The Special Libraries Association (SLA) Nominating Committee announced the candidates for the 2023 SLA election. The slate contains two representatives from Illinois: Rachel Cole and Dan Bostrom are two of the eight candidates for the SLA Board of Directors. There are four open board seats available. Each board seat is a three-year term, beginning in January 2024. Voting will be open to SLA members in September 2023.
Rachel Cole is the Head of Northwestern University’s Transportation Library, where she curates collections and exhibitions, directs instruction and outreach, and provides research support to students and faculty of the university’s Transportation Center as well as to a global community of transportation researchers. She works to make connections between current and historical collections, making the library’s materials relevant, interesting, and accessible to a broad community of researchers and the interested public.
Rachel’s experience with SLA includes terms as President of the Illinois Community and Transportation Community and service on the New Initiatives Review Advisory Council. Prior to her work as a transportation librarian, Rachel worked as a Records Analyst with Deloitte, a Research Editor with Encyclopaedia Britannica, and with special collections libraries including the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Newberry Library.
Dan Bostrom is the Member Engagement Manager at the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS). His responsibilities include performing library onboarding, working with internal and external partners, and creating regular library engagement plans that give library workers the opportunity to find out more about system benefits and services.
Dan was the 2022 SLA Illinois President and is currently serving as President of the Leadership & Management Development community of SLA. Before he came to RAILS, Dan was the Manager of Member Engagement at the Financial Managers Society and the Marketing & Membership Manager at the American Library Association.