This is officially the week when we stop saying Happy New Year, right? Let’s swap that out for Happy Conference Season! We are officially in that exciting, slightly chaotic, very caffeinated lead-up to the OLA conference, and things are moving fast over here. 

This week kicked off with the OLA Board and Council Orientation, where we walked through the governance, responsibilities, and logistical realities of these volunteer leadership roles.

Hello Library Land friends, and happy new year! 

OLA staff are officially back in the office, and I am pleased to report that while many of us spent the holidays combating sniffles, we have emerged stronger, wiser, and allegedly immune to everything forever. That’s just science.  

It’s always a little wild to hit this point in the calendar and realize how much has happened, and how much is underway. I’ve barely put up my 2026 calendar, but there’s already so much planned for the year ahead!  

Speaking of gearing up, the OLA election is now open for all members to vote. Please take a moment to vote and help shape the leadership of the Association.

While I was technically on vacation for most of the week, doing my best to truly be out of office, the OLA team kept things moving at full speed.  

While I was away, the Copyright Symposium took place on Thursday and by all accounts it was a fantastic conversation about accessibility and copyright.

It’s the last week of November! Here are all the things Team OLA got up to last week.  

My colleague Lily and I kicked things off by meeting with VIMLOC to talk about mentorship opportunities. They’re doing such thoughtful work in the sector, and I’m excited about how we might collaborate to support visible minority library workers. 

Welcome to mid-November! The snow has melted in Toronto, and the holiday creamy vanilla Coke Zero is on the shelves – my favourite time of year.

Last week was another busy one that started off with two national-level meetings: the LAC Stakeholders Forum and the LAC AI Community of Practice.