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

Submit a Proposal for Core Forum 2025

This call for proposals may be of interest to some AAAL members:

For inquiries or further information, please visit: coreforum.org


Join Core Forum 2025 in Denver for an incredible opportunity to celebrate diverse and interconnected library work. From November 12-14, 2025 we’ll engage the collective expertise of presenters and participants, facilitating thought-provoking conversations over two days of presentations, table-top exhibits, and poster sessions. Core Forum provides a place to build and foster relationships with colleagues through exciting networking activities.

Consider submitting a proposal for a thought-provoking and highly relevant to practitioners presentation in the following areas:

  • Access and Equity
  • Buildings and Operations
  • Leadership and Management
  • Metadata and Collections
  • Technology
  • Preservation

Presentation Opportunities

SESSION – Concurrent sessions will be held on Thursday and Friday. Presentations will be 45 minutes in length with 15 minutes for introduction and Q&A. Presenters are required to present in-person and register at the discounted presenter rate.

PRECONFERENCE – Half-day (3-4 hours) preconferences and tours (off-site venue) will be held on Wednesday. Presenters are required to present in person.

POSTER – The poster session offers the opportunity to share and promote work, research, and ideas across the Forum’s content areas identified in the bulleted list above. Print poster presentations will be available throughout the Forum, with special time reserved during the 2-day event for participants to ask questions and engage in chat conversation with the presenters.

Proposals will be evaluated on the following points:

  • Relevance to the Forum’s program tracks and audience
  • Opportunities for learning and applicability to current library trends
  • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

We encourage diversity in presenters from a wide range of backgrounds, libraries, and experiences. We deliberately seek and strongly encourage submissions from underrepresented groups, such as Indigenous peoples, women, people of color, the LGBTQA+ community, and people with disabilities. We also strongly encourage submissions with presenters from public, school, and special libraries.

Vendors wishing to submit a proposal should partner with a library representative who is evaluating/using the product or service.

Presenters will submit final presentation slides and/or electronic content (video, audio, etc.) 10 days prior to the event for accessibility reviewing and to be made available online following the event. Presenters will be able to register at a discounted rate and participate in the Forum as attendees.


Ready to submit your proposal? Complete the Proposal Form before the Sunday, March 2, 2025 deadline. To preview the 2025 Core Forum proposal questions before starting the form, please download the questions here.

Questions can also be sent to the Forum Planning Co-Chairs or Core Staff:

Save the Date:

Registration will open in April. Join the notification list to receive event announcements. Check the Core Forum website for program information and sponsorship opportunities.