Speakers

A Social Justice advocate, Rahma combines therapeutic and systemic lens in social work practice. She has an MSW from the University of Toronto and is a Certified Change Agent (CCA). Rahma supports the delivery of library services to vulnerable populations and is aiming to foster impactful and productive partnerships with the community. Prior to TPL, …

Raegan serves as the Executive Director of The ArQuives (formally the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives). She holds a BA from Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface and a Masters of Information from the University of Toronto iSchool. She has worked as an archivist at Library and Archives Canada, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Aanischaaukamikw …

Paul Takala is Chief Librarian/CEO, Hamilton Public Library. During his 25 years in libraries, Paul has focused on using technology innovation and collaborative leadership to increase the impact of public libraries in ways that are both sustainable and ethical. He held several technology leadership positions at the Hamilton Public Library before becoming Chief Librarian/CEO in …

Nancy Cooper is Ojibway/Potawatomi/Irish from the Rama First Nation in southern Ontario with strong ties to northern Ontario. She has three decades of experience working in community on local, provincial, national and international levels. She is currently the First Nation Consultant at the Southern Ontario Library Service and has the privilege to work with First …

Natalia is the Director of Library & Information Services at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC). Her professional experience includes service in libraries and non-profit organizations, teaching in post-secondary institutions, and scholarly research in various fields of the humanities and social sciences. Since 2010, Natalia has developed and implemented a number of bibliotherapy-based reading programs …

Paulette is an LIS educator and researcher who studies reading, public libraries, and LIS education. She is part of a team at FIMS that is working on curriculum reform that recognizes and seeks to reconcile LIS education’s colonialist traditions and history.

Melanie Mulcaster is the Instructional Coordinator for Libraries K-12 for the Peel District School Board. A life long learner and maker, she is passionate about inspiring and empowering modern learners to discover, connect, innovate and explore. Her twitter handle is @the_mulc

Nadia Caidi is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information (iSchool). Trained in Linguistics and Communication from Lyon and Grenoble (France), she holds a Ph.D. in Information Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Professor Caidi’s research interests focus on human information behaviour and information policy. She has received grants …

Mark Swartz is a Visiting Program Officer at the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and is the Copyright Manager at Queen’s University. Mark is passionate about libraries, copyright and open access publishing. Twitter: @markswartz ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8142-1613

Marc d’Avernas is currently the Metadata & Description Specialist at Mount Royal University but formerly the Library Systems Administrator with the Waterloo Region District School Board. Marc has spent most of his career wedged firmly in the intersection between public schools, information technology, and library systems.

Marcela Isuster is a liaison librarian at McGIll University. Marcela has served as Programs Chair for the ABQLA (Quebec Library Association) Annual Conference for the past two years. She was also the President of the College and Research section of the association.

Mark Robertson has been the University Librarian at Brock University since 2016. Prior to Brock, Mark was Associate University Librarian at York University. Mark is a graduate of the ARL Leadership Fellows Program (2013-2015), and was the Visiting Program Officer for the Innovation Lab at the Association of Research Libraries, 2015-16.

Lindsay Gibb is currently the Collection Development Librarian at OCAD University and Programming Coordinator of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival’s Librarian & Educator Day. She is a librarian and journalist with a major interest in the possibilities for comics and zines in academic libraries and who recently contributed a chapter to the Library Juice Press …

Lisa Levesque is an Assessment Librarian at Ryerson University Library. Her research interests include web literacy, critical theory, and equity issues. She recently completed a qualitative study on why patrons incur fines and co-wrote an article on the experiences of new librarians as analyzed through the lens of Michel de Certeau. She has a strong …

Louise Reimer is Manager, Human Resources with the Toronto Public Library. She has a been an active participant in the creation and delivery of leadership development programs in the library and broader sector, with the Edmonton Public Library, Pacific Northwest Library Association and Leadership Edmonton. Her particular focus in leadership development has been to foster …

Julia Campbell is the Adult Services Librarian at the Ajax Public Library where she primarily works on community engagement initiatives for adults and seniors.  Prior to this role, she worked in the Children’s Services and Adult Fiction department at the Whitby Public Library, where she developed and implemented children’s programming and ran the Battle of …

Kasey Mallen Whalley has been working in and with libraries for over ten years. After completing her undergraduate degree at McMaster University, she immediately enrolled in and completed Seneca College’s Accelerated Library and Information Technician program. She recently finished her Masters of Information (LIS) from the University of Toronto. Working as a Library Technician with …

Kate Johnson-McGregor is a Teacher Librarian at Brantford Collegiate Institute, a high school of 1300 students in the Grand Erie District School Board. She is passionate about engaging with students and teachers in her learning commons and promoting a love of curiosity, inquiry and lifelong learning in her community. Some of her volunteer roles include; …

Kelley England has been in children’s and youth services for over 12 years as both a Librarian and a Manager. She chaired the Children and Youth Expo for 4 years, recent recipient of the OLA’s Children and Youth Librarian of the Year, and has recently taken on the position of Manager of Community Engagement & …

Jennifer Thiessen has been a librarian at Brock University Library for 17 years. Her professional interests include accessibility, open educational resources, and critical librarianship. Jennifer enjoys running, volunteering in the community, and traveling with her family.

Jennifer is currently the eLearning and Digital Literacies Librarian at Seneca Libraries, and seconded to Seneca’s Centre for Teaching and Learning. She works with the faculty Playground (digital media lab for teaching and learning), is the Project Manager for The Learning Portal, is the Chair of Seneca’s Open Educational Resources Committee, and the Chair of …

Extensive experience in library management – especially in relationship to the use and adoption of technology and collections in public libraries, and the development of the programs and systems to support increased library technology use.

Jesse Carliner is a Communications and Users Services Librarian at the University of Toronto Libraries. He provides reference and research support, library instruction and supervises the graduate students who staff the User Services Department’s Ask Us service. Jesse was part of the team that created the University of Toronto Libraries’ Family Study Space. He is …

Jacqueline Kreller-Vanderkooy works as a Learning & Curriculum Support Librarian on the Information Literacy Team at the University of Guelph Library, where she primarily supports students and faculty in the sciences. She has previously worked as the University of Guelph’s Digital Media Librarian, as well as the Physical Sciences Librarian at York University Libraries. She …

Ian spends most of his time playing with Excel spreadsheets. When he’s not using Excel he dabbles in consortial circulation and acquisition policies.

Gillian is the OPLA Councillor for Toronto and the Manager of the Toronto Reference Library at Toronto Public Library. She’s enthusiastic about digital inclusion, data informed understanding, and dreaming up the most perfect card registration process for users.

Ellen Stroud is the Director of Service Design & Delivery at the Oshawa Public Libraries. She has over 35 years of library experience and has spearheaded projects resulting in recognition and awards for OPL, including library service to seniors, children and youth, and community partners. She believes in the public library’s power to level the …

Eva Jurczyk is from the Collection Development Department at the University of Toronto Libraries and is involved in the acquisition, licensing, access management and analysis of the Libraries’ electronic resource collections.

As Lead of Library Services at Scarborough Health Network (SHN) Daphne Horn is often asked what she does. Her most honest answer is everything! Building on a lifetime of experience as a librarian, insurance professional, and lifelong leaner she employs a multitude of skills to ensure that the libraries at SHN are well used and …

Dayna is the CEO Librarian at the Dryden Public Library, and an instructor at the Dryden campus of Confederation College. She has an MLIS from McGill University and is an active volunteer with the Dryden Area Young Professionals’ Network, the Dryden Area Anti-Racism Network, and is a founding race director for Dryden’s We Run This …

Alison Clarke is the Coordinator, Performance Measures & Data at Brampton Library. Alison designs data collection systems, and is currently working on a system to determine branch capacity. She also finds joy in showing people how to use a pivot table. Alison has discovered other data-loving colleagues on the OPLA Research & Evaluation committee.

Carli currently works on the Collections & Content team at the University of Guelph, as an Electronic Resources & Metadata Associate. In this role, she completes a wide range of tasks to provide support and access to the library’s vast electronic resource materials by creating and maintaining records, and investigating issues of access. She completed …

Despite having two graduate degrees (M.S. in Instruction and Curriculum with a specialization in School Library Media and M.I. in Library and Information Sciences), Brooke is still a kid at heart — plenty of geektastic passions, Disney lover, Netflix binge watcher, and owner of massive movie collection dubbed Brooke-buster. Currently, she serves a wide variety …

Caleb spent the previous decade working in community-based health research before earning his LIT diploma from Seneca College. At University Health Network, Caleb provides Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery services to clients and is passionate about connecting people with the resources they need. When he’s not tracking down books and articles, Caleb spends his time …

Camille Callison is a Tahltan Nation member, PhD student (Anthropology) and Indigenous Strategies Librarian (University of Manitoba). Camille is Chair of IFLA Indigenous Matters Section, Indigenous Partner on the Canadian Steering Committee on Archives, Response to the Report of the TRC Taskforce, founding board of the CFLA where she also chaired the Truth and Reconciliation …

Angela Stockman spent twelve years teaching at the elementary, middle, and high school levels before becoming a professional learning facilitator. Over the last fifteen years, she’s supported thousands of educators in hundreds of schools throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. She is also the author of three books: Make Writing, Hacking the Writing Workshop: …

Alexandra Yarrow has worked in public libraries for 20 years, and is currently a manager at the Ottawa Public Library, the largest bilingual public library in North America. She entered the library profession because of its strong commitment to connecting people across cultural, economic and social boundaries. Alexandra has been involved in professional library associations …

Alison Clarke is the Coordinator, Performance Measures and Data at Brampton Library. Alison designs data collection systems, and is currently working on a system to determine branch capacity. She also finds joy in showing people how to use a pivot table. Alison has discovered other data-loving colleagues on the OPLA Research & Evaluation committee.

Amanda Williams is an elementary *glitterarian* (read: teacher-librarian) in Halton, who works with students in Kindergarten to grade 8. She has presented provincially and internationally on the arts in education, including a focus on inquiry and dance at Daci (Dance and the Child International) in Denmark. Amanda’s current focus is innovative learning models including maker …

Amber Allen works in the Learning and Curriculum Support department at the University of Guelph Library, offering information literacy and research support to the colleges of business and biological science. Prior to this role, she’s worked as a librarian at York University, University of Toronto, and Herzing College. She holds an MI from the University …

Amy Solecki has been the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Meaford Public Library for the past five years. Amy loves that in her position she gets to have a lot of fun meeting many people and bringing the library to new, unexpected places. Amy has a Bachelor of Arts, Honours, Double Major in History and …

Andrea Kosavic is Associate Dean, Digital Engagement and Strategy. She holds an MIST from the University of Toronto and is a PhD candidate with the Department of Communications and Culture at York. Over the course of her career, Andrea has worked and published in the areas of digital scholarship, scholarly publishing and digital collections. Andrea …