President’s Report / Rapport du président
51st Annual General Meeting / 51e Assemblée Générale Annuelle
Saturday May 25 2024 / le samedi le 24 mai 2024
Virtual / virtuel : 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 begin by thanking the members of the 2023 Board of Directors, including Lori O’Connor, Mary Doyle and Janna Munkittrick-Colton, the Appointed Officers including Jessica Hymers and Mary Doyle and the Appointed Executive Officers of the Chapters.
On Saturday May 23, 2023, the 50th Annual General Meeting of OALT/ABO was called to order both in person at Durham College and virtually via Zoom Meetings. Having obtained quorum through a combination of proxy holders and members present the membership proceeded with the business of the Association. Many of the Board positions were filled except for the positions of President-Elect, Internal Communications Coordinator and Chapter Coordinator.
The Board of Directors (“the Board”) met for the first time on June 08, 2023, via the Associations’ online meeting software (Zoom Meetings). Over the course of the year the Board met formally 9 times. This year, all of our meetings took place virtually, with the exception of our March meeting, which was held both in person and virtually from Kingston. Members of the Association also attended Advisory Committee meetings of the Algonquin and Mohawk Colleges’ Library and Information Technician Programs.
In 2024, the Ontario Association of Library Technicians/Association des bibliotechniciens de l’Ontario will be celebrating our 51st anniversary as a bilingual association. The founding meeting took place on Saturday October 27, 1973 at Humber College. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the formation of a Library Technician Association, and was chaired by Douglas Willford.
We also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ottawa Chapter/Section d’Ottawa (formerly Ottawa Regional Branch/Section Regionale d’Ottawa) this year. To find out more about the history of this Chapter, I recommend checking out their newsletter archives, available on the Associations’ website at the following link: https://oaltabo.on.ca/print-archives/chapters-regional-branches/ottawa/
Communications & Programming
The Board continues with implementation of Google Not for Profit as our document management platform. This platform allows the Board to manage all OALT/ABO documents, correspondence and archives in a centralized location, with access control to retrieve these electronic files. All Committees and Chapters are using Google as their document management platform.
The Board also continues our work on membership engagement and communications with our membership and the wider library community. The association further shares news and events on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn. We also maintain the OALT/ABO Discussion list, which has 264 members (as of May 19, 2024).
At the end of 2023, our social media following included:
- Facebook 31 news fans (total 782) and followers and 12K impressions
- X (formerly known as Twitter) – 31 fans and followers (total 848) and 1.9 K impressions
- Instagram Business 17 new fans and followers (total 153) and 1.3K impressions
- LinkedIn 6 new fans and followers (total 730) and 1.9K impressions
- 83 Posts across all networks
- 17K impressions across all networks
- 13K users reached across all networks
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 three college programs, including: Dorian Jensen (Algonquin College), Samantha Ogino (Seneca College) and Brooke Mayer (Mohawk College).
This year we held virtual and in person Student Meet and Greets at all three college programs. These included Algonquin College Mohawk College and Seneca College
Algonquin College – The Board of Directors attended the Algonquin Employer Meet and Greet in March 2024.
Mohawk College – We held two Zoom meetings, taking place in October and November 2023. Students who attended these sessions had some great questions, and we received positive feedback from attendees.
Seneca College – We held a virtual session at Seneca College in early March 2024. Students who attended this session had some great questions, and we received positive feedback from attendees.
OLA Super Conference
This year, the 2024 OLA Super Conference was held both in person and virtually. The Board of Directors had several members in attendance at the conference, promoting the association and our annual conference. 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 we made the decision to return to an in-person format. We will gather feedback from participants and members as we look towards next year. Thank you to Janna Munkittrick-Colton and her conference team for their planning, and execution of our conference. Please communicate with the Conference team with your feedback.
For fifty-one 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) 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 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.
Before concluding, I would like to thank Lori O’Connor (who has been on the Board for 10 years), Mary Doyle (who has been on the Board for 7 years) and Janna Munkittrick-Colton (who has been our Conference Coordinator for the last 5 years) for continuing in their roles over the last number of years.
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/