Before I became a genealogy librarian, I was never really into tracing lines of ancestral descent or into knowing my family tree. Discovering family history seemed so abstract.

Why do teams matter? How do we develop strong teams? What challenges do teams face? OLA President Richard Reid and Kasey (Mallen) Whalley tackle these issues and more.

“If not us, then who?” At Central Public School, our principal gives us this daily challenge so that we balance community assets with any gaps or deficits we identify.

We know that our role in school libraries is to serve our students and to support student achievement across all grades and curriculum areas. As long as there are still staff members available to offer this support, we need to share and to celebrate the amazing work happening every day in school libraries.

The American Library Association’s democracy statement reads, in part: “Democracies need libraries. An informed public constitutes the very foundation of a democracy; after all, democracies are about discourse—discourse among the people. … It must ensure that citizens have the resources to develop the information literacy skills necessary to participate in the democratic process.” This might seem like some pretty big shoes to fill, but there is truth to it. Public libraries help us stay informed and keep us kind.

The provincial government has made a 50% cut to the funding that it provides to Ontario Library Service – North (OLS – N). This loss of funding is already sending shock waves through our library infrastructure.

A library reflects the communities and the cultures in which it operates, and library collections and programs reflect the reading tastes, the history and the priorities of the residents.

A blank canvas: Something that’s empty or undecorated. A blank canvas hasn’t been drawn or painted on yet—it’s clean and unmarked. For now.