As you are aware, the CLA membership voted for dissolution of the organization at a special meeting of the members on January 27, 2016 predicated on the creation of a Canadian federation of library associations In follow up, our President, Sandra Singh has communicated with CLA members here:
It will be the responsibility of the new Federation to decide whether Student Chapters fall within its ambit. CLA will communicate regularly to its membership throughout the process of winding down and dissolution in order to keep the membership up to date on progress. It will be the Federation, once established, that will communicate with the community at large regarding its plans.
CLA will therefore no longer be processing either new memberships or renewals.
Founded in 1946, The Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques was incorporated under the Companies Act on November 26, 1947. CLA/ACB is a national, not-for-profit, voluntary organization, representing institutional and personal members from across Canada and outside of Canada.
CLA is the national voice for Canada’s library communities. As members, we:
- champion library values and the value of libraries
- influence public policy impacting libraries
- inspire and support member learning
- collaborate to strengthen the library community ?
Learn more about our Member Benefits.
Learn more about Membership Categories and Fees.
An active and engaged membership is crucial to our success
As you may be aware, 2015 has been a significant year for CLA: Executive Council and the Committees and Networks have continued the important ongoing work of CLA as the national association while also partnering with library associations across the country to envision a different, more robust and effective future for our sector’s national association/platform. Both of these “streams” of work are critical for the long-term prosperity of libraries across Canada and both streams require your support.
Some of our “ongoing business” since January 2015 includes:
Submissions to the federal government on Bill C-51, Tri-Agency Statement on Principles of Data Management, LAC negotiations with OCLC, Long Form Census and Statistics Canada funding, and a response to Charlie Hebdo, to name a few.
- The development of a national election advocacy portal and automated mail-out tool for the library community: #VoteLibraries2015
- Updated Statement on Public Access to the Internet
- Updating of the Intellectual Freedom Statement
- Translation of the Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, 2014. (In progress)
- The 2015 national conference and planning for the 2016 National Forum in Ottawa, June 1-3, 2016
- The CLA E-Book Task Force and co-leadership of the Fair eBook Prices for Libraries campaign (http://www.fairpricingforlibraries.org/)
As noted above, alongside the regular work of CLA, Executive Council has partnered with associations from across the country to envision a new national voice. The revised proposal arising from this work is now available on the CLA Website: Toward a Federation of Library Associations in Canada: Strengthening the national voice for Canadian libraries. We are optimistic about this proposal and hope the membership supports it when asked in early 2016.
UPDATE: Results of Special Meeting of Members January 27, 2016
If you have any questions about membership or the work of CLA, please do not hesitate to contact either membership (at) cla.ca, Executive Director Valoree McKay (vmckay (at) cla.ca), or any member of CLA Executive Council.