Ontario Library Association 2026 Super Conference
We Persist - Conference Reflections by Diana Maliszewski
Thursday, January 29, 2026
8:45 a.m. - Building Plurilingual Libraries: Practical Tools for Collection Management (Jen Aston & Karen Devonish-Mazzotta)
Summary: (copied from online program description)
This session equips school librarians with practical strategies to effectively organize, catalogue, and promote both French and English resources in a school library. Whether your school is primarily English-speaking with a few French titles, a French immersion environment, or a Francophone school with English materials, this session will help ensure equitable access and visibility for both language collections. Recognizing the rich linguistic diversity of today’s students, many of whom are multilingual, this session also considers how to create inclusive library spaces that validate and reflect students’ full language identities. We’ll explore shelving practices, cataloging tips, signage, collection development, and student engagement strategies that support equitable access and meaningful connection for all learners.
3 Key Points:
1) Homeroom teachers have the awareness and knowledge of the home languages of their students, so lean into that expertise.
2) Place cards on the table during Curriculum Night reflecting the language of your students, so that the families can feel seen and heard. You can also keep the cards out so that families who are unable to attend Curriculum Night for various reasons aren't penalized for their absence.
3) The ideas of great educational thinkers like Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop and Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings are still as important today as they were when they were first shared.
So What? Now What?
The "problem" with Super Conference is that there are so many sessions occurring simultaneously that it's hard to decide which ones to attend in their entirety! I am honoured to know both of the presenters - they are phenomenal educators. I wanted to show support for their work but I also wanted to get to sessions with participants that I would not interact with beyond the scope of the conference, so I only attended part of this talk. My "now what" is to see if I can view a copy of their slide deck to review myself.
Media Artifacts:
8:45 a.m. - I Hope They Don't Come Back Next Week: Sharing Strategies for Handling Patrons Whose Behaviour is Derailing Your Program (Michelle Morrison)
Summary: (copied from online program description)
Librarians have long had to deal with difficult people simply because we work with the public, and now with deepening political divides, expanding income inequality and growing loneliness epidemic the need for programs to connect people has never been more urgent, and the obstacles to maintaining those programs have never been more difficult to overcome. This is an opportunity for librarians and library staff to share their experiences in dealing with difficult patrons who attend public programs and offer each other solutions to de-escalate, resolve and end the issue.
3 Key Points:
1) Difficult people can be understood in about 5 categories. Knowing the category can help you understand how to deal with it. For example, a patron who is chronically late to a scheduled program who then expects for the library worker to restart from the beginning just for them might be a) trying to be cute and attention-getting b) super disorganized, or c) controlling. Loneliness is a huge reason for some of these disturbances, and it's a vicious circle because the individual can become more repulsive, causing others to not want to be near them which adds to the loneliness.
2) Maintaining that consistent boundary among staff helps a lot (so that the disruptive patron can't say "that librarian says I can stay"), as does early but calm intervention so it doesn't get worse. For instance, the work of Simon Sinek (FBI = feelings, behaviour, implication) is useful to communicate that although they themselves are welcome, their negative conduct is not. Some folks have no idea that their behaviour is inappropriate or what they are doing is wrong.
3) Use de-escalation techniques, like the ones Ryan Dowd espouses (empathy training, neutral body language) and have a buddy so that you can do the "slow push" out when things get too obnoxious (i.e. keep calmly repeating "my friend, I'm sorry; you can't be here today" as you walk them out). Sometimes other patrons want to be the "white knight" and that actually escalates the situation. Having a printed list of what people can and can't do also puts the focus not on the person delivering the message but a separate object. Your last level should be the police.
So What? Now What?
The slide deck wasn't working when I entered the session, so I did not see the list of the categories of behaviours. This was clearly focused on public libraries but I thought there were things I could take from it related to dealing with difficult people. My next step is to look at Michelle's presentation if it's posted on the OLA website. They mentioned the "social sadist" and that's a term I hadn't heard before but want to investigate further.
9:45 a.m. - The Library: A Hub to Foster Healthy Schools (Richard Reid and Andrea Haefele)
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Are school libraries a hub for building healthy school communities? We say yes, especially when you persist! Join us for an inspiring session showcasing the innovative efforts of APPLE Schools and how school libraries play a vital role in promoting the pillars of comprehensive school health. Gain practical, evidence-based strategies that engage students, staff and community. From creating Daily Physical Activity lending kits, to hosting literacy-based active transit routes to school, while collaborating with educators and community partners, participants will learn practical strategies to embed activity, healthy eating and well being into library programs. Participants will discover insights on overcoming challenges, and walk away with immediately actionable tools and activities that centre health and well-being all within your school library.
3 Key Points:
1) Partnerships are helpful and consider unusual ones like with grocery stories.
2) Make it inclusive like holding a Chai and Chat but invite a board translator so the families in the community can access the information more readily.
3) Contact appleschools.ca for assistance with these - funding is based on grants and this Edmonton-based charity can help in other ways, like the Healthy Schools Recognition Program
So What? Now What?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions! I intended to attend this session, but as I was walking to the room, I met several people I hadn't spoken to in a long time. I had some excellent hallway conversations with people, such as Jordan Graham, Cindy vanWonderen, and Karen Devonnish-Mazzotta. By the time our conversations had ended, I only had a few minutes in Richard and Andrea's session! It was still helpful, as participants were active, discussing the content, and Richard had many examples of the impact of Apple Schools in his building, and how he and the library have played an important part.
Media Artifacts:
10:45 a.m. - Spotlight: An Interview with Mychal Threets
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Mychal Threets is a librarian, mental health advocate, and the library’s number one fan (according to himself, admittedly). He is a recipient of the 2024 “I Love My Librarian” award from the American Library Association, one of School Library Journal’s 2024 Movers and Shakers, one of TIME Magazine’s 2024 Next Generation Leaders, a 2025 TIME100 creator, and a 2025 The Webby Awards winner for social impact, and he is at OLA to celebrate the launch of his first picture book: I'm So Happy You're Here: A Celebration of Library Joy. Mychal will be interviewed by author, founder of the Festival of Literary Diversity, and CanLit treasure Jael Richardson.
3 Key Points:
1) Libraries can make children's goals and dreams come true. Mychal was homeschooled and spent a lot of time in the library. He had always wanted to bring his precious pet cat to the library and one day when he was young, one of the librarians organized a Pet Parade and it happened. (It was a funny story, as the Pet Parade ended up as a a bit of a library disaster, with animals running loose and some very interesting interpretations of pets!)
2) All books count as reading. In his new gig as the host of Reading Rainbow, Mychal says that the books are the stars of the show and the focus is on the library kids.
3) The library is the last third space. Telling people they belong in the library implies that they also belong in the world, and people need to hear this message. Mychal shared that when he announced that March 1, 2024 would be his last day working for the library, he had originally intended that March 2, 2024 would be his last day on earth. Thankfully, the public outcry and attention the story received made him realize that people cared about him and he mattered.
4) Mychal says it's important for library workers to take breaks. He reminds us that on planes, the advice is to put on your own oxygen mask before you assist others, and that is true in the library world too. He says he knows that's hard, because library people have a lot of empathy, but we need to acknowledge when we are not okay.
So What? Now What?
Mychal Threets is such a sensitive, sweet soul. Jael Richardson did an incredible job interviewing him. I had a fantastic seat in the third row from the front. My next step is to buy Mychal's new picture book. It was on sale after the talk, but they sold out rapidly and the lineup to get an autograph was an hour long!
Media Artifacts:
12:00 noon - [Poster Session] Breakfast Club: A Catalyst for Library Collaboration, Student Retention, and Academic Integrity (Kristi Haddad, Jessica Joy, and Lindsay Fricker)
Summary: (taken from online program description)
How can libraries move beyond access to resources and become catalysts for persistence and integrity? This session highlights the “Breakfast Club” program, a collaborative initiative designed to foster both student success that is grounded in research-based strategies. The initiative positions the library as a hub where students gather, connect with peers, and access supports early and often—key factors in student retention. Taking a proactive lens toward academic integrity, the program creates safe spaces where students can surface unasked questions, build skills, and reduce misconduct risks before they arise. The model provides a scaffolded pathway from one-on-one advising to group engagement to independent learning, ensuring students leave with skills that serve them as learners, community members, and future alumni. Attendees will gain insight into how this initiative can be scaled and replicated, positioning the library as central to retention strategies and academic integrity efforts across post-secondary education and beyond.
1 Key Point:
1) It is easier to keep existing students than to lose students and have to attract new ones. Feeding students leads to a culture of care, which leads to an opportunity to develop learning skill strategies (similar in my opinion to the Learning Strategies course in high school) that will help them socially as well as academically.
So What? Now What?
I went to the Expo Hall, checked out this poster session by very passionate college librarians, and also made sure to have lunch. Running across the street to the food court with Kim Davidson to grab subs was chilly, but dining with author Colleen Nelson and fellow TLs Kim, Wendy, and James was warm and delightful. We visited some scaly and furry friends and connected with wonderful vendors. I need to find a way to connect with these people more often! My plans also include checking to see how to get an Indigenous vendor to be on the board-approved list and reach out to a Saskatchewan librarian to try to complete my Canada bucket list and present at a Saskatchewanian conference.
Media Artifacts:
2:15 p.m. - CSL's Digital Media Literacy Toolkit: Smarter Together in the Age of AI (Diana Maliszewski and Jennifer Casa-Todd)
Summary: (taken from online program description)
In a world that is ever changing, the Canadian School Library realizes the need for practical resources that match the shifting digital landscape. CSL is proud to release their free Digital and Media Literacy Toolkit. Last year’s OLA Super Conference offered the chance for school library professionals to provide feedback on the draft version of this resource, and now the final version has been released. Get an overview of this useful kit. Combat disinformation. Resist trolls and phishers. Persist in educating yourselves, your students, and your communities with accessible activities that are cross-curricular and can be integrated into your own context. Contribute to the ways we can see these lessons in action. Be inspired by two of the contributors to the Toolkit to apply some of these ideas in your own school or public library.
3 Key Points
1) The Digital Media Literacy Toolkit has three action verb sections: Think, Feel, and Do. Each section has Key Questions, an Overview, Suggested Activities, a Continuum, Resources, and a See It In Action component.
2) Balance is so important - neither should you act like you are in an AI-cult, using it for everything without any considerations, nor should you claim it is the root of all evil in the world and the downfall of civilization as we know it.
3) Use AI purposefully and critically for good.
So What? Now What?
This was my first time planning and presenting with Jennifer Casa-Todd. She is such an experienced presenter and I benefited from so many "little" things she does to make her talks flow so well. She has a presenter playlist of songs that she has on speaker ten minutes before the session starts; it's a way to make participants feel relaxed and welcomed. Not only did she do the "lipstick on teeth" check, she did a "nose" check; I never thought of doing that! My friend Juli Mori commented that many of the sessions she had attended in the morning did not have live captioning; when I told Jennifer, she made sure to use her phone as a hotspot and set it up right away so that our words spoken in the microphone would be converted to on-screen print. She also set up her videos and visuals so that they would scroll slowly and automatically to illustrate the points she wanted, making it look extra professional.
We had so many wonderful audience contributions, from people such as Kelly Iggers, Alanna King, Melanie Mulcaster, Jessica (whose last name I didn't catch but is from an Ontario college), Jennifer McTaggert, Leslie (whose contact information I erased for privacy), Juli Mori, and Cindy vanWonderen. I'm sorry I didn't write down everything you said, but I wanted to ensure I gave you credit here on my blog.
The next step is to get more "See It In Action" examples up on the CSL DMT website.
Media Artifacts:
3:45 p.m. - Thursday Keynote: A Conversation on Indigenous Literature, Lands and Community with Stephanie Sinclair and David A. Robertson
Summary (taken from online program description)
David A. Robertson, editorial director of Swift Water Books and Stephanie Sinclair, Publisher of McClelland & Stewart, discuss how publishing can reveal truths and lead writers and readers closer to the long-term goal of true reconciliation. Throughout their conversation, the two Indigenous editors will talk about complex histories, the persistence of Indigenous storytelling, and the joys and challenges of trying to represent the diverse Indigenous cultures across Turtle Island — examining steadiness, wisdom and love in two new anthologies, A STEADY BRIGHTNESS OF BEING and YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS WORLD, as well as in larger publishing work and community.
So What? Now What?
I have been attending and presenting OLA Super Conference since 2000 for sure, and it has taught me that just as important as the learning that happens in the conference rooms is the learning that happens in conversations in the halls. I connected with a colleague and had an excellent debrief. It was so engaging that I arrived at the keynote just as it had ended. Thankfully, OLA makes these big event sessions available online, so my next step is to watch the recording to see what I "missed".
6:00 p.m. - School Library Social
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Connect with school library colleagues at this relaxed, drop‑in social. Swap ideas, meet new collaborators (and new friends), and leave with refreshed energy to bring back to your school community. Light refreshments provided; come as you are—no formal agenda.
So What? Now What?
In addition to the social, this was where the Teacher-Librarian of the Year award was presented. The winner was Marena Gillen, from the District School Board of Niagara. I am a big Marena Gillen fan, and not just because she was one of my TL AQ participants! Her program, described by her nominator, is one that I wish I was doing more of in mine. Transforming the library into a reading campground? Hosting a "Masked Reader" event at her school where teachers wore costumes and read in goofy voices? It sounds magical. Her former principal (who is the brother of another library treasure, Ruth Gretsiger) attended to show his support for his TL.
I was deep in conversation with many different people that evening, including Marena. (Lisa Wallace and Juli Mori, you are both such wonderful human beings!) At one point, my dear friend Wendy was urgently calling me over. I had no idea what was so urgent. It turns out that one of the unexpected guests at the Ontario School Library Association Social was none other than Amanda Jones, the Friday closing keynote speaker!
Media Artifacts:
7:00 p.m. - Social Night
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Let’s Celebrate 125 Years of OLA! Join us for our beloved Thursday Night Social, where the vibes are festive and the fun is guaranteed!
This year’s lineup has something for everyone:
- Drag Musical Bingo
- Crafting Corner
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Board Games
- Chill Chats Over Drinks & Food
Whether you're here to play, create, or connect, we’ve got the perfect mix of activities to make your night memorable. Come celebrate with friends and colleagues—because 125 years deserves a party!
So What? Now What?
Again, conversations are so valuable and it can be hard to capture their essence. "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other, gold". I made new friends with May (whose name I am misspelling), a U of T Mississauga librarian that I first met when we were having our professional portraits taken that morning, and got to reconnect with old friends Joel Krentz (former TL, now a principal) and Juli Mori. I spoke with Doug Davey - congratulations on multiple fronts to his wife, Wilma - and gravitated to the craft room to bond with my good friends Sarah Wheatley and Lisa Noble. My next steps are to reach out to Wilma over shared experiences and try and book a time to see Sarah when we are not at a conference.
Media Artifacts:
Friday, January 30, 2026
8:00 a.m. - Forest of Reading Breakfast
Summary:
This event, hosted by Tinlids, is to thank all the authors, selection/steering committee members, OLA staff and volunteers that make the Forest of Reading possible.
So What? Now What?
It helps to know people! I wasn't supposed to attend this breakfast, but I'm friends with Wendy Burch-Jones and Maria Martella, so they added me to the list. There were some great speeches by Maria Martella, and Meredith Tutching and a healthy protein breakfast to jumpstart the day. My next steps are to catch up on all the Forest of Reading conversations I missed with students this week!
Media Artifacts:
9:15 a.m. - From Card Catalogues to CoPilot: Libraries Persist Through Innovation (Deidre Harrington)
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Generative AI is shaking things up in libraries, learn how you can jump in and start using it with confidence. Whether you're in a public or school library, you'll explore practical ways to use AI tools to save time, spark creativity, and better serve your community. We’ll cover the basics of AI and prompt engineering, then dive into real examples: building collections, recommending books, planning programs, and more. You’ll also learn how to spot AI-generated content and align AI use with your library’s goals. Plus, we’ll talk about the bigger picture—like ethical concerns, environmental impact, and equity in AI adoption. If you’re curious about how AI can support your work (without replacing the heart of what you do), this session is for you.
3 Key Points:
1) AI is just a tool. Prompts matter a lot to using the tool well, Try to give it context. Realize it is flawed and imperfect because it it based on patterns of data, not a database. Deidre encourages us to use it because since more men use AI than women, over time it can increase the gender divide and stereotypes and we need to fix that gender bias through our use. Deidre recommends a gradual, thoughtful adoption of AI.
2) AI slop and vendor slurry are becoming more and more frequent. Try to avoid it by searching for the listed author, checking out odd images, noticing the repetitive language or gibberish, and search for reviews by real people. There's both fiction and non-fiction slop, so be aware. Out of 558 books listed under the "herbal remedies" category in Amazon, 82% of them are writing by AI. Check out the article by Nick Tanzi (spelling?) about Addressing AI Genearted Content in Libraries.
3) Deidre does not pay for AI, nor does she do frivolous AI image generation unless she needs it for work. She has recommended uses, such as for collection development analysis, suggesting titles by authors that may be missing in your collection, book display ideas, brainstorming programming ideas, developing escape room quizzes, generating copyright-free images for newsletters or displays (but still check with others for accuracy, like her Mahjong image example), to translate PDFs into other languages (but don't use for critical government documents), to find videos to use for staff PD, or for writing grants
So What? Now What?
This was a popular session, and unfortunately the seat I got meant I could not see the screen at all. This really impacted my enjoyment of this information-rich talk. For instance, I had to get up to see the examples Deidre found of "romantasy" books and had us guess which was actually written by a human vs AI. My next steps are to locate her slide deck and maybe try one of her suggestions.
Media Artifacts:
10:45 a.m - Makers and Minds: Fabrication in the LLC (Melanie Mulcaster and Mishelle Pitter-Adlam)
Summary: (taken from online program description)
Step into the world of hands-on creativity where ideas turn into tangible designs. Makers & Minds: Fabrication in the LLC invites participants to explore design inquiry through the tools of modern fabrication. From precision cuts on the Cricut and intricate patterns etched with the laser cutter, to crafting with the sewing machine, shaping with the Chopsaw, and prototyping with the 3D printer, this workshop highlights how each tool can bring imagination to life.
3 Key Points:
1) You don't have to have all the latest expensive tools and these activities will not turn your environment into all sunshine and rainbows. Tools do not make the makerspace; focus on the mindset of making.
2) Many outlets for STEM/STEAM education (for-profit, non-profit, or other) have all-white participants. Historically, it's been very privileged. We need in our school libraries to change that. Mishelle and Melanie are heavily influenced by the work of Emdin (2022) and his book STEM STEAM Make Dream. Make sure you consider your why in order to shake up your how.
3) Build perseverance with encouraging the engineer design process, especially the revise portion. Many students can lack grit and need that exposure to things not working. There's a monograph on critical making and we want kids to be agents of change. Identify constraints to the builds so it challenges them. That way, they play, experiment and create community.
4) Use mentor texts to launch your STEM inquiries, like the All Together Quilt or The Shape of Home for quilting or sewing projects. Mishelle described a Grade 1 project that helped to unify yet also diversity, and fit with the community helper social studies unit.
5) There was a lot of intentionality in their purpose. Don't just make for making sake, because we need to be aware of the plastic waste we generate. Melanie had students do 3D printing but the result served many purposes, such as a tessellation class project as well as a ink stamp.
So What? Now What?
I was the convenor for this session and I'm glad I was. It was a great workshop! (I also served a purpose by trouble-shooting the "leaky speakers" that were broadcasting a talk from an adjacent room!) The activity that Mishelle and Melanie had for the participants present was a version of the activity I had my own primary division students do for their major STEM project!! I felt so validated. Melanie and Mishelle's was a bit better, because they had the mentor text "Some Pets" and the constraint they introduced was that you only had 6 squares and could only make 2 cuts per square. I want to re-read their slides and try one of their other suggestions as a unit for my STEM classes. (The Grade 1 community helpers I Spy quilt unit sounds amazing!)
Media Artifacts:
12:00 noon - [Poster Session] We Persist Through Love: Book Bannings and other Moral Panics (Emma Post and Andrea Casselman)
Summary: (taken from online program description)
With book bannings at a record high and libraries under public scrutiny at unprecedented levels, one must ask: “Are these concerns warranted?” “What do we do?”. We would like to add a new question to the mix: “Is this a moral panic?” This session will cover the history of moral panics, examine the current spate of book bannings through the framework of a moral panic, and offer pathways to build empathy as information professionals, using Freire’s philosophy of Learning Through Love. Whether you read books like The Great Gatsby or graphic novels like Batman: Year One learning empathy is not only possible but proven and it creates critical thinkers. This session is here to help so when someone says “That book is dangerous” you’ll be able to listen and say “I read that book and all I understood was another side of the story”.
1 Key Point:
1) These types of knee-jerk reactions aren't new; there was the outcry against Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s because of the "Satanic Panic".
12:00 noon - [Poster Session] Medicine Cabinet: Creating a Feelings-Forward Multilingual Poetry Collection (Re)Using a Card Catalog (Bennett Steinberg, Astrid Chandler, and Paulina Rousseau)
Summary: (taken from online program description)
When considering support for a medical school, poetry may not come to mind. But, coinciding with the opening of the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health, the UTSC library is launching The Medicine Cabinet Poetry Collection to promote wellbeing in our community. Poems have been selected in English translation from the 5 most-spoken languages in Scarborough. They will be catalogued by the emotions they represent and presented in a restored card catalogue. This project aims to support mental wellbeing and interdisciplinary teaching on campus and present an access point to poetry that is reflective of our student body’s diversity. Our poster provides tools for practitioners interested in creating interactive displays like The Medicine Cabinet Poetry Collection. This includes discussion of logistical challenges of creating a physical display using catalog cards, considerations around poetry forms and translation availability, pitfalls in cataloguing by emotions, and potential curricular and outreach activities.
1 Key Point:
1) 5 languages were selected, but there is still a lack of Tagalog poetry. They used a 3 prong scale to categorize their poetry.
So What? Now What?
So much to do, so little time! I wish I had time to also view the Poster Sessions called "Persisting Through Play: From Dry to Dynamic Copyright Education Through Gaming" by Camille Simkin, Chloe Thierstein, Michelle Pettis and Emily Wilson, as well as "Where did the teacher-librarians go? The deprofessionalization of learning commons in Alberta" by Emma Scott. (After the conference, I need to find Emma's contact information and then reach out to her for maybe a CSLJ article on the topic.) I need to make sure I send Serena Horrell (who was presenting "Turtles Upon Turtles: A School Library Collaboration with the Nuit Blanche Coves Collective Lantern Parade" at the same time as Mel and Mishelle) a link to Mel and Mishelle's slide deck.
My daughter came to the conference as a guest of Saunders Book Company. She spent time with James and Abbie and browsed the vendor hall. I grabbed Abbie and Mary and took them with me to lunch at Scaddabush with the TDSB TL group, a most welcoming bunch of educators and people.
Media Artifacts:
2:15 p.m. - We Are All Treaty People: Learning to Acknowledge the Land, the People, and our Place (Kelli Morning Bull and Kim Wagner)
Summary (taken from online program description)
Truth and Reconciliation is a core pillar of the Calgary Public Library’s strategic direction. To support this work, CPL established a stewardship group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff and leadership, working collaboratively to build organizational capacity for meaningful change. Through an intense and inclusive consultation process, the group identified the Library’s formal Land Acknowledgement as a foundational step—both a public commitment and an internal guide for action. This process also revealed unexpected learning pathways, shaping ongoing initiatives that continue to evolve across the system. By sharing our approach, challenges, and learnings, we aim to provide insight into how libraries can create structures that foster collaboration, accountability, and sustained impact in Truth and Reconciliation. Participants will take away practical strategies for engaging staff, embedding commitments into daily practice, and designing services that more effectively respond to the needs of Indigenous communities.
3 Key Points
1) It's okay to have "positive failure stories". For instance, Calgary Public Library tried to design land acknowledgements in 2018 but they found they had not enough information or content, so it ended up being just fluffy "touch the sky" stuff which was well-intentioned but useless, and this was even from those who are viewed as subject area experts. Walk with humility. Laugh at yourself, then move forward.
2) Their children's land acknowledgement video is the most viewed video they've made. It's very easy to access and understand, not just by children but by newcomers who aren't familiar with Canada's history or English. There are hand actions used and is engaging and simple to understand.
3) Calgary has all sorts of things in place, like smudge kits and a place where you can smudge.
So What? Now What?
I'm so glad I sat with Lisa Wallace during this session. I was getting a bit tired after two days of non-stop networking and learning, and listening with her next to me helped my focus tremendously. Two things I want to try or use are the Flannelgrams (where flannel images, made by Indigenous people, help young children communicate the land acknowledgement) and the hand gestures with the land acknowledgement. I won a book as part of this session, so bonus! My next step is to reach out to the UIEC to see if this Flannelgram idea could work.
Media Artifacts:
3:30 p.m. - Finding Hope in the Darkness: A Journey to Protect Intellectual Freedom (Amanda Jones & Moe Hosseini-Ara)
Summary (taken from online program description)
In the United States, the nation’s libraries are under attack. More and more libraries are seeing an unprecedented number of book challenges. This is not unique to the US as libraries across Canada are facing similar challenges. Marginalized authors, as well as librarians, have become the new punching bags for extremists. Learn about Amanda Jones' journey from being the target of a harassment campaign to finding the positives and deciding to fight back. Librarians and authors are a force to be reckoned with and by standing together there is hope in the darkness. Amanda will be interviewed by Toronto City Librarian Moe Hosseini-Ara.
3 Key Points
1) Amanda is an "accidental activist" who made national headlines when she sued two men in court who defamed her when she objected to book banning in her region. She believes that small acts that add up together equal persistence. She encourages us to use our power and our privilege for purpose. (This is one of her tattoos to remind her when things get tough, because she may be alone in her community but not in the world.)
2) Amanda was offered a lot of money to settle the case, but she refused; in the end she received a public apology and a $1 fine from one of the two perpetrators. The other is still ongoing. Now all of her work is monitored (she can't even talk with her students that she's written a book about book banning) and she still goes to therapy to manage all of the anxiety and stress this harassments has caused. She says she does it and would still do it again because a US study says 9 out of 10 students feel safe in their school library (compared to like 5 out of 10 in school in general). In the documentary "The Librarians", she is quoted as saying "I do it for the kids" and she had a former student of hers who no longer lives in Louisiana reach out to her now as an adult to say "Ms. Jones, you did it for me".
3) Amanda did this because she was raised as a Southern Baptist, whose focus was on loving thy neighbour, being a good Samaritan, and upholding the Constitution. She wryly quipped "It's not my fault they changed their priorities".
So What? Now What?
Amanda was called brave, courageous, a hero and a saint during this talk, and I can see why. She is devoted, compassionate, and feisty. I loved that not one, but two of my friends were mentioned during this conversation. Wendy Burch-Jones was credited with nominating Amanda for an OLA Award for Intellectual Freedom (and it turns out it was a surprise - Amanda did not expect to receive it). My colleague Jennifer Casa-Todd was name-dropped by Moe as being a mutual friend of Moe and Amanda and she inspired one of the questions, that led to discussion of Librarians Building Libraries. I think Wendy and Amanda will keep in touch after this!
Media Artifacts:
5:00 p.m. - Farewell Reception
Summary (taken from online program description)
As the conference comes to a close, join us for a relaxed farewell reception to mark 125 years of OLA. Reconnect with colleagues, swap highlights from the week, and wrap up your conference experience on a high note.
So What? Now What?
The reception was nice. My daughter found me and we hung out. I insisted we take a photo with Danny Neville, the current editor of The Teaching Librarian. (Mary and I used to share a column together, "Drawn to the Form", in TingL.) We talked a bit about how the magazine is moving to an online format (we both have mixed feelings about it) and upcoming projects. I chatted with Ruth Gretsiger in the Speakers Lounge and Wendy, Mary and I took the GO Train back to Scarborough. Big thanks to Wendy's husband Matt for picking us up from the GO Train station.
Media Artifacts:
