PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Join us in Ottawa…

Welcome to/ Bienvenue à Ottawa! A warm welcome to all delegates, whether this is your first CLA conference, or you are a veteran of many decades! Ottawa is a beautiful city at this time of year, and the new Convention Centre is a wonderful venue for our conference, very conveniently located for galleries, food and shopping – but stay on site for the conference sessions, which are excellent!

Four groups of people are responsible for the great experience you are about to have, and we all owe them our thanks:

1. The Conference Program Committee led by Co-Chairs Maureen Sawa(Greater Victoria Public Library) and Christina Hwang (University of Alberta), with members Geoffrey Allen (University of New Brunswick), Donna Campbell, (Calgary), Nancy Mackenzie (Calgary Public Library), Ingrid Moisil (University of Ottawa), Lisa Ronald (EBSCO), Lorne Rourke (University of Waterloo), and Deena Yanofsky (McGill University);

2. The Local Arrangements Committee led by Chair Alexandra Yarrow with members Frances Murray, Kayleigh Felice, Stirling Prentice, Helena Merriam, Laura May, Wendy Robbins, Mariya Maistrovskaya, Melanie Culina, and Danielle Robinson; and

3. The CLA office team led by Executive Director Kelly Moore and Conference & Events Manager Wendy Walton; and

4. The exhibitors and donors who contribute both learning opportunities and the extras that make a conference exceptional.

Please thank each of them when you have the opportunity. And, choose carefully among the excellent presentations – tough choices are everywhere, beginning with the pre-conferences which include an advocacy boot camp and CLA on the Hill, copyright, and library collaboration. The opening session with guest speaker Daniel Caron will enhance our understanding of the national scene in the context of knowledge repositories and social networks. Canada’s first IFLA President, Ingrid Parent, will lead a plenary on Friday morning to update us on advocacy in the international context. The closing plenary on Saturday brings us a three-person panel with national journalist Evan Solomon, Canadian Press Bureau Chief Rob Russo, and Ottawa public-affairs columnist Lawrence Martin to help us better understand the Ottawa scene.

On Thursday, a CLA favourite is back. The Great Debate will tackle this resolution: “Be it resolved that the core values of modern librarianship are antiquated and obsolete.” And, this year’s conference will include more poster presentations than ever. So, have a wonderful time and learn from colleagues!