Adults

The University of Victoria Libraries is home to the world’s largest Transgender Archives (TGA). We are exceptional in our focus, size, and scope when compared to other archives in that our collections are explicitly dedicated to the preservation of the original documents recording the history of pioneering activists, community leaders, and researchers who have contributed to the betterment of trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit people. In this presentation, Lara Wilson and Michael Radmacher will discuss the past, present, and future of the Transgender Archives. They will answer questions such as: How did the TGA start at UVic? What unique and one-of-a-kind materials are housed at the TGA? What new collections have been recently donated? What are the TGA's current and future projects related to community outreach, accessibility, and digitization? Lastly, this presentation will offer a hands-on experience with a selection of the TGA’s rare materials. Come put your hands on hirstory.

Electronic resource issues can be complex to fix, and electronic resource management requires tracking a lot of information from many different silos. Patricia Pang and Sue Bengtson will talk about some challenges and discuss how unexpected implications of a new system demanded a larger conversation about cross-unit collaboration.

Liz Blackburn and Nick Rowlands will give an introduction to Courthouse Libraries BC and our LawMatters program. CLBC is a non-profit library system providing access to legal information to all British Columbians. We would like to share information with our library colleagues about Courthouse Libraries BC resources and services to which they may want to refer library users. Through our LawMatters program, we work in partnership with public libraries to help ensure that legal information is accessible for British Columbians who need it in every community. This support comes in the form of training, collection development guides, and grant money for books.

All aboard the STEAM train! In 2018, Vancouver Island Regional Library launched a STEAM initiative to bring more science, technology, engineering, arts, and math opportunities to customers across our geographically widespread service area. From using internal-use equipment to support STEAM programming in branches to circulating STEAM materials to support family learning at home, join VIRL staff for a glimpse into the nuts and bolts of this major undertaking. We’ll share our successes and challenges and discuss the realities, practicalities, and logistics we encountered throughout our STEAM planning journey. Learn about the origins of the project and see the end results: Programs in a Box, Tinker Totes, and a road show that took STEAM to some of our smallest rural communities.
The speakers at this presentation are librarians and information technicians at Vancouver Island Regional Library: Amy Dawley, Julie Carter, Ginger Warden, and Emma Ritchie.

During the 2018 VILSC Conference we presented on the topic of participatory culture in libraries and used the Greater Victoria Public Library’s DigiLab programming as a successful example of participatory culture and community-led programming. Some of the feedback we received during that session was that what we were doing sounded great, but why was it only for teens?
We took that feedback and ran with it, creating a programming series entitled Welcome to the Future that features newer technologies than our traditional adult technology programming offered. Our VR programming for teens had been so successful that we tried to use the same model of programming for adults, and, through feedback from patrons, learned very quickly that that particular model did not work for them. We have since taken the patron feedback and recreated our VR programming for adults to better reflect how and what they want to learn about VR in programming, and we plan to share what we have learned in this session.

An introduction to the changes in the used and rare book business from brick-and-mortar to virtual (but not always virtuous) vendors; the rise of algorithms, resellers, and megasellers; and why ordinary books cost $1K and up.

VIU Library Special Collections has started working closely with Milner Gardens & Woodland – a property with 60 acres of woodland and 10 acres of garden surrounding a heritage house in Qualicum Beach – in order to piece together and preserve the Veronica & Ray Milner Collection. With the help of a handful of people who knew the Milners personally, we are working together to collect and preserve the history of the land, property, and owners (ca.1930s-1998) so that it can be shared and made more accessible for the 200+ volunteers who work at the Gardens, as well as visitors and researchers further afield.

Collaboration can be transformative and a key to future success, particularly for smaller libraries/memory organisations. Through collaboration and large-scale systemic design, Arca, BC's collaborative digital repository, creates equity across the province by putting an innovative discovery platform within reach for even the smallest organisations. Attendees of this panel session learnt about the transformative impact of Arca from BC GLAM sector participants who are using Arca to make their digital treasures searchable and accessible to their communities. They heard about the innovative collaboration models for Arca partnerships with the BC History Digitization Program and the Digitized Okanagan History Project.

Drawing upon my own experiences with mental illness, my presentation will focus on these key topics: • Mental health “red flags” - how to tell when you’re at risk. • Self-awareness - knowing yourself well enough to recognize warning signs.

• Reaching out - considering your options, including removing personal stressors and seeking out help.
• Facilitating your recovery - how to take care of yourself following a mental health low.
• Talking about it - how to discuss mental health, and the importance of discussion for both mental illness sufferers and their supporters. In the spirit of "talking about it," questions are welcome (and encouraged)!

MOLLY HUTCHINSON is a second-year student in the Library Information Technology program at SAIT in Calgary. She is a passionate mental health awareness advocate and has been fighting the good fight against her own depression and anxiety for over a decade. When she's not focused on her studies, she can usually be found in the garden (weather permitting).