Mandate

The Climate Action Committee (French translation here) exists to: 

• Explore issues and identify climate crisis concerns and act as an information resource providing policy recommendations for the CFLA-FCAB Board on climate crisis issues;
• Support the Canadian library and information sector in responding collectively to the climate crisis;
• Focus its efforts on capacity building and will work in alignment with the United Nations Strategic Development Goals relating to climate action;  and
• Monitor ongoing progress in these areas.

Responsibilities

The Climate Action Committee will work within existing CFLA-FCAB policy (i.e. communication, external partnership, etc.) to:

• Engage and liaise with existing committees and working groups within CFLA-FCAB and its member associations to amplify efforts to support climate action from the national  library sector
• Prepare for, and participate in (at the direction of the Board) advocacy initiatives related to environmental sustainability and climate policy as it relates to CFLA-FCAB’s mandate 
• Identify opportunities to support Canadian libraries and CFLA-FCAB’s members in promoting environmental literacy and raising awareness of issues related to climate crisis
• To advise or represent CFLA-FCAB on issues related to climate action and policy, and matters at Canadian forums and at international forums such as WIPO and IFLA as required
• Support data collection at a national level of climate action, 
• Prepare and submit quarterly update reports to CFLA-FCAB via the info@cfla-fcab.ca email.

Procedural Rules

Members

• The Chair of the Committee will be selected by the CFLA-FCAB board following the association’s Committee Policy, this role has a two-year term limit with an option to continue once at the discretion of the board
• A liaison from the CFLA-FCAB board as an ex officio member
• The Vice-Chair will be appointed from among the members of the Committee, this role has a two-year term limit.
• Members will be selected by the Chair with the goal of representation across the Canadian Library landscape, both geographically and across the profession with preference given to librarians of Indigenous ancestry to prioritize Indigenous voices on Indigenous matters
• Members must be a member of at least one CFLA-FCAB member organization and will serve on the committee as subject matter experts and not organization representatives
• At largest this committee will have 10 members. For short-term projects/reports that require additional membership, the committee will follow the process to present a task force to the CFLA-FCAB Board for the establishment for the term of the work.
• Members selected to serve on the committee have a two-year term.  If they would like to continue to serve additional terms after those two years, they will have to respond to the annual call for members and be selected for membership. There is no limit for consecutive terms as a member of this committee.

Meetings

The entire committee will meet 10 times a year. Meetings will be via electronic means such as teleconference, or online.

Where needed the parliamentary authority for meetings will be the most recent version of Robert’s Rules.

Minutes

Minutes of each meeting shall be kept and circulated to the members of the Committee, the committee’s CFLA-FCAB board liaison, and the Chair of the CFLA-FCAB Board of Directors.

Nov 2023
Dec 2023

Recommendations and Reports

Committee recommendations and reports will be submitted in writing to the CFLA-FCAB Board. Documents will include both suggested action and justification for the recommendations. The Chair of the Climate Action Committee or other designated representative of the Committee will be invited to attend any session during which recommendations pertaining to climate action and/or reports are scheduled to be discussed.

Revision of the Terms of Reference

The Committee will review its Terms of Reference every two years and seek appointments/re-appointments from the member associations and may recommend Charter revisions to the CLFA-FCAB Board.

Current Committee Members

Lita Barrie, Chair
(CULC/CBUC)
CEO, Burlington Public Library, Ontario
barriel@bpl.on.ca

Patricia Lemieux
(ABPQ_Association des bibliothèques publiques du Québec)
Cheffe de division – bibliothèque et relations avec la collectivité, Candiac, Québec
plemieux@candiac.ca

Samidha Kalia
Manager, Reference
Whitby Public Library, Ontario
skalia@whitbylibrary.ca

Cate Carlyle
(APLA, CFLA-FCAB Board of Directors)
Curriculum Resource Centre Coordinator, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
cate.carlyle@msvu.ca

Peter Farrell
Research Librarian
University of Ottawa

Helen L. Brown
(BCLA Climate Action Committee)
Reference Librarian, University of British Columbia

Lauren Jessop
CEO, Barrie Public Library, Ontario
lauren.jessop@barrielibrary.ca

Tara Mawhinney
Liaison Librarian
McGill University, Québec
tara.mawhinney@mcgill.ca

Michelle Foggett-Parker
Acquisitions Librarian – Bibliothécaire aux acquisitions
Library and Archives Canada – Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
michelle.foggett-parker@bac-lac.gc.ca

Shevaun Ruby, Vice-Chair
Assistant Head Librarian, Moose Jaw Public Library, Saskatchewan
sruby@moosejawlibrary.ca

Daniel Hackborn
(BCLA Climate Action Committee)
Graduate Student, University of Alberta
Makerspace Assistant, Edmonton Public Library, Alberta

Kate MacDonald
Director, John W.Graham Library
Trinity College, University of Toronto
kate.macdonald@utoronto.ca