Speakers

Julie Mandal is a Manager at Brampton Library. She earned her MLIS at Rutgers University, is a graduate of the “Public Library Leaders” program [CULC/UofT], and has worked in Research and Public Libraries. Julie currently manages the Chinguacousy Branch, and after overseeing a major renovation, continues to run customer-centric operations including an open MakerSpace and …

Kaitlin Newson is the Digital Projects Librarian for Scholars Portal, the technology service arm of the Ontario Council of University Libraries. In this role she works on scholarly publishing, research data management, and web services. She is an active member of the Code4Lib community, a member of the Portage Dataverse North group, and the coordinator …

Kanta Kapoor has several years of experience working in diverse types of libraries and library settings. She is currently working as Manager, Support Services, Milton Public Library. Her key interest areas are working with emergent technologies as applicable in libraries, mainly Library Systems and Discovery Services. She has led and accomplished several projects in her …

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 is a self-taught coder who is passionate about maker culture and is an example of life-long learning. Prior to taking on her current role as Program & Outreach Coordinator with Lennox & Addington Libraries, she was a library technician with the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board where she was a leader in …

Ian Bigelow is the Cataloguing Coordinator at the University of Alberta Libraries (UAL). He completed his MLIS at Western University and has undergraduate degrees in mathematics and classical studies. He is currently a member of the Canadian Committee on Cataloguing, Canadian BIBFRAME Readiness Task Force, Share VDE Advisory Council, Share VDE Work ID Working Group, …

Ian Kerr-Wilson is the Manager of Heritage Resources for the City of Hamilton.He joined the city’s museum system in 1989 and has worked in various curatorial and management positions. Currently, as manager, he is responsible for 40 heritage buildings, more than 100 monuments, statutes and plaques, 60,000 artifacts and 9 museums including 6 National Historic …

Ian Gordon currently serves as a Science Liaison Librarian having worked in several different Ontario academic libraries for 35+ years. Ian has held different administrative positions, was Head of Circulation in the James A. Gibson Library for several years, has worked with teams as a faculty association representative, and most recently was an active member …

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 …

James Steeves is an elementary teacher librarian with the Peel District School Board. He has a passion for finding ways to use technology to support student inquiry especially in the subject areas of history, geography, and environmental education. When he is not playing with his augmented reality sandbox, he can usually be found canoeing a …

Associate Professor in Health Aging and Society James Gillett’s key areas of research include: human animal relationships; sport, leisure and recreation; mental health and well-being; media and communications; perspectives on living with health and illness across the life course; and inquiry as an approach to education and learning.

James Roussain is currently the Instruction and Outreach Archivist at the John M. Kelly Library at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, a position he has held since January 2017. Prior to joining the University, James worked for The Bank of Nova Scotia’s (Scotiabank) Records and Information Management Office. James is currently president of the …

James Zhan is an MLIS graduate student in University of Toronto’s iSchool, with an interest in UX design and law librarianship. In 2019, he completed an eight-month co-op placement in the University of Waterloo Library, where he honed his skills in scholarly communication, open scholarship and teaching.

Jane Foo is the Systems and Data Librarian at Seneca College and credits an undergraduate course on environmental psychology with sparking a lifelong interest in human-computer interaction and the impact of technology and visual design. Her experiences include testing, user-centred design and usability testing, adult teaching and training, and a large variety of systems implementation …

Jane Schmidt has been a librarian at Ryerson University since 2003. Her career has varied and has included acquisitions, collection development, administration, and liaison. Currently, she is the liaison librarian for Child and Youth Care, Disability Studies, Early Childhood Studies and Social Work. She has published on topics ranging from demand driven acquisitions, collection analysis, …

Jane is a zealous photographer-creator-gone-teacher-librarian. Whether it is “painting with light”, carving out layers in Photoshop, or zooming in on the small details using macro photography- Jane is passionate about giving children and adults opportunities to discover and see the world in a different light. As a teacher-librarian in the Peel District School Board, she …

Janet Curran (aka Ms. Frizzle) is a secondary school teacher and innovator within the HPEDSB school system. Janet’s core teaching subjects are Science and English. She also has extensive experience in outdoor education and literacy and is a staff advisor for her school’s Social & Environmental Justice League. With thirty years of teaching experience, Janet …

Janice Hilber is a Library Cataloguing Technician with the Toronto District School Board, where she is passionate about creating an inclusive digital and physical environment at school libraries. Prior to joining the TDSB, she spent a decade connecting people with books at a small independent bookstore in Toronto. Janice earned her Library and Information Technician …

Janice Winkler is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Manitoba, where she has worked in various roles since completing her MLIS at the University of Western Ontario in 2016. Her interests include issues in teaching, research support, and scholarly communication. In her personal life Janice likes knitting and being outdoors.

Jasmine has worked for Toronto Public Library for over 13 years and has worked in the Digital Innovation Hubs for the last 4 years. She enjoys teaching and developing fun programs ranging from 3D Printing to Instagram Stories. Every day for Jasmine is another opportunity to learn more about people, technology and how they connect!

Jennifer Cyr has 15 years of experience working in both academic and public libraries as well as for a library vendor. Since 2015, Jennifer has been the Coordinator, Library Collections at the Region of Waterloo Library. In her role at RWL, she makes purchasing decisions for 10 rural branches and strives to ensure that children …

Jen is currently the Service Delivery Manager of Public Service in the Central Library but has worked at a variety of locations in the system. Her current focus is on continuing staff development at the Central Library and moving the service model from transactional to experiential.

Jenaya Webb is the Public Services and Research Librarian at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) Library at the University of Toronto. She earned her MLIS at the University of Toronto and her MA at the University of Alberta. She brings her background in anthropology to the library context to explore user experience, …

Dr. Jenna Hartel is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, where she teaches in the Library and Information Science area. Her research agenda explores the nature of information in the pleasures of life and she applies creative and visual methods.

Jennifer Streckmann began her career in libraries in 2013, and has worked her way through various circulation and tech positions over the last 6 years. After graduating from the University of British Columbia in 2016 Jennifer focused her career on children and families, and has been a part of exciting early literacy projects such as …

Jennifer is the Architecture Librarian at the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. She has previously worked at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and at Cambrian College. She holds a BA from Laurentian University, an MA from McMaster University and an MLIS from Western University.

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.

Jen Hoyer is an Educator with the Brooklyn Connections program. She earned her MLIS at McGill University and joined the team after running a music outreach program in South Africa, working as a school librarian in Montreal, and organizing the archives of the oldest public lending library in Canada. Jen loves helping people realize how …

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 …

Jennifer has over six years of experience working in accessibility in public libraries. She has managed multiple projects that increased access to library programs and services, including a service and space audit, National Access Awareness Week events, and public assistive technology demonstrations.

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.

Jess Posgate is a graduate of University of Victoria and University of Toronto. She has more than 10 years’ experience with OurDigitalWorld managing large scale projects digitizing local history collections and community newspapers both on the ground and virtually, helping libraries, historical and genealogical societies, and other community organizations make their community history more widely …

Jess Whyte is the Digital Asset Librarian at the University of Toronto, where she also wrote her thesis on academic makerspaces. Jess co-authored Building OpenSocial Apps, one of the first books on developing for social networks, and is a member of the Software Preservation Network, and OCUL’s Digital Curation Community.

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 …

Jessica Babineau is a health science librarian with Library and Information Services at the University Health Network in Toronto. In this role, she supports staff, researchers and learners at Toronto Rehab through the provision of skilled literature searching, instruction and collection development. Jessica also chairs the library’s outreach committee and is a member of ECHO …

Jessica Roy is the Toronto Public Library Manager of the TD Summer Reading Club national program. She works in partnership with Library and Archives Canada, and the 2000 participating libraries, to keep kids across Canada reading all summer long.

Jessica has been a research librarian at the Legislative Library for 4 years. She specializes in the subject areas of justice and social issues. Jessica is also the Chair of the Client Outreach Team for the Legislative Library and Research Services and is the Library Liaison for the Ontario Legislature Internship Program. Prior to working …

I am an elementary educator who is dedicated to co-constructing classroom environments that promote equity and social justice through the inclusion of diverse voices and stories. I enjoy sharing rich books with my students and am a collector of picture books and novels that lend themselves to this work.

Joan Gajadharsingh has a background in family literacy and is the Bibliotherapy Program Coordinator with the Literacy Network of Durham Region (LiNDR). Joan will present on the importance of the program’s sustainability once it has been offered within a community.

Joanne Oud is Instructional Technology Librarian and Instruction Coordinator at Wilfrid Laurier University Library. She has been an advocate for accessibility for many years, and has researched and published on the workplace experiences of librarians with disabilities.

Jon Lewis is passionate about the arts, creativity, and the role of technology in promoting student voice. He has been in education for 15 years and is currently a Curriculum Coordinator within YRDSB, supporting digital literacy and the integration of technology through digital platforms. His love of visual and media arts encouraged Jon to co-found …

Heather’s research focuses on public libraries. She looks at accessibility in public libraries and also does research on library collections. She rides a 40 year old purple Peugeot bicycle. She refuses to pick one over the other so is an equal lover of both dogs and cats. In her spare time she is a voracious …

Heather Lavallee is a Branch Manager with the Huron County Library. She is passionate about providing responsive, engaging, and informed services to library users. She has a MLIS from the University of Western Ontario and is currently a member of the OPLA Research & Evaluation Committee.

Heather Wray is the Branch Supervisor for Sixteen Mile Branch at Oakville Public Library. She became interested in libraries at a young age after volunteering as a library helper in elementary school. Heather has a true passion for creating accessible and inclusive library spaces and has spent much of her career collaborating with organizations and …

Dr. Heidi Wendt joins the School of Religious Studies as an Assistant Professor of Religions of the Greco-Roman World, a joint appointment with the Department of History and Classical Studies. Dr. Wendt completed her PhD in Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean and an MA in Classics at Brown University in 2013, as well as an …

Helen Power has recently been appointed the Science and Engineering Librarian at the University of Saskatchewan. She started her career as an Information Services Librarian at the University of Windsor, where she chaired the PR Committee. While she has had no formal training in graphic design, she has sought out opportunities to learn these skills. …