Proud to Belong
How often do you wear your ALIA membership star to show your support of the Association that supports you and our industry? I suspect that for many of us the answer is “not often”. By contrast members of service clubs and other professions wear the symbols of their belonging with pride and actively use it as a conversation starter. So why are we so reticient to prompt people to ask what the star represents? As a profession we’re passionate about our industry and go to great lengths to promote it so why not adopt the same attitude with our Association? It’s being a member of ALIA that puts you at the forefront of our profession.
You might indeed ask what’s brought on this on. Two things:
- En route to the Post Office last week I bumped into my dear friend and former colleague Sean Brady from NSW DPI Libraries, looking, as usual, a picture of sartorial elegance and sporting an ALIA tie! Except that it really was a “bump into”moment I would have suspected a set up, our Sean being not averse to keeping my feet firmly on the ground. As befits a newly elected VP I naturally grilled him on the wearing of it and he happily admitted to doing so quite often. Hurrah a man with pride in his connections.
- Secondly it’s membership renewal time, and as the newest member of the Membership and Awards Standing Committee I am very aware of the centrality of you to the future of our organisation. If you need reasons to renew, or indeed join look at Sue’s recent blog post on 71 reasons. And if you need further incentive f you renew your ALIA membership by the 18 July 2008 and be in the draw to win one of 25 ALIA Packs.
A cautionary tale regarding the perils of not wearing your ALIA star. Last week returning home to Orange from an ALIA engement in Sydney my luggage went missing and with it my precious gold ALIA star, carefully packed in with my jewellery! What a quandry! Did I ‘fess up and admit to not wearing it 24/7 and ask for a new one? Could I raid the Library’s craft supplies and spray paint my red one one gold? Thankfully my bag was found safe and well a week later in Broken Hill and as I write my gold star is safely anchored to my jacket.
I look forward to catching up with some of you at the National Advisory Congress meetings over the next few weeks in Sydney, Canberra, and via teleconference… and here’s a thumbs up, if you’re wearing your ALIA star you’ll win a prize!
Cheers
Jan