Baden Campbell
SASKATCHEWAN LIBRARY TRUSTEES' ASSOCIATION
Honorary Life Membership
In Recognition of
Baden Campbell
Baden Campbell's contributions to the Saskatchewan Library Trustees' Association and his dedication to the advancement of first-class library service in the province of Saskatchewan make him a worthy recipient of this honorary life membership.
Baden was first appointed to the Swift Current Library Board in 1971, and is currently serving on that board. He has worked on the budget committee and on the building committee. When the Board began negotiations with Swift Current City Council in May of 1973 for more space, Baden prepared the brief outlining the needs of the library which resulted in an agreement for a new building. The building was officially opened in October of 1974.
Baden has often attended Council meetings to explain Regional grant increases and has shown great willingness to assist with many of the programs offered to the patrons of the local branch. He has kept his ear tuned to the public and has made valuable suggestions for improved services, such as the development of a local history collection in the branch. This help on the local board has been greatly appreciated.
Baden was appointed to the position of Chinook Regional Library representative on the Saskatchewan Library Trustees' Association in 1972, and almost immediately found himself on the executive where he has served as secretary, vice-president, president, and as a member of the Grant Structure Committee. He is currently serving as past president.
The Saskatchewan Library Trustees' Association goes to Cabinet each year with a brief outlining the financial needs of one system library service in the province. Early in his membership Baden assisted with the writing of two of these briefs. He has also individually prepared four briefs. Each time the committee met with Cabinet, Baden was there for the presentation.
During his presidency of the Trustees' Association, Baden introduced two important innovations. He began the practice of personally attending regional executive meetings with the intention of strengthening communication and understanding between systems. He also made a point of presenting the whole Saskatchewan library trustee picture to opposition members of the legislature with the intention of enlisting greater interest and support for-one system library service.
Before Baden retired from his career he was an agrologist at the Swift Current Research Station where he became an international authority on pasture management and production. His scientific training with its concomitant interest in statistics made him the ideal person to present views and graphs logically and sensibly in the organization's briefs. He was a gold medalist, Bachelor of Science student from the University of Alberta, a Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada, and he received the Queen's twenty-fifth anniversary silver medal for his work in agriculture.
Baden has long had an interest in writing and has completed three local histories, copies of which reside in the Swift Current Branch Library. He wrote The Swift Current Research Station, 1920 to 1970 ; Fifty Years of Kiwanis in Swift Current ; and the history of the United Church in Swift Current.
His interest in history keeps him working on a project to produce a series about ten early explorers and early settlements in the North West Territories. He told me this is purely a hobby and will be a great satisfaction to him when he is able to complete the work.
We have all found Baden to be a very level-headed thinker, fair in assessing the opinions of others and always seeking a well-balanced picture of the working of the one system library service, and the library associations. He is quietly able to present this picture in a well organized manner to the rest of us and to the general public, and thus he has won many friends for the library.
We shall miss Baden from the active scene, but we are very pleased that he will be an Honorary Life Member of the Saskatchewan Library Trustees' Association.
Awarded October 19, 1979.
Read by Leola Moore