Welcome to mid-November! The snow has melted in Toronto, and the holiday creamy vanilla Coke Zero is on the shelves – my favourite time of year.

Last week was another busy one that started off with two national-level meetings: the LAC Stakeholders Forum and the LAC AI Community of Practice. Both groups are having discussions about the implications of AI in the GLAM sector, how we prepare our libraries for what’s ahead, and how we shape national strategies. It’s big-picture thinking, but it’s energizing to see so many partners pulling in the same direction.  

Back on the OLA home front, we held the final meeting to review OLA’s Inclusive Libraries report. This group has done such thoughtful, careful work. The report will go to the OLA Board in December and will be shared with members in the new year, so keep an eye out. It will shape our work for years to come. 

On Wednesday, several of my colleagues and I spent the day at Hamilton Public Library for their Research Symposium – and wow. What an outstanding day of hearing about innovative research happening in public libraries in partnership with academic researchers. The energy in the room was incredible, and we definitely laid out the groundwork for future collaborations.  

Thursday evening took me to the York University Libraries’ second event in their “Let’s Talk About It” series, featuring Suzette Mayr and her novel, The Sleeping Car Porter. It was a fantastic conversation, full of insight and generosity, and a reminder of how meaningful it is when libraries create space for literary dialogue.  

We also closed nominations for seats on the OLA Board and Councils last week. Thank you to everyone who put their name forward. The nominations committee will review this week, and the election will open on December 1.  

On the Super Conference front: the program is officially out, and it looks amazing! Congratulations to Emily and her incredible team of planners. Registration has opened, and our staff are in full-on “answer all the questions” mode. We love to see the excitement rolling in.  

And finally, we hosted Golden Opportunity, our first virtual event focused on programming for older adults. It was a huge success and a rich day of learning. A massive thank you to everyone who joined us and to Gina and Emily for helping bring that to life.  

That’s the week – national strategy, provincial collaboration, local brilliance, and many good conversations along the way.  

See you next Tuesday!