The BC Accessibility Act establishes a legal framework to identify, remove, and prevent barriers to the full and equal participation of people with disabilities in BC.  Learn how two different library systems have worked to implement the regulations and how community-led principles intersect with accessibility work.

Speakers:

Noreen Ma (she/her) is Manager, Community Development at the Burnaby Public Library.  Previously, she was the Branch Head at the Britannia Branch at the Vancouver Public Library where she also coordinated Connection to Kith and Kin – a community-led service that assists Indigenous folks to research their ancestry.

Tara Thompson (she/her) is the Okanagan Regional Library’s (ORL) Community Engagement Coordinator.  Tara is a dedicated system librarian, supporting all 30 branches in the ORL system. Her primary areas of focus include promoting accessibility, enhancing adult services, and fostering strong community connections. Tara’s journey in the world of libraries began as a page in high school. Over the years, she’s taken on various roles, including serving as the Branch Head of the Vernon Branch and the Community Librarian of the Peachland Branch.

Join this inaugural session to learn from the experiences of 4 academic librarians doing community work.  Each will share about their roles and how community work is informed by the different needs of their respective institutions. This moderated panel discussion will include mini lightning talks, panel questions and general discussion.

Speakers:

Donna Langille (she/they) lives and works as an uninvited settler on the unceded traditional territory of the Syilx Okanagan peoples. She is the Community Engagement and Open Education Librarian, as well as the subject liaison librarian for film studies, theatre, media studies, and the digital humanities at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO). Their work includes connecting the wider community with UBCO Library resources and providing support to students, staff, and faculty working on open educational resources (OER), and building advocacy and awareness of OER at her institution. They are also a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Studies at UBCO. Prior to this degree, she earned her Honours B.A. in English and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from Simon Fraser University.

Carolyn Caseñas (she/her) is the User Services and Engagement Librarian and Assistant Head, Fraser Library at Simon Fraser University Library.  A BIPOC librarian of Filipino heritage, she previously worked in programming and community engagement in public libraries. In addition to connecting libraries with their communities, her interests include mentorship, coaching and training. Carolyn serves as a ViMLoC and APALA mentor and co-facilitates the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL) Displays, Outreach and Engagement Community of Practice.  She is a 2022-2023 ARL Leadership and Career Development (LCDP) Program Fellow.

David Gill (he/him/his) is the temporary Librarian, Student Engagement and Outreach at Vancouver Island University. David is a cishet and autistic South Asian librarian and has worked in multiple libraries as a library student and professional librarian. David is passionate about delivering service to the library community. He is the current Chair of the BC Academic Libraries Section and a member on BCLA’s board. David also serves as a mentor for IDEAS@UBC and ViMLoC for library students and new library professionals of colour.

Melissa Smith (she/her) is the Student Success Librarian as well as the subject liaison librarian for Education and Entertainment Arts, at Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library on the unceded traditional territory of the Kwantlen, Musqueam, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Tsawwassen,  Qayqayt and Kwikwetlem peoples. Melissa has a strong interest in first year experience and providing meaningful, engaging, and compassion driven library programming to all library users.

Jorge Cárdenas (he/him) is the Head of the Belzberg Library at the Simon Fraser University. Before that, he worked in public libraries in several positions, always with a community development approach. He also teaches community development at the UBC School of Information.

Beginning with the specific experience of working with teens at the library, this session will look at both the smaller details of relationship building as well as broader thinking about relationships in the community as a whole through the managerial lens.  Participants will hopefully come away from this session with some practical tools and tips as well as a larger framework and lens for assessing and planning long-term relationship work.

Speakers:

Saara Itkonen (she/her) is the Library Director at Creston Valley Public Library, on the unceded territories of the Yaqan Nukiy people of the Ktunaxa Nation.  Previous to working in Creston, Saara was a Children’s and Teen Librarian at Vancouver Public Library for over 8 years.  Her favourite part of her work is identifying and removing barriers for underserved communities to better inform and access their library’s services.

Claire Badali (she/her) is currently the Mobile Library Coordinator at Surrey Libraries, in which Surrey will be launching their first ever ‘bookmobile’ service. Previously, Claire was a Teen Librarian along with a focus on outreach in the community for women and children. Claire has also worked at Vancouver Public Library and Fraser Valley Regional Library in various positions.

This session will provide an overview of key concepts, challenges, and strategies relating to equity, diversity, inclusion, and racism/anti-racism in libraries. We’ll also learn about one of the speaker’s work as part of the Anti-Racism Working Group at Burnaby Public Library, discussing the process of organizing an internal anti-racism climate audit and next steps as an organization. Lessons learned and things to keep in mind for libraries starting this work, and how this connects to a better community-led work will be covered. There will be time to ask questions and have discussion after both presentations, and space to share resources collectively at the end of the session.

Emily Guerrero’s presentation – Anti-Racism in Action.

Speakers:

Leila Meshgini is a first-generation Iranian-Canadian settler on xwməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səlí̓lwətaʔ lands. She is the EDI Coordinator at Impact North Shore, and has a background in community librarianship.

Emily Guerrero is a Librarian and Archivist living on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səlí̓lwətaʔ Nations. They work at Burnaby Public Library.

Our culturally diverse communities are not a new phenomenon. So why are there still issues about connecting with them? Join Ravi Basi for a frank conversation about connecting with multicultural communities: by speaking up, taking responsibility, and meaningful action. Rural libraries are critical for small communities, providing services that are often unavailable elsewhere. Join Saara Itkonen as she talks about the reality and potential of BC’s rural libraries and how community librarianship is the only way to do business when everyone knows everyone else.

Ravi Basi’s presentation – No-Nonsense Tips for Community Outreach: Connecting with Multicultural Communities

Speakers:

Ravi Basi is Manager of Multicultural Services at Surrey Libraries. She was born in India, grew up in England and immigrated to Canada over 40 years ago. She graduated from UBC with her Masters in Library Science in 1985. Ravi oversees immigrant and newcomer services at Surrey Libraries and has been involved with outreach, programs, collections and advocacy for Surrey’s culturally diverse communities for 30 years. Her work also involves anti-racism and cross-cultural education and related initiatives such as Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Ravi’s passion for multicultural services is fueled by her own family’s experiences as immigrants in England and Canada, as well as the belief that ongoing education, dialogue, meaningful actions, and self-reflection are key factors in promoting intercultural understanding. Libraries have a responsibility to define their role in this process if they are truly inclusive and socially progressive.

Saara Itkonen is the current Director of Creston Valley Public Library in the Kootenay region of BC. Previous to taking over this role in 2018, Saara spent 9 years working as a Children’s and Teen Librarian at Vancouver Public Library. She has a particular passion for working in communities to remove barriers to library services.

How do you get buy-in for community work from your library? How do you advocate for resources with management? How do you get staff excited about this work? How do you make community connection a core part of what your library does? Join a conversation between Beth Davies and Ariel Caldwell as they discuss ways to work within library structures and connect meaningfully with the communities the library serves.

Speakers:

Ariel Caldwell is an Acting Assistant Manager in Vancouver Public Library’s Programming and Learning Department. Most recently, she spent 7 years as a Teen Services Librarian, engaging with youth in Vancouver’s northeast quadrant and building connections with community partners. Her relationships were fundamental to starting Connection to Kith and Kin (an Indigenous genealogy program). She taught Services for Young Adults at UBC’s iSchool in 2018, and received the Community Recognition Award from the Pacific Community Resources Society in 2019.

Beth Davies is Chief Librarian of Burnaby Public Library. Previous to taking on this role in 2016, she was in leadership roles at Vancouver Public Library, including Neighbourhood Services Manager and Head of the Carnegie Branch. She has worked in public libraries since 1999. Beth was a Board member of PovNet from 2009 to 2016. She is passionate about the critical role that public libraries play in connecting with communities, in making our library spaces accessible to all community members, and in meaningfully engaging with communities outside our walls to provide relevant and responsive service.