AAAL Changes to Welcome NEOS

AAAL Committees, Member News

AAAL is pleased to announce changes to our bylaws that allow us to expand our reach to be a more welcoming and inclusive library organization while enhancing services for our current members.

The new bylaws can be read fully on our website here: https://aaal.ca/about/bylaws/. These changes were prompted by the recommendations from the Welcoming and Including NEOS Members to AAAL: A Recommendation Document.

Key changes in the bylaws include:

  • Special Libraries in Alberta can now be AAAL members (form coming soon)
  • Student associations of library technician and librarian programs in Alberta can now be AAAL members (form coming soon)
  • The creation of communities of practice
  • Increased the maximum number of subcommittee members, which will allow us to expand our current professional development offerings. 

As a result, you will soon see:

  • The creation of an AAAL Community of Practice around resource sharing
  • The creation of an AAAL Working Group for a pilot project of a Micro-residencies program
  • A call for additional members for the AAAL Learning & Development Committee
  • A call for additional members for the AAAL  Mentorship Committee

Please consider volunteering and participating when you see these calls come out. 

AAAL has also already been able to institute the following, instigated by our Welcoming and Including NEOS Members to AAAL: A Recommendation Document:

Thank you to all of the AAAL Executive, AAAL Subcommittee members, AAAL members, NEOS members, directors, and, of course, Anne Carr-Wiggin for their expertise, advice, and efforts in this transition. This is an opportunity for AAAL to serve a larger, more diverse community of library professionals and create a stronger and revitalized professional voice across the province.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Céline Gareau-Brennan, AAAL Chair at celine.gareau-brennan@ualberta.ca

Céline Gareau-Brennan, MLIS MBA BA

AAAL Chair

Canadian Cataloguing Taskforce (CATF)

Member News

Information about CATF may be of interest to AAAL members.

In response to issues pertaining to the sovereignty of Canadian bibliographic metadata, the Canadian Cataloguing Taskforce (CATF) was created in November 2025. There are over 70 active members across Canada who meet virtually on a monthly basis. The taskforce’s mission is to:

  • Account for/understand the true costs of infrastructure devolution.
  • Repatriate/regain control over Canadian metadata and records
  • Rebuild a sustainable, inclusive and independent national catalogue
  • Develop resilient and federated infrastructure which supports multiple vocabularies, descriptive practices and national authority files

Although in the early stages, CATF is building a national community aimed to promote and protect Canadian cultural heritage while reducing dependency on foreign systems and reclaiming Canadian metadata. The taskforce encourages GLAMS organizations and their members from across Canada to join this collaborative effort and contribute to building an inclusive, national catalogue.

If you are interested in joining CATF, please add your information here.

AAAL Spring AGM Meeting Package

Spring Meeting

Hello everyone,

Our Spring AGM is fast approaching and we are pleased to present our AGM package.

AAAL Spring AGM Meeting Package
 

There is still time to register to attend! Registration closes April 15 so register today to save your seat! Voting members: if you are unable to attend, we ask that you still fill out the form so you can name a proxy either from your institution or from another AAAL institution.

Items to note:

  • Please review the documents pertaining to voting matters 
  • Prepare your roundtable update and send a written synopsis to aaal.executive@gmail.com (either before or after the meeting is fine) to include in our meeting minutes
  • Voting members / proxies: please bring along a smart device or laptop to cast your votes (we’ll be using Google forms, QR codes, and URLs)
  • The menu for the event is also included in the package and can be viewed here

Thank you everyone who has already registered! Our Learning and Development committee has done an incredible job organizing a fabulous day for us and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Please reach out either to myself, andrea.johnston@rdpolytech.ca, or the AAAL Executive inbox at aaal.executive@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Wishing you all the best for a wonderful weekend,

Andrea Johnston, AAAL Chair

AAAL Executive Board

aaal.executive@gmail.com

Call for Volunteers: AAAL’s Strategic Planning Working Group

AAAL Committees

Have your say in the future of AAAL!

The Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) is seeking 4-6 volunteers for AAAL’s Strategic Planning Working Group. The volunteers would work with the AAAL Executive to review and update AAAL’s vision, mission, values and goals. These were last updated in 2013.

Participation in this working group would primarily take place from approximately May 2026 to November 2026, culminating in bringing forth recommendations for AAAL’s revised vision, mission, values and goals to the AAAL’s Fall meeting.

All staff (library assistants, library staff, pages, library technicians, librarians, managers, etc.) from AAAL member institutions are eligible to apply. Current AAAL committee members are also encouraged to apply, with diverse participation through our membership desired. We ask that interested candidates include a brief statement of interest in your email.

Please forward your statement of interest to the Co-Chairs, Jane Duffy (duffyj@macewan.ca) or Andrea Johnston (andrea.johnston@rdpolytech.ca) before April 30th 2026.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Andrea Johnston or Jane Duffy.

Thank you for your consideration and we hope to hear from you soon!

AAAL Executive Board

aaal.executive@gmail.com

Call for AAAL Secretary Nominations

AAAL Committees

We have another opportunity to be a part of AAAL!

The Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) is seeking nominations for the following Executive Committee positions, to begin this Spring.

All staff from AAAL member institutions are eligible. We ask that for Executive Committee roles (we accept nominations or self-nominations), interested candidates include a brief statement of interest in your email. Expressions of interest can be sent to the AAAL Executive email (aaal.executive@gmail.com). 

For a full list of responsibilities for each role/committee, please visit the AAAL Bylaws Page. Any questions about the roles can be sent to Celine Gareau-Brennan (Celine.Gareau-Brennan@ualberta.ca) or Andrea Johnston (andrea.johnston@rdpolytech.ca)

The deadline for applications/nominations is Friday, April 17 at noon. For a brief description of the roles, please see below.

Executive Committee Vacancies

Secretary (2-year term)

Responsibilities include:

  • Take minutes of Executive Committee meetings, Fall and Annual General meetings, and coordinate distribution with Communications Committee
  • Assist the Chair in assembling meeting packages for Fall and Annual General Meetings
  • Maintain Google Drive access for Executive and Committee members, as needed

Chair-Elect (3-year term – first as Chair-Elect, second year as Chair, third year as Past-Chair – note that the first year of term is only a partial year). 

Responsibilities include: 

  • Call for volunteers for executive and standing committee positions as needed, and ensure positions are filled and elections carried out as needed; 
  • Communicate changes to the Executive and Committee roster, including position terms, to the Communications Committee. 
  • Solicit applications for the Professional Development Award and oversee award disbursements

Please let us know if you have any questions, and thank you for considering! AAAL is an incredible group to be a part of and we hope you consider joining us!

Kind Regards, 

Andrea Johnston (AAAL Chair)