Executive Council

Canadian libraries of all types are evolving to meet the needs of their unique communities in a rapidly changing landscape of increasing social, economic, information, and technological complexity. Ironically, we are in an age in which information has never been more highly and widely valued and yet we, as libraries and library workers, increasingly struggle with our sectoral brand/identity. Further, shifting economic and political cultures are impacting the policy contexts in which we offer our services. Now, perhaps more than ever, we need a strong national voice representing the interests of libraries and the values we uphold. That voice is CLA. We need a national association that continues to focus on demonstrating the importance of libraries and library workers, addressing national policy issues of importance to members, generating knowledge and analysis about key issues that can be repurposed by members, and building strategic relationships with, or that can be leveraged to influence, stakeholders and policy makers. CLA has a long history of uniting and acting in the interest of the Canadian library community. It is an honour to be your president and a privilege to contribute to the work of CLA.

Canadian libraries are connecting people to information, ideas and experiences that enrich lives and strengthen communities. We are living in a time when information is a key driver in everyday life, by understanding how to select and evaluate information sources, information becomes knowledge. The library is a key and relevant institution in that process. We need a strong Association to speak to the relevance of libraries. Whether bricks and mortar or the eLibrary, libraries are here to stay! The Canadian Library Association is evolving to meet that challenge. The Association is championing the relevance and the role of the library in the 21st century. Change, whether personal or institutional is never easy and requires hard work, dedication and commitment. When asked if I would let my name stand for the nomination of Vice-President I did not hesitate. I see this as my opportunity to give back. I want to assist in making our voice heard at the national, provincial and local levels. I have worked in a variety of library jobs over my 35 year career: starting with a page, circulation clerk, adult librarian, children’s librarian and chief executive officer/executive director, in both rural and urban environments, in public, university and regional libraries in two provinces. It would be an honour and pleasure to contribute in whatever way I can.

Michael Ridley is a librarian at the University of Guelph who is currently on secondment to the First Year Seminar program where he teaches a number of interdisciplinary undergraduate courses. Until January 2012 Ridley was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Librarian at Guelph. During his recent sabbatical (2012-2013), he wrote a “book-like-thing” on literacy, completed a Masters of Education in higher education, taught at the iSchool at the University of Toronto, and consulted with a number of professional organizations. Ridley has been a professional librarian since 1979 working at a variety of positions at the University of Guelph, the Health Sciences Library at McMaster University, and the University of Waterloo. In 1995 he returned to the University of Guelph as the Chief Librarian and in 2004 was named the CIO. Ridley holds degrees from the University of Guelph (B.A.), the University of New Brunswick (M.A.), and the University of Toronto (M.L.S.) and an M.Ed. conferred in June 2014).

During my career I have been a member of the executive for the Alberta Library Association and, at that time, was chair of the Continuing Education Committee and the Intellectual Freedom Committee. In my professional life I am a Manager with the Edmonton Public Library system and have been involved in various initiatives, including the Building a Safer Community Through Inclusive Learning – an innovative project which provides access to trained Social Workers within library walls for at-risk customers using the Stanley A. Milner Library in downtown Edmonton.
I am very interested in issues ethics related to access to information, particularly where access is impacted by government policy and procedure. I believe that the library community has an obligation to keep issues related to access to information top of mind for Canadians in order to ensure that citizens and others can learn about and understand their rights, freedoms and history.

This is a pivotal time for CLA as there is potential transformational opportunity for our national association to be revitalized and strategic. As we explore a more focused and reinvented CLA, it is critical that members are engaged and represented in its re-creation. Having served on several CLA Committees, I have had the privilege of working with library and information professionals from all various sectors and geographic locations across Canada, including association representatives of OLA, CULC, and CARL. Co-Chairing three CLA conferences and involved in two others, I have had opportunities to connect with the CLA membership and integrate members’ feedback to improve conference formats for subsequent years. As Councillor-at-Large, it would be an honour and privilege to liaise with the membership and contribute to the next rendition of our national association.

I have been a librarian for some 30+ years. Recognizing the important role associations play for the profession, I have been actively involved in their work throughout my career. Just as the library world has seen considerble change over this time period and has needed to evolve in order to remain relevant, library associations also need to challenge the status quo. I am encouraged by CLA’s recent efforts to address the changing times and I believe it will ultimately be successful in “building a generally inclusive and sustainable model that ensures the library community can continue to educate the broader public on national issues and advocate for these issues and interests at the federal level.” I would be honoured to be given the opportunity to work with the other stakeholders on rebuilding a national asssocation that meets the needs of our times.

CLA has been a part of my working life for over 30 years; first as a library technician and later as a librarian. Over all of these years I have seen the many contributions that the Association has made to our profession – by supporting initiatives like the Library Book Rate; expressing concern and sometimes outrage over the level of funding provided to our national and regional library systems and in recognizing the many contributions that our colleagues make to the profession. This is an Association that has weathered financial challenges and declining membership. However, we have come through, learning more about ourselves and by identifying priorities to grow the Association. As CLA President my commitment was to advance our advocacy initiatives, and seek out and listen to the many perspectives on how the Association can better serve the wide range of our Canadian library and information community. My presidential theme was “Building Bridges to the Future: Colleagues, Collaboration and Consultation will get you there.

Canadian Library Association
1150 Morrison Drive  #400
Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 0K4
T. 613-232-9625 x306
C. 613-513-5123
F. 613-563-9895

vmckay@cla.ca
execdir@cla.ca