Greetings AAAL members,

Library staff from all member institutions are invited to join us virtually on Thursday, December 3rd for the Alberta Association of Academic Libraries’ Fall 2020 Meeting, hosted online by Red Deer College Library. 

We’re excited to announce Chevi Rabbit as our keynote speaker. Chevi Rabbit is a young mover and a shaker from Rural Alberta. Listed by the premier of Alberta as one of the Top 25 Human Rights Advocates, Rabbit is an award winning advocate, accredited makeup fashion makeup artist, educator, fashion coordinator and public speaker. Rabbit is a Two Spirit Advocate, a First Nations concept for someone, like Rabbit, who identifies as both a man and a woman. Ze’s currently a board member of the Aboriginal Women’s Professional Association, member of the Board of Directors at the Central Alberta Sexual Assault Support Centre, committee member on Alberta Sexual Minorities Liaison Committee, Founder of Maskwacis Two Spirit Society, recipient of Top 40 Under 40 by Avenue Magazine, founder of Hate to Hope, and a collaborator with many organizations in Alberta. After being assaulted in a parking lot in 2012, ze became a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ community. Rabbit realized that being open – and empowering others to do the same – could be a revolutionary act. From that moment Hate to Hope was born and became an idea that not only changed Rabbit’s life but many others without a voice. This movement was Canada’s largest LGBTQ march at the time.

Following Chevi’s keynote there is an exciting lineup of professional development sessions and a tour/talk with our hosts from Red Deer College. The full meeting package with agenda and session descriptions is available on the AAAL website.

Since we are meeting online through Blackboard Collaborate, there is no need to register to attend and no need to download anything. You can simply join the meeting via this link: AAAL Fall Meeting (Main Room). If you have never used Blackboard Collaborate before, you can view a quick tutorial about how it works here.

We hope to see you there!

Your AAAL Executive + Committee Members  
Questions? Please contact the incoming AAAL Chair, Madelaine Vanderwerff, at mvanderwerff@mtroyal.ca