofessionals involved, and we need more inter-state cooperation.
SELA provides a venue outside my state association involvement and thus gives
regional points of views.
There is competition for provision of some services, such as training, with
entities like LYRASIS. I don't know how to address that. I think that
state/regional professional organizations are going to have to rethink their
roles in areas that the two types of organizations provide.
Has the issue regarding whether SELA will have an annual or a biennial
conference been resolved?
The responses for this question pretty much reflect the comments mentioned
throughout the survey. For the most
part, people feel SELA is an organization that offers them a number of
benefits as a professional organization. But, the membership has pointed
out some areas SELA needs to look at:
1.
Publicity in different formats
2.
Recruitment
3.
More activity by SELA State Reps
4.
Involvement, types of and greater
activity within committees, roundtables, and sections
5.
Lack of time and money, SELA needs to look at ways that people can be involved
and activities without any additional costs
6.
Communication from SELA in general
7.
Use of Social Network tools (website, listserv, facebook,)