IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ottawa, April 22, 2016: The Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques is pleased to announce that the 2016 CLA Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award is being presented to two worthy recipients, Rebecca Jones and Alvin Schrader.
Rebecca Jones is currently Director of Service Delivery at Brampton Public Library, and partner in Dysart & Jones Associates, one of Canada’s leading library consulting firms. In addition to her many contributions to the academic, public and corporate library sectors, her greatest achievements have been in the creation of original work that contributes substantially to the improvement of library services in Canada and North America. Working with library boards, CEOs and senior teams, Rebecca has been involved in the drafting and implementation of numerous strategic plans and organizational transformations that have kept our profession on a future-facing path. Her deep knowledge of library trends and forecasts comes from her own insatiable curiosity and quest for understanding of what the public wants and needs from their libraries and how library staff can adapt and meet those changing demands. Passionate for excellence in leadership, she has been a curriculum designer and instructor for the Southern Ontario Library Services Advancing Public Library Leadership Institute and a mentor at the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute. Rebecca has also delivered strategic plans for several provincial and sector library associations and has recently facilitated important decision-making sessions for the CLA Board. She is a renowned public speaker and advocate for our profession, touching the careers of countless librarians across the country.
Alvin Schrader is Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. As Chair of the School of Library and Information Studies, he led the academic unit through two major reviews that recognized the Master of Library and Information Studies as an internationally accredited, high quality graduate degree program. After retiring in 2009, Alvin served for four years as Director of Research to the University of Alberta Libraries professional staff, mentoring and advising them in their conduct of research projects. His deep commitment to librarianship as a profession has informed all of his teaching and research activities over the years. These include intellectual freedom and censorship, sexual and gender minority library services, Internet access and filtering, academic librarianship, inquiry methodology and theory construction, research methods, library leadership, measurement and evaluation of library services, publishing, and international librarianship. He is the author of several books, numerous articles and papers. An active member of the Canadian library community throughout his career and past President of CLA, he was the first Canadian representative to the Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression Committee created in 1998 by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Recently Alvin led the successful revision of the “Statement on Intellectual Freedom and Libraries” approved by CLA Executive Council in 2015.
The nominations of both Alvin and Rebecca were endorsed by past presidents of the Canadian Library Association and previous recipients of the Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award.
The CLA Outstanding Service to Librarianship 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:
Ellen Humphrey Valoree McKay, CAE
Jury Chair, CLA OSL Award Executive Director at Canadian Library Association
Ellen.Humphrey@calgarypubliclibrary.com vmckay (at) cla.ca