Adults

In recent years, young adult (YA) fiction has, like its Generation Z audience, turned to social justice issues and activism. At the same time, the discussion of social responsibility in librarianship has begun to include human rights and social justice, especially since public libraries provide education and information about issues of rights and justice. 

For Jennifer's thesis research, she conducted a participatory case study with a co-designed virtual program through the Camrose Public Library. The case study investigated how teen readers engage with the social justice themes in YA fiction, how and if they find these themes useful for understanding and engaging in activism on their own, and the influence of public library programming on these actions. 

This presentation provides an overview of what worked and what didn’t when it came to collaborative program design with teens and provides practical recommendations for young adult librarians who want to implement social justice programming.

Cat McIlroy (she/her)

Librarian, Sexsmith Secondary School

Information literacy has always been a part of librarians' vernacular, but because students are facing an increasingly endless abyss of digital information and misinformation, it is now librarians' responsibility to show them how to navigate.

Cat will discuss how librarians can help high school students become information and digitally literate. The session will include ways to partner with teachers, engage with students in-person and virtually, and the methods to make things relevant and fun.

A talk by Sharon Day (she/her)

Director, Branch Services and Collections, Edmonton Public Library

The CULC eBook Task Force Working group works on behalf of public libraries to increase awareness of digital content issues and advocate for sustainable solutions. Key priorities of the group include sharing information on what is currently being done in Canada and the US with respect to e-books and e-audiobooks; implementing public awareness campaigns; advocating with politicians; as well as providing opportunities for collaboration across the public library community regarding issues related to digital content. In 2020 the group worked on the CULC COVID-19 Taskforce, launching a title available in English and French for the 2021 One eRead Canada campaign and collaborated with ULC to endorse and support Reader's first eLending study. Find out more about these initiatives and their impact, as well as what is coming next.

CW: Discussions of Transphobia, Homophobia, Hate Speech, Suicide, Violence

As LBTQA+ identities become more widely acknowledged and accepted, it is critical that libraries ensure that their hiring processes are kept up to date and as inclusive as possible. This presentation is designed to assist potential hiring committees in developing best practices to ensure that these identities are not only respected, but that their presence does not negatively prejudice the committee against the potential recruit. It will primarily address transgender identities, but is broadly applicable to many others in the LBTQA+ community. By the conclusion of the presentation, you will have a versatile toolkit to ensure your library’s positions are truly open to all who apply.

This presentation was given at a staff training conference for about 75 staff from a public library system in the BC interior. The system includes 13 branches and one mobile library in cities and towns that range from the very small to a city of over 90,000.  The presentation was intended as an introduction to the concept and value of intellectual freedom as well as to issues currently being discussed around IF in the library community and the communities served by the system. Slides detailed procedures specifc to the system for handling challenges to materials or programs have been removed from this file.