This is our third monthly update, intended to let you know how we’re progressing.  CFLA-FCAB is the national, bilingual voice of Canada’s library communities. The Federation is an association of associations, with membership from library associations across Canada. Our mandate is to:

• Advance library excellence in Canada;
• Champion library values and the value of libraries;
• Influence national and international public policy impacting libraries and their communities.

We’ve been active as an ad hoc working group since the Winter of 2015 and were registered as a non-profit association in May 2016, just in time for the transition as the Canadian Library Association voted for dissolution.

Our CFLA-FCAB website will be live by the end of August, and in the meantime we’re starting to tweet @cflafcab, and we’re on Facebook at Canadian Federation of Library Associations and at Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques.

We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the most recent member to join the Federation – welcome to the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL)!

Recent Activities

As mentioned in earlier updates from Paul Takala and myself as Interim Chairs, the CFLA-FCAB Board is in the process of addressing important issues where the Canadian Library community has identified a need for national leadership.

Here is a brief listing of recent activities where CFLA-FCAB is taking the lead:

• IFLA: The Federation is now a member of IFLA. With ASTED, CFLA-FCAB co-hosted the Canadian Caucus at IFLA in Columbus, Ohio, featuring remarks by Dr. Guy Berthiuame. Thanks very much to CARL’s Executive Director for facilitating logistics for the event, and for securing sponsorship for the event from OCLC. CFLA-FCAB Board member Camille Callison represented CFLA-FCAB as co-host.
• RDA Co-Publisher Role: The publishing of RDA, the International Standard Co-Published by ALA/CILIP/CLA has been assumed by CFLA-FCAB. It is important that Canada stay involved in this essential cataloguing standards, and we are grateful to Ottawa University librarian Christine Oliver, who has agreed to serve on the RDA Board on behalf of CFLA-FCAB.
• CLA position statements: CFLA-FCAB is currently reviewing all CLA position statements. The Federation will maintain access to the statements on the website. The Board will endorse the relevant ones, targeting the end of August, and they will be ratified at our first AGM in 2017. Archival access will be maintained for those no longer relevant or current.
• Accreditation: CFLA-FCAB has taken over the role played by CLA around ALA Accreditation in Canada and has been working with the ALA Office of Accreditation. Both McGill and UBC programs are undergoing ALA accreditation reviews in the Fall of 2016, and we are pleased to announce that Pat Riva, Concordia University, will participate in the McGill review, and Jenny Benedict, West Vancouver Memorial Library, will participate in the UBC process.  Thank you to Pat and Jenny for taking the time to support these important processes.
• WIPO: The Board is working with Victoria Owen, Valoree McKay and Christina de Castell to inform WIPO of the dissolution of CLA and the assumption of WIPO-related activities by CFLA-FCAB.
• Advocacy Copyright Act, TPP: The Board acknowledges the support of CARL and CULC, in particular CARL’s ED Susan Haigh, who with policy advice from IMPACT have been providing the national voice in this area on behalf of CFLA-FCAB. The Federation is in the process of forming a Copyright Committee and will be reviewing the committee terms of reference at the next Board meeting in August.  Advocacy for copyright and related issues is one of the two main thrusts for CFLA-FCAB for this year, and with related associations and institutions, we will be working to prepare for the 2017 legislation review.
• CLA Book Awards: The Board is facilitating the adoption of the CLA Book Awards Collection, and has just put out a call for expressions of interest for the Collection. The Board is discussing how best to position the CLA Book Awards in future and is interested in the opinions of those who are interested in the continuation of these important awards.
• Federal Budget Consultation: Senior Project Executive Kevin Brennan worked with the Board and executive directors from OLA, CARL and CULC to prepare a document for the Federal Government in response to the call for input for the upcoming Federal Budget.

Files for which CFLA-FCAB is working with a member association taking the Lead:

• CLA/Feliciter Website Contract: CFLA-FCAB and CLA discussed the possibility of the CFLA-FCAB taking over the contract for the CLA and Feliciter websites to ensure nothing is lost; in the short term once a legal review has taken place and an agreement is in place, we will maintain the CLA websites until content is archived with Library and Archives Canada. Current content where applicable will be moved to the CFLA-FCAB website, due to launch August 22nd.
• Library Shipping Tool: CULC has taken over the administration of the Library Materials Shipping Tool. CFLA-FCAB is pleased that this valuable tool is still available to Canadian libraries for document delivery purposes.
• Advocacy Ebooks Access and Pricing: The Federation Board thinks CULC is currently best positioned to lead advocacy efforts on this issue. CULC discussed this at their June meeting.
• Young Canada Works (YCW) Program: The Canadian Council of Archives is temporarily administering this program (2016 – 2017) – CLA has transferred the agreement. CFLA-FCAB has had a meeting with CCA to discuss and has agreed that for the 2017/18 year CCA should continue as administrator; CCA will be setting up an advisory committee for the library grants to ensure the adjudication of the awards is sufficiently well-informed.
• CLA Archives: LAC has accepted the CLA archives. CLA also had CPI and other journals that were published in the past. LAC has these in legal deposit. Available electronic copies of publications will be transferred to whichever body takes over copyright on these publications. CFLA-FCAB has worked with CLA and the newly formed Canadian Voice for School Libraries (CVSL) to transfer copyright for Leading Learning to CVSL.
• Canadian Library Month: This week Paul Takala, Kevin Brennan and Donna Bourne-Tyson will be meeting with The Partnership in Toronto, to discuss ways to maximize support for libraries and library associations in Canada. During the meeting we will be considering expressions of interest by library associations to take the lead for Canadian Library Month.

Your Feedback

While it has been a busy time, and there are many initiatives underway, it’s quite likely we’ve missed something. What are your thoughts on the development of CFLA-FCAB? Do you have comments or ideas for supporting CFLA-FCAB’s two advocacy priorities: the library response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action, and Canada’s Copyright review? Is there something else that CLA did which we should continue? What else should the national voice for libraries in Canada take on?  What would you like the Board to know? Please send your comments to info@cfla-fcab.ca!

CFLA-FCAB AGM

The AGM will take place in Toronto on February 1st during the OLA Superconference which runs February 1-4, 2017. Details will be announced shortly.

Donna Bourne-Tyson, Interim Chair