I’m back! Technically.
After 10 days in South Korea for the IFLA World Library and Information Congress, my body is back in Ontario, my brain is somewhere over the Pacific, and the 13-hour time difference continues to make a compelling argument that 4pm is a perfectly reasonably time to go to sleep.
I’m still processing everything I learned and experienced at IFLA. There’s a lot to unpack, and I suspect pieces of it will continue to show up in my thinking – and this blog – for months to come.
One of the highlights was presenting OLA’s Inclusive Libraries report during the conference poster session. The response was wonderful. I had conversations with people from around the world about inclusion, belonging, accessibility, and the role associations can play in helping move this work forward. It was especially interesting to hear where our experiences in Ontario resonated with people. Sometimes you need to travel halfway around the world to be reminded that the work you’re doing here has relevance well beyond our provincial borders.
I was also fortunate to be invited to a small workshop with the keynote speaker Sohail Inayatullah on Futures Thinking, using an approach called “causal layered analysis”. I’m still turning this one over in my head. We spend a lot of time talking about planning for the future, but much less time thinking about the fact that imagining different futures is actually a skill – something that requires exercises, practice, and training your brain to get out of “get through the day” mode.
I landed at a brilliant table of people, and our group chose to explore the future of reading. We spent time pulling apart some of the assumptions, systems, narratives, and metaphors surrounding reading and imagining what different futures might look like. More on that to come. Definitely.
Another highlight was the opportunity to connect with colleagues who lead library associations around the world. The Management of Library Associations Section hosted a fascinating session on leading library associations through uncertain times – a topic that attracted quite an audience. I also attended a dinner with association leaders from Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, the Netherlands and beyond. Comparing notes on membership, advocacy, governance and sustainability was both reassuring and thought-provoking.
And because conferences are often as much about the conversations between sessions as the sessions themselves, I also want to thank the many vendors and partners I had the chance to catch up with during the week. A special thank you to Salvy Trojman for hosting a lovely coffee break for the Canadians in attendance – a thoughtful bit of hospitality and a very welcome opportunity to gather together so far from home.
More than anything I came home feeling incredibly proud and honoured to have represented OLA at IFLA. I want OLA to be an association that learns from what is happening elsewhere, shares what we know, and recognizes that we have something to contribute, too.
I have a notebook full of ideas and a brain that is currently operating in several time zones, so forgive me while I get my bearings!
See you next Tuesday!
Meet the Author
Michelle Arbuckle
Executive Director, OLA
Michelle Arbuckle is OLA’s Executive Director. Reporting to the OLA Board of Directors, Michelle’s key responsibilities are government relations, advocacy, partnership development, the implementation of the strategic plan and supporting the exceptional OLA staff team. She is an avid lifelong learner, a tea sommelier, and wants to know your astrological sign.