Limited capacity. Please select on Eventbrite.
7:45 am – Meet at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel. The tour will be taking public transit, please bring transit fare.
9:00 – 10:00 am - VPL Central Branch – Inspiration Lab
11:00 – 11:45 am - Richmond Art Gallery
Lunch (Pay your own way or bring your own)
1:15 – 2:00 pm - Richmond Public Library
2:15 – 3:00 pm - City of Richmond Museum
3:15 pm – Return back to the Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel
Immediately following the keynote address, all delegates are invited to celebrate the opening of the BC Library Conference 2015 Trade Show at the President’s Reception. This is a chance to say hello to the representatives of companies and organizations who do business with, and support, libraries. The Welcome Reception is hosted by Heather Buzzell, BCLA President. Meet up with colleagues and friends at the first social event of this year’s conference.
Hors d’oeuvres provided. No-host bar.
“The Transgender Tipping Point: America’s next civil rights frontier” headlined the June 2014 cover of Time Magazine. Learn how community and staff came together in Vancouver to examine barriers to participation for trans* and gender variant citizens and developed recommendations to improve inclusion and access through programming, human resources, signage, facility design, and partnerships. Stories and learning will be shared from recent experiences rolling out public trans* inclusive programming, removing gendered signage, and launching an awareness campaign in recreation facilities.
May 13th, 10am
We have just heard from Brian Lamb that, for personal reasons, he is unable to present this session at the BC Library Conference. The Conference Planning Committee joins Brian Lamb in apologizing to all who registered for this session. We will certainly ask Brian back next year!
These are interesting and often challenging times for libraries. More than ever a strong and clear library voice is needed to advocate for the principles libraries stand for, and to help communicate with our stakeholders and communities about the value of libraries. For almost 70 years the Canadian Library Association has served as this unified national voice on issues ranging from copyright legislation, net neutrality, intellectual freedom, and more. At this time, and like many libraries and library associations, CLA recognizes that changing times require a change in direction, structure, and vision.
CLA is exploring ways forward that secure a national voice for libraries and library issues leveraging CLA's established reputation and brand. A renewed CLA will respond to current issues in an informed and strategic manner, and advocate in the best interests of our institutions and the communities we serve.
The BCLA Board has invited Sandra Singh (CLA Vice-President/President-Elect) and Michael Ridley (CLA Treasurer) to join Caroline Daniels to explore questions that will help establish a unique mandate for a reinvigorated, representative, and responsive national association.
BCLA is pleased to host the Canadian Library Association presentation of the 2015 CLA Advancement of Intellectual Freedom Award to Brian Campbell, which will take place immediately before the Plenary.
“War is the health of the state,” wrote the American essayist Randolph Bourne during World War I. “Public opinion, as expressed in the newspapers, and the pulpits and the schools, becomes one solid block. Loyalty, or rather war orthodoxy, becomes the sole test for all professions, techniques, occupations.” Librarians have a special responsibility to resist such orthodoxy. How do we protect free speech and dissent today? What are the implications of Bill C 51 and the “war on terror”? How do we avoid the trap of using the call for free speech to deprive others of their rights and freedoms? What do we mean when we talk about free speech in a library context? Please join our distinguished panel of speakers to explore questions, and share opinions, that are relevant to us all.
The Keith Sacré Library Champion Award will be presented immediately following the plenary discussion.
David Eby will present a summary of several strategies for community engagement learned during his time working with non-profit organizations that he has deployed in his new role as an elected official. Group discussion to share strategies on community engagement will be encouraged with an emphasis on participants leaving with a couple practical ideas they can use to increase their impact in their local community.
BC’s Education Plan is based on a simple vision: Capable young people thriving in a rapidly changing world. To achieve this, we need an education system that better engages students in their own learning and that fosters the skills and competencies they will need to succeed.
Join Rod Allan, formerly the Superintendent for Learning (Ministry of Education), and now the Superintendent of Schools, SD 79 Cowichan Valley, for a discussion of education transformation and personalized learning in BC. In a more personalized world where more learning happens outside of a standard K-12 classroom, what are the opportunities and challenges for communities and libraries? There will be time for Q & A.
Wayde Compton’s talk will be about his experience setting out to represent black British Columbian history in literature and public memorial. It will also be about those who made space for Mr. Compton and others who were trying to do similar work; he will further discuss how diverse representation changes how we are in the world, the nation, the city, and even our own bodies.
