IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ottawa, April 22, 2016: The Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliotheques, is pleased to announce that the recipient of CLA’s 2016 Alan MacDonald Mentorship Award is Sara Gillis, Community Engagement Manager at Halifax Public Libraries. This award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to mentoring activities either within their workplace or in an association and is generously sponsored by EBSCO/ YPB.
For the past 20 years, Ms. Gillis has been employed as a Community Engagement Manager at Halifax Public Libraries, demonstrating dedication and generosity as a mentor to her staff. She supervises the Dalhousie School of Information Management students, the Atlantic Provinces Library Association (APLA) members, as well as other library staff and students involved in the Halifax Libraries Association. Sara consistently shares her knowledge and skills, and guides others through her quiet encouragement and unwavering support. Staff at all levels are known to seek Sara’s advice on workplace and career issues, her guidance on management and her opinion when making a tough decision. Sara always makes time for anyone seeking her advice or guidance. She is known to encourage discussion and offers feedback on ideas, ambitious suggestions, and issues that seem formidable. She is open-minded and honest in her communication, helping those she mentors to work through complex situations and explore assumptions. Others in the library profession seek out Sara for workplace and career advice, guidance on management issues, and for help working through situations where a tough decision has to be made. Genuine, committed and approachable are words that describe Sara’s approach to mentorship.
This CLA Award is named after Alan MacDonald, who was a natural mentor. Always positive, always receptive to new ideas, always ready to see potential, he inspired those around him to strive for and realize their dreams.
This award will be presented at the opening ceremonies of the CLA National Forum on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at the Delta Hotel in Ottawa.
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About CLA:
The Canadian Library Association is Canada’s largest national and broad-based library association, representing the interests of public, academic, school and special libraries, professional librarians and library workers, and all those concerned about enhancing the quality of life of Canadians through information and literacy. For more information please visit: www.cla.ca.
For more information on the CLA Book Awards, contact:
Media Contact:
Donna Campbell Valoree McKay, CAE
Jury Chair, Alan MacDonald Mentorship Award Executive Director at Canadian Library Association
donna.campbell@sait.ca vmckay (at) cla.ca