Last week I had the privilege of attending the First Nations Public Libraries Spring Gathering, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
The Spring Gathering is an annual invitation-only gathering sponsored by the Ontario Library Service and programmed by on-reserve public library staff. This year was hosted by Rama Public Library, with leadership from Danielle Big Canoe Snake, and I’m so grateful to have been invited to be part of it.
I was on vacation last week, which meant a little less screen time, a lot less email, and exactly zero success at fully unplugging. But while I was away from my desk, there was still plenty happening around the OLA office.
Across the association, our councils gathered for their May meetings, continuing important conversations and planning for the months ahead.
First things first: apologies for missing last week’s update! It was one of those weeks where the entire OLA team was away from their desks and fully immersed in the beautiful, joyful whirlwind that is the Forest of Reading Festival. And honestly – what a reason to miss a blog post.
Over two incredible days, nearly 5,000 young readers gathered to celebrate books, authors, stories, and the pure magic of reading.
Remember last week when I was complaining about an energy drought? Well, May has arrived with one of those “wow, libraries are doing incredible things everywhere” energy boosts.
I had the chance to take part in the IFLA Managing Library Associations midterm meeting, and truly, the scope of work happening across the globe is something else.
I read my first book by Kelley Armstrong, The Summoning, when it launched in 2009. As an elementary school teacher-librarian, I was always on the lookout for great books for my students, but at the time I was also curating books for intermediate literature circles for my school board.
Weeding outdated materials, adding signage, trying dynamic shelving – none of it worked. Despite my efforts, students still found our elementary school’s non-fiction section unintuitive and overwhelming. They couldn’t find what they wanted, so they stopped looking.
Our ‘Spring into Sustainability’ School Libraries Connect Session is in full bloom. The four presenters shared initiatives that have engaged their school communities from the get-go.
I’d love to say something about spring being energizing, but the reality is the OLA team was plagued with illness last week. We’re shaking off the bugs, though, and steadily finding our footing and moving toward the end of April.
On a more positive note, there were lots of inspiring out-of-office activities last week. I kicked things off in Toronto at the Mayor’s Culture Summit…
Some big-picture thinking last week, which I always love.
I had the chance to attend the IFLA President’s meeting “Being Bold: Clear Direction in a Complex World”, and it delivered what the title promised. A fantastic program, thoughtful conversations, and a room full of library folks from across the country and around the world, all wrestling with the same question: what’s next for us?
Last week, we held our April board meeting where we reviewed our Q2 finance and membership reports, heard updates from each of the board working groups, and approved 10 revised policies. It was a full agenda, and a great example of the steady governance work that keeps things moving behind the scenes.
