Happenings in Huron

The last three days in Huron, SD (Crossroad City of SD!) at the 2012 SDLA conference were packed with terrific speakers, hanky moments, connections with coworkers and old friends, and serious discussions about the future of libraries, in particular, funding for the State Library.
For the record, I'd just like to publicly state that our local library has grown in leaps and bounds just because of the support, encouragement,  and enthusiasm of the staff at our South Dakota State Library.  I have met most of them personally and, as a novice librarian, been blessed by the connections with each of them.  
In our trustee meetings, I had long encouraged the members to join me in Pierre in January of this year when I traveled there for the celebration of our library's accreditation.  When Kathy and Cheryl ventured along with me on that momentous occasion, they met many of the SDSL staff and, on the way home, remarked on how friendly and enthusiastic they all were.  And that was just from a few brief encounters in the hallway!
Without SDSL's expert training and advice in many areas, our library would not be involved in transforming and touching lives in our community or partnering with other organizations in the area to benefit our patrons in many ways.  The staff encourages us to email or call with questions and are a great resource for isolated librarians in small rural towns.  Because of the professional standards encouraged by SDSL, I know that as librarians we are challenged to take our small libraries to reach great potential in becoming centers of information and learning for the future.
THANKS SO MUCH, SDSL LIBRARIANS!  YOU ROCK!