I have been waiting for a statement from my local library on the recent protests aimed at confronting systemic anti-black racism in our North American society and across the Western world. It has been weeks and I am still waiting.
During the 2020 OLA Super Conference, the voices of Canadian school libraries came together to share, discuss and celebrate the incredible work in K-12 school library learning commons in Canada. In the upcoming months, It's elementary will highlight authors and papers from the conference.
Remember the TV game show, Cash Cab? Contestants could try to answer questions on their own, but if they got stuck, they could phone a friend. The Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) is like that friend who you can call or turn to for an answer.
Meg Uttangi Matsos is a Branch Manager at Hamilton Public Library. Over the past 10 years she has managed staff teams in small clustered…
Zarena Cassar is a Branch Manager at Brampton Library. From working on expanding Brampton Library’s after hours study spaces to implementing creative ways to…
Peggy Malcolm is a library consultant for the Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS). As part of the SOLS Consulting team, Peggy provides information to…
Beth Lyons is currently a teacher librarian in the Peel District School Board. She reflects and shares about her own learning journey as an…
Your Council stands against anti-Black racism and commits to helping eradicate it from Canadian academic libraries.
This particular blank space is waiting for members of the Ontario Library Association (OLA) community to fill it up, decorate it, contribute.
There is a strong need to explicitly acknowledge deeply embedded racist thinking in order to move towards systemic change in public libraries.
So who knew we'd have 12 articles this month ... and at a time when all our lives have been so unexpectedly disrupted? But we do and our topics include acknowledging systemic racism in public libraries, voices (and photos) from those affected by the pandemic, and telling stories through memes. Plus, follow Round II of the panel on whether librarians need an MLIS, learn what's happening with K–12 education, and lisez la deuxième partie de la francisation de Scholars Portal.
Our conversation around the opening statement “A master’s degree in library science should be required for anyone wanting to be a librarian. True or false? And why?” finishes with this third panel.
From therapy animals to household pets to wildlife, many of us know firsthand the power that animals have to improve our mood and add healthy behaviours to our lives. Especially during a crisis.
