President’s Report / Rapport du Président
48th Annual General Meeting / 48e Assemblée Générale Annuelle
Friday May 14 2021 / le vendredi le 14 mai 2021
online / en ligne
On behalf of the membership of the Ontario Association of Library Technicians/Association des bibliotechniciens de l’Ontario (OALT/ABO), I would like to first begin by thanking the members of the Board of Directors, including Lori O’Connor, Kate Terech, Sarah Goodyear, Janna Munkittrick-Colton and Jeka Dupont, the Appointed Officers including Tiffany Ribeiro and Mary Doyle and the Appointed Executive Officers of the 4 Chapters.
On Saturday May 02, 2020, the 47th Annual General Meeting of OALT/ABO was called to order electronically via WebEx. Having obtained quorum through a combination of proxyholders and members present, the membership got on with the business of the Association. Most of the Board positions were filled except for the position of President-Elect which remained vacant.
The Board of Directors (“the Board”) met for the first time on May 21st, 2020, via the Associations’ online meeting software (Google Meet). Over the course of the year the Board met formally 10 times. All of our Board meetings this year took place online using either Google Meet or Zoom, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020. Members of the Association also attended Advisory Committee meetings of the Algonquin and Mohawk Colleges’ Library and Information Technician Programs.
Communications
In June 2020, we released the Summer 2020 Special Issue of NewsLETTER/NouvELLES. This special issue will introduce our Board of Directors team, highlight our historical online Annual General Meeting and provide a 2021 conference update. We will also provide you with our COVID-19 resource center, with resources as libraries and workplaces begin to open, as well as stories from members working from home.
In September 2020, we released our 2020 edition of the Salary and Library Survey. This year’s analysis is based on 138 responses to the English survey and 4 responses to the French survey. All questions were optional and not every respondent answered each question. Some questions were asked per job, so respondents reporting more than one library-related position submitted multiple answers.
In December 2020, we released our Fall/Winter 2020 Issue of NewsLETTER/NouvELLES. This issue provides a look at the Association’s Archives, a sneak peek at our 2021 Conference, as well as stories from LIT Students, and working from home at the Thorold Public Library. We also celebrate Liz Aldrey’s lifetime membership.
Again, this year the Board continued with implementation of Google Not for Profit as our document management platform. This platform now allows the Board to manage all OALT/ABO documents, correspondence and archives in a centralized location, with access control to access these electronic files. All Committees and Chapters are also now using Google as their document management platform.
The Board has also continued our work on membership engagement and communications with our membership and the wider library community. The association continues to share news and events on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. We also continue to maintain the OALT/ABO Discussion list, which contains 208 members (as of April 1, 2021).
At the end of 2020, our social media following included:
- Facebook 634 fans
- Twitter 891 followers
- Instagram 113 followers
- LinkedIn 613 followers
A summary of our social media highlights can be found at the end of this report [PDF version].
Student Engagement
The Board recognized the OALT/ABO Outstanding Student Award winners of the four college programs, including: Emma Russell (Algonquin), Quinn Salverda (Durham), Elizabeth (Lynne) Fascinato (Mohawk), and Emily Spencer (Seneca).
This year we held virtual Student Meet and Greets at all 3-college programs. These include Algonquin College Mohawk College and Seneca College
Algonquin College – The Executive of the Ottawa Chapter/Section d’Ottawa and Board of Directors hosted a virtual Meet and Greet via Zoom on November 5th. There were approximately 15 students in attendance, as well as members from the Ottawa Chapter/Section d’Ottawa.
Mohawk College – This year we held two Zoom meetings, taking place on November 9 and November 10. Students who attended these sessions had some great questions, and we received positive feedback from attendees.
Seneca College – This year we held two Blackboard Collaborate sessions, taking place on November 17 and November 19. We had approximately 30-40 students attending each session.
OLA Super Conference
This year, the 2021 OLA Super Conference went virtual. The Board of Directors took part in the 2021 Virtual Expo, with many visits from conference attendees during the conference. As of February 26th, we had 440 individuals visit our virtual booth, which is available until the end of August 2021 on the OLA Super Conference platform. Thank you to Mary Doyle as the Library Technician Stream Planner.
Every year we look forward to our annual conference as an important time to connect, share and learn together. This year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our planning and conference is going virtual. Thank you to Janna and her conference team for their planning, and execution of our conference. Please communicate with the Conference team with your feedback.
For forty-eight years, the Ontario Association of Library Technicians/Association des bibliotechniciens de l’Ontario has been a source of initiative and innovation for library technicians of the province. The Association and the membership have been called upon to give their skills, time and energy to:
- Define clearly the role of the Library and Information Technician and to make this definition widely known.
- To publicize the value of Library and Information Technicians and promote wider understanding and acceptance of their status.
- To institute recognized standards operating on the Provincial level.
- To work to liaison with related professions and institutions and to promote effective communication among Library and Information Technicians and others in closely related fields.
- To be receptive and aware of the constant changes and needs in the field of Library and Information Technology and the community
- To disseminate information related to Library and Information Technicians
I would like to encourage any member (new or existing) who would like to be part of the Board of Directors, Chapter Executive, or a Committee. It is an extremely rewarding opportunity, which allows you to help out the Library Community at the same time. I have had a great chance to work with an amazing team of committed volunteers, where all our interests, skills and expectations have been matched and met. I encourage you to do the same. I would like to extend my deepest thanks to the members of the Board of Directors, Appointed Officers and the Chapter Executive Teams for their work this year.
Respectfully submitted,
-Original signed by Vincent Elit
Vincent Elit
President, Board of Directors | Président, Conseil d’administration
Ontario Association of Library Technicians/Association des bibliotechniciens de l’Ontario
info@oaltabo.on.ca | https://oaltabo.on.ca/