Call for AAAL Chair-Elect Nominations

Hello everyone,

We are still looking for an amazing individual to join us as our next Chair-Elect!

Speaking from experience, this is a fantastic role, with even better people! The time commitment is not that much, and the support in the group is incredible. I hope you will consider yourself for this role, or nominate a colleague! I would be happy to chat further if you have any questions about the role or work. Please see below for more information:

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

All staff from AAAL member institutions (https://aaal.ca/membership/membership-list/) are eligible. To apply, simply send either a nomination or self-nomination to aaal.executive@gmail.com with a brief statement of interest.

For a full list of responsibilities for the role, please visit the AAAL Bylaws Page. Any questions about the role can be sent to Andrea Johnston (andrea.johnston@rdpolytech.ca)


The deadline for applications/nominations is Friday, April 25 at noon. 

To apply, please send either a nomination or self-nomination to aaal.executive@gmail.com with a brief statement of interest


For a brief description of the role, please see below.

Executive Committee Vacancy

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-Elect

Stronger Together Announcement

Dear AAAL Members,

Thank you so much to all the member institutions who cast their vote on “Stronger Together 2025” membership!

I am happy to announce that we can now report that we have a majority affirmative response from our voting members: Effective immediately, AAAL will become a trial one-year, risk-free member of the upcoming “Stronger Together 2025” initiative. 

Mary Dallas (Red Deer Polytechnical) and Meagan Bowler (Mount Royal University) have been invited to represent AAAL on the “Stronger Together” Academic Program Planning Committee for 2025. Thank you so much to Mary and Meagan for agreeing to serve Alberta’s academic libraries in this important way!

More about the “Stronger Together 2025” event will be featured in my Chair Report at our much anticipated AAAL Spring AGM, which will be held on Friday, May 2, 2025, and hosted by MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta.

In the meantime, wishing you all the best as we look forward to a f-a-s-t approaching spring!

Sincerely,

Jane

Jane C. Duffy, B.A., M.A., M.L.S., M.A.C.T.

Librarian for Mathematics & Statistics, Dept of Public Safety and Justice Studies

Liaison for the School of Continuing Education and MacEwan International

Chair, Association of Alberta Academic Libraries 2024-25

MacEwan University

7-275C John L. Haar Library

duffyj@macewan.ca

Call for Chair-Elect & Sub-Committee Roles

The Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) is seeking nominations for the following Executive Committee and Sub-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. For Sub-Committee positions, we only require an expression of interest. Expressions of interest can be sent to the AAAL Executive (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 Andrea Johnston (andrea.johnston@rdpolytech.ca)

The deadline for applications/nominations is Friday, April 25 at noon.

For a brief description of the role, please see below.

Executive Committee Vacancies

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

Sub-Committee Vacancies

Mentorship Committee – 1 vacancy (2-year term)

The Mentorship Committee is responsible for coordinating and supporting the AAAL Mentorship program (Sept-April), including calling for mentors and mentees, pairing participants, and soliciting feedback.

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 (Chair-Elect)

AAAL Executive Board

aaal.executive@gmail.com

Call for Proposals for AAAL AGM Extended to March 17

Our deadline for presentation proposals is now extended until March 17th!

The AAAL Learning & Development Committee are seeking presentations from our members for the professional development portion of our Spring AGM and welcomes presentation proposals relevant to our members’ work, topics of interest, and more. Looking for inspiration? Browse our meetings page to view programming from past meetings.

There are two presentation formats to choose from:

  • 7-Minute Lightning Talks: Quick snapshots to give a brief overview of your idea, research, experience, program, or service.
  • 25-Minute Presentations: A bit more in-depth, allowing you to share research, tools, programs, or services with some room for engaging discussions or activities.

Please submit your proposal by Monday, March 17th. 

 

If you have an idea for a presentation that does not follow the above formats, please feel free to reach out to aaal.executive@gmail.com. Successful presenters will hear back no later than March 31st.  

If you have any questions, please contact ali.foster@macewan.ca.

Thank you in advance!

Kind regards,

AAAL Learning & Development Committee

Keynote & Workshop Ideas for AAAL SpringAGM

Dear AAAL Colleagues,

I cannot believe how quickly the winter is fading away and I am sure that you ALL are ready to embrace the spring!

UPDATE: AAAL’s Learning & Development Committee is working hard on our upcoming Spring AGM. I am writing to ask if any of you have thoughts or inspirations about possible keynote presenters or workshops for our upcoming AGM.

If you do, please stop whatever you are doing and e-mail our L&D Chair, Ali Foster, at ali.foster@macewan.ca with those ideas! Ali assures me that any and ALL ideas are welcome and the sooner the better! 🙂

Thank you so much for giving this some consideration and for your ongoing support of AAAL! Even as we speak, Ali is checking e-mail and standing by to receive your thoughts and ideas! 

Thank you again, and all best wishes,

Jane C. Duffy, B.A., M.A., M.L.S., M.A.C.T.

Librarian for Mathematics & Statistics, Dept of Public Safety and Justice Studies

Liaison for the School of Continuing Education and MacEwan International

Chair, Association of Alberta Academic Libraries 2024-25

MacEwan University

7-275C John L. Haar Library

duffyj@macewan.ca