The Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) Spring 2016 Meeting will take place on Thursday, April 14, at the University of Calgary in the Gallery Hall of the Taylor Family Digital Library.

This is the last call for Lightning Strike session submissions.  Please consider submitting a proposal for a 15 minute session on something new or engaging that is happening at your library, or on a topic applicable to academic libraries in our province!   What new services or programs is your library providing?  How is your library engaging users in new ways? What is your library doing to make learning resources more openly accessible to users?  How are you supporting teaching and research at your institutions?

Please submit your proposal online at http://goo.gl/forms/1uqUf8SaAe  by Monday, March 21st.  We hope to see you there!

AAAL Workshop Committee
Claudette Cloutier (UCalgary)
Shawna Murphy (MHC)
Trish Rosseel (UAlberta)

The AAAL Nominations Committee is seeking nominations for the following 2 AAAL Executive Committee positions, in preparation for elections which will take place at the Spring AGM.

Secretary/Treasurer

Responsibilities include: attending executive meetings, taking minutes of meetings and executive committee, keeping accurate records of AAAL accounts, submitting accounting records to auditors,  submitting reports at each general meeting and biannual reports to the chair.

Director-at-Large

Responsibilities include: attending executive meetings, maintaining liaison with other library associations, calling for standing committee members as needed, conducting general meetings in Chair’s absence, submitting biannual reports to the chair, and performing other duties as assigned by the Chair.

To nominate a AAAL member or put forward your own name, please contact a member of the nominations committee (Samuel Cassady, Jane Duffy, or Isobel Rancier) by March 11, 2016. For more information, please refer to the AAAL Bylaws.

The AAAL Executive is looking for 3-4 members interested in exploring ways that the AAAL might better support mentorship opportunities among our members. The group will be tasked with reaching out to current library mentorship programs, conducting a review of literature on effective approaches to mentorship, and making a preliminary report or suggestions to the membership at the upcoming Spring AGM in Calgary on April 14.

If interested, please submit your name and a brief statement of interest to AAAL Co-Chairs Robyn Hall (hallr27@macewan.ca) and Sonya Betz (sonya.betz@ualberta.ca) by Thursday, February 18.

The Augustana Information Literacy Workshops have, over the last 15 years, been exceptional opportunities for academic librarians from Alberta and beyond to learn from some of the most influential information literacy researchers and practitioners. But, more than that, the workshops have also provided a venue for academic librarians from Alberta to build a local community of practice. Each year, we have had an opportunity to connect (or reconnect) with our colleagues around the province, spend a day learning from each other, and to have conversations around our teaching.

To Nancy and Mel, and the rest of the staff at Augustana library, thank you for your commitment to information literacy, and for organizing topics, resources, and presenters to help us grow and connect in our profession. Your commitment and passion inspires librarians across the province!

– Posted on behalf of Red Deer College librarians and the many AAAL members who attended these workshops over the years…

At the Fall Meeting, CLA representatives spoke about the future of CLA, which will likely consist of a federated model. Recently, CLA released the CLA Future Federation Working Group Survey Results. For more information about CLA’s future, also check out the Future CLA Blog.