Author: Technology Coordinator

School librarian Kristen Welbourn says it is horrible to feel uncertainty over who pays for her job and how much longer she might have it.

Welbourn was among a crowd of about 40 people who rallied outside Halifax city hall on Tuesday evening to urge the municipality to keep funding in place for school librarians.

The Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) pays for about 75 library support specialists through the Halifax municipality’s supplementary education fund, which is unique in the province.

The HRCE and Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) are currently negotiating a new memorandum of understanding guiding how the supplementary funding is spent, and no final decisions have been made public yet.

But Welbourn said she has learned that Halifax councillors recently voted in private to have HRCE not use the supplementary funding for school librarians.

“That leaves a lot of questions if HRM is not going to fund us. Will the [provincial] government fund us? Are our jobs at risk? I don’t know,” Welbourn said Monday.

Welbourn, who works at Bay View High School in Upper Tantallon, said she has not gotten a clear answer from the municipal and provincial governments on what is happening. She said members from both levels have been pointing fingers at each other about who is responsible for funding her role.

Halifax’s supplementary education fund is the only one of its kind in Nova Scotia, and is one of two education funds the municipality is legally required to collect through property taxes.

It was created in 1996 during HRM’s amalgamation, and is required within the Halifax charter. The legislation states that council can only cut the fund by 10 per cent each year.

The supplementary fund amounted to nearly $13 million for HRCE overall this school year, with about $2.5 million of that covering librarians.

The HRCE describes the fund as a way to “enhance learning opportunities for students” beyond core education. While it has supported a broad range of services in the past, this school year funding went to staffing and programming for fine arts and music, librarians, and social workers.

Halifax also has the mandatory education charge all municipalities collect for the province.

In the upcoming 2026-27 budget, Halifax expects to collect and send $226.8 million to the province for mandatory education, an increase of about $16 million (seven per cent) over last year.

“I think when HRCE went beyond arts, that caused the problem. They were … taking advantage of the supplementary funding to backfill gaps in positions they had,” Coun. Tony Mancini said Tuesday.

“That started the challenge, in my opinion, where it was quite clear that [supplementary funding] was supposed to be fully the arts.”

Mancini said he could not confirm whether council had voted on anything to do with librarian funding, because all contract negotiations are done in private.

But Mancini said he understands the librarians’ fears, and spoke during Tuesday’s rally about the importance of their roles.

“We’re waiting to hear back from the negotiations, staff on staff,” Mancini said. “I really would hope that the province would step up, and HRCE. Yet to be determined.”

Councillors have examined the supplementary funding more closely in recent years.

Halifax’s auditor general presented a report to the city’s audit and finance committee in December 2024. He said there was a lack of monitoring and detailed reporting around the fund that could use more attention, if council was interested in making changes.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Brendan Maguire was asked about funding for Halifax librarians. He said the province will spend more than $1.4 billion on education in this budget, which is up over last year, and HRCE decides where its general education funding goes.

“They’ll delegate it based on the resources that they need. And if those are the resources they need, that’s where it’s gonna go,” Maguire told reporters at Province House.

But when asked if the province would commit to new funding to cover any possible gaps for librarians left by Halifax funding changes, Maguire did not directly answer the question.

“I can’t speculate on what’s going to happen. Like, obviously, they’re going through a budget that’s difficult, like all of us … we’re just gonna wait to see what happens, and then we’ll have those conversations with the HRCE,” Maguire said.

“Around librarians … I hope that HRM and HRCE are able to come to a [memorandum of understanding] that doesn’t impact them.”

For Welbourn, she said it has been “devastating” to become a political talking point.

She said it should not be up to her and her colleagues to emphasize how vital librarians are to students’ literacy and learning outcomes, and to their social well-being by creating a place where everyone feels safe.

“I’ve poured my heart and soul into this job, into my students, into supporting teachers,” Welbourn said.

“It’s my life’s work, and it feels really demeaned right now.”

Halifax will finalize its municipal budget next Tuesday, which will set property tax rates and outline how much will be in the supplementary fund for the 2026-27 school year.

A spokesperson for HRCE said there is not a set time for when the new supplementary funding agreement with the municipality will be finalized.

Source: CBC Nova Scotia

The Atlantic Provinces Library Association’s Information Literacy Interest Group invites you to attend the Virtual Info Lit Drop-in Learning Space. This is an opportunity for those interested in information literacy instruction and practices to meet others with varied instruction experience to connect and share pedagogies, activities, and techniques. We are aiming to host three virtual drop-in spaces throughout the year.

Our next drop-in will be held on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 12:30 – 1:30 pm (Atlantic time), and hosted by Dr. Ben Mitchell, Williams Lake Campus Librarian at TRU. Feel free to bring your lunch!

The theme for this session is: Information literacy and ludic (gaming) literacies

Much like education generally, at its best, game design attempts to answer the important question: How can we design interactive systems that people actively want to participate in, simply because they find participating to be engaging, rewarding, meaningful. and, importantly, fun? At its worst, it is the question of how to design interlocking systems of manipulation, exploitation, and psychological coercion (Roblox, loot boxes, microtransactions, etc.). Seeking to go beyond the “chocolate covered broccoli” approach to gamification that is so common in discussions of gaming and literacy, this discussion will explore how to use the games that people already love (and hate) to help them understand key literacy principles.

Possible topics for discussion may include:

  • What are some of the games you have loved/hated, and why?
  • Do you consider yourself to be gaming literate, why or why not?
  • Has a game taught you anything?
  • What are some paratexts that have shaped your thinking about games?
  • How have the games you’ve played shaped your understanding of literacy and approach to instruction
  • What do you think the relationship is between literacy and design principles?
  • Is a game-based approach to education possible in contexts where students are not meaningfully free to not participate?

You can share as much or as little as you feel comfortable sharing, and if you just want to listen to other participants, that is fine, too. We will maintain a supportive atmosphere with a focus on encouraging and empowering fellow information professionals in their teaching journeys.

You do not have to be currently employed as an information professional to participate in this session. Students are welcome to participate!

Please register to join: https://forms.gle/wrYHgkBbLRJ79RoK9

A Zoom link will be sent to you closer to the event.

Drop-in overview:

Welcome (introductions and land acknowledgments)
Theme discussion
Evaluation of session
Closing

The Ontario Library Association’s first-ever Safer Spaces Symposium focuses on library washrooms – policies, procedures, challenges, successes, and aspirations.

From universal washrooms, inclusive approaches, and accessible features, to wellness checks, to incident support and technology adoption, join other library professionals as they highlight wins and lessons learned, roadblocks, and plans for improvement to foster trust, respect, and secure private environments that are used by all.

Co-hosted by the OLA Library as Place committee.

BONUS! To support cross municipal collaboration, libraries may register one (1) Parks & Recreation or municipal partner to attend the Safer Spaces Symposium at no cost. This one time partner ticket is intended to encourage shared learning and conversation around creating safer, more inclusive public spaces across library and municipal settings. OLA will review the ticket list to ensure that all municipal partners registered under this ticket type also have a library representative included in the attendee list.

Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2026

Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm EST

Location: online

Register here

The following email has been sent to government officials:

Parks Canada announced in late 2025 that The Canadian Register of Historic Places (aka historicplaces.ca website) will be decommissioned in Spring 2026.

Reaching the end of its technological life, there is no plan for replacement of this vital tool and system of record for ca. 13,500 historic designations in Canada. Heritage advocates are scrambling to save the data and find a replacement.

Administered by Parks Canada, The Register was launched in 2004 as an online, searchable, publicly accessible database under the Historic Places Initiative, a collaboration between the federal, provincial and territorial governments to improve protection of the country’s historic sites and to foster a culture of heritage conservation in Canada.

APLA is writing to advocate that the Register’s information contents are retained and remain accessible in both the immediate and short-term. We are also asking that a collaborative longer-term solution is found.

With the loss of such an important national database, there is an urgent need to preserve the information with respect to Prince Edward Island that is currently maintained in the Register’s database. Does the Provincial Government have a plan to save the data before it is disabled this spring?

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Terri Winchcombe
President, Atlantic Provinces Library Association
On behalf of APLA members

The following letter was sent to members of government:

I am writing to you today on behalf of the Atlantic Provinces Library Association to express my concerns about the elimination of the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DCHP) by Library and Archives Canada, due to recent budget cuts by the federal government.

The DHCP supports the preservation of and access to Canada’s documentary heritage for Canadians, particularly material that is often overlooked by bigger institutions. Since 2015, it has provided funding to support more than 400 projects that have allowed small, community-based organizations to preserve and provide access to archives of marginalized, minority, and underrepresented groups, including indigenous communities.

Archives and libraries play a vital role in enabling the public to understand, access, and make sense of our collective histories, which serve as the foundations of our country, our society, and identities. Millions of historical documents, photographs, maps, and audio-visual items are held in archives and libraries across the country and made accessible to the public.

Archives and libraries are fundamental to the success of countless public, private, and educational enterprises. They also support Canada’s knowledge-based economy by sustaining and facilitating access to our knowledge resources. For archival and library repositories to continue to fulfil their missions to preserve and make available documentation about these shared histories, they must be recognized, protected and funded accordingly.

The entire archival and library community are extremely concerned about the negative impact that eliminating the DHCP will have on the preservation of and access to our collective histories.

Cutting this program will devastate small, underfunded archives that rely on this program to carry out their work.

I respectfully ask that you advocate for the restoration of dedicated federal support for community-based documentary heritage work, whether through reinstating DCHP or creating a comparable program. Protecting and providing access to Canada’s documentary heritage is an investment in education, accountability, identity, and intergenerational knowledge.

Thank you for your time and for representing our community. I would appreciate knowing your position on this issue and any steps you are taking to address it.

Yours sincerely,

Terri Winchcombe
President, Atlantic Provinces Library Association
On behalf of APLA members

Although there’s uncertainty around her future as a school librarian, Kristin Welbourn is certain of one fact: she loves her job.

“It’s one of the most rewarding jobs,” she told The Chronicle Herald. “There’s so much more to it than just books. I help our community raise great kids.”

But a recent decision by Halifax regional council could see funding for Welbourn’s job in jeopardy, with dozens of other librarians across the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) sharing concerns about their livelihood.

Halifax Regional Municipality was asked to comment on the potential cuts to HRCE’s funding, which were originally shared by Education Minister Brendan Maguire on social media, but wouldn’t confirm them.

“The Halifax Regional Municipality is in ongoing discussions with the province, through the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, about the supplementary funding agreement,” said HRM spokesperson Sarah Brannen. “As a consequence, the municipality is not in a position to provide further comment at this time.”

A HRCE spokesperson also said they remain in talks with the municipality.

“HRCE is currently working a new supplementary funding agreement with HRM and while we do so, we won’t be making any additional comments,” said Lindsey Bunin, communications officer for HRCE, in an emailed statement.

CUPE Atlantic Local 5047, which represents HRCE’s librarians, was also contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.

How do school libraries work?

School librarians, or library support specialists, as they’re referred to by government, are positions supplemented in HRCE through an agreement with the municipality.

An HRCE report from last year said school librarians are one of several programs made possible through supplementary funding. Roughly 75 librarians were employed in 2024-25 thanks to $2.5 million in funding.

Welbourn said those dollars are well spent, as her library welcomes anywhere from 200 to 300 students every day and helps them with everything from research and assisting with a resume to picking out books.

The 15-year HRCE library veteran said she reads 200 young adult books every year to better help her students.

“Kids come into my library looking for a book and they need to see themselves reflected in the literature. I have to make sure every kid who comes into my library, whether they’re a hockey player or part of the LGBTQIA+ community, can find themselves in a book,” said Welbourn.

When asked about Maguire’s statement that HRM council was looking to cut school library funding because of duplication with public libraries, Welbourn noted they play very different roles.

“I’m programming to improve their literacy, not to provide books and social programs; there’s some overlap but (public libraries) and (school libraries) are night and day,” she said.

Local 5047 called to action

The Chronicle Herald confirmed that CUPE Atlantic sent an email to members of Local 5047 in anticipation of the proposed cuts and tasked members with calling their city councillor and Mayor Andy Fillmore to ask them to support school libraries.

“Rumours are circulating that HRM plans to cut city funding for education that’s been in place since the 1990s,” stated the email.

“If not opposed and defeated, these budget cuts will remove library support specialists and school librarians from our school communities. Although there has been no official announcement from HRM, city council has not committed to this funding past March 31 of this year.”

Source: Chronicle Herald

The House of Assembly has paid tribute to a woman who was a stalwart member of their team for three decades.

House Speaker Paul Lane opened a session this week by acknowledging the passing of Norma Jean Richards, who was a legislative librarian with the House of Assembly from 1967 to 1997.

Lane says that during her time with the legislature, the woman was a “legend.”

Lane says Richards served during the tenures of six different premiers and eight speakers, and was a recipient of the Canada 125 medal in 1993. He says “she can be credited with building the foundation of the library collection still used to this day.”

Source: VOCM

Correctional Service Canada plans to cut library technicians and employment co-ordinator positions in federal penitentiaries, a move critics worry could affect inmate recidivism and reintegration.

Federal budget cuts means the department needs to come up with over $132 million in savings over the next three years, as the government plans to slash the public service. Correctional Service Canada (CSC) alone plans to cut over 400 positions, through means including workforce adjustment and career transitions.

The unions representing library technicians and employment co-ordinators say those jobs account for just under 50 of the positions to be cut.

“In total, these salaries amount to less than one per cent of the correctional services budget, but the consequences will be felt by all Canadians and could end up costing society far more in the long run,” Nathan Prier, president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, the library technicians’ union, said in a statement.

The federal department says plans are still being finalized but points to an ongoing effort to “increase online resources” for inmates.

“Many sites across the country have already been operating with a modern library model and without a dedicated librarian on site,” a CSC spokesperson said.

But Catherine Latimer, the executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, says that in a federal prison system where about 75 per cent of people who enter don’t have a high school diploma or equivalent, in-person assistance is a must.

Library technicians curate reading and research materials to match a prison’s needs and help inmates understand and access research material they may use for educational programs or even their legal cases.

Human connection ‘integral’: former inmate

“You’re getting people with limited academic acumen, who are not used to using libraries, who need resource people to get them the information they need,” Latimer said.

But library technicians are critical even for people with a post-secondary education, according to former inmate Wendy Bariteau.

Bariteau was a real estate professional and struggled with addiction before serving time. She says the library worker at her institution helped set her on the path of recovery.

“She would go and order books that I needed. Or she would go through boxes and boxes of donations to find the type of self-help books I was looking for, the books that helped me grow,” she said.

On top of that, Bariteau says, the employee was a rare “piece of the outside” for inmates.

Nearly everyone else she interacted with was “security focused,” while the library technician offered a supportive, human connection, she says.

“If you want to function properly on the outside after, you can’t forget what it’s like on the outside,” she said. “Keeping that piece of the outside was integral to reintegration for me.”

The non-profit Book Clubs for Inmates, which published an open letter protesting the move, points to “vital institutional knowledge” that library technicians hold, like “knowledge of security protocols, inmate learning needs, culturally appropriate collections and trauma-informed service.”

The letter, which will be sent to the public safety minister, calls the cuts “the hollowing out of a core rehabilitative service.”

Cuts better off elsewhere at CSC: advocate

Community employment co-ordinators, meanwhile, help inmates become job-ready and find employment when they are released.

“This support increases the likelihood of the offender’s safe and successful reintegration,” according to the federal department’s website.

But when asked about these cuts, CSC said the role is effectively redundant.

The cuts will “reduce duplication with what is already available in the community,” a spokesperson said, pointing to the work of non-governmental organizations, Employment and Social Development Canada programs and parole officers.

But the Union of Safety and Justice Employees, which represents the employment co-ordinators, says it’s unrealistic to expect community agencies or external organizations will assume all of their work — like handling complex cases and building relationships with local employers.

It is unclear if the impacted workers will be laid off or moved, but advocates say that either way they worry that these changes will do damage.

Latimer was briefed on the cuts by outgoing CSC commissioner Anne Kelly in February.

She called cutting these roles a “misplaced” way to save money.

“The situation of prisoners is so dire now that any reduction in programs or services is going to be very bad,” she said.

These are not the only changes to the department’s education programs. CEGEP, or junior college, education in Quebec’s federal prisons is also being slashed, a move met with shock and disappointment by educators and inmates alike.

Justin Piché, a University of Ottawa criminology professor whose research includes Canadian prison conditions, argues the cuts will end up costing Canadians more in the long run.

“Canadians will pay the costs by footing the bill for imprisonment and less safe streets,” he said.

Source: CBC News

Le français suit

Call for Proposals

The APLA 2026 Conference Team invites proposals for consideration for presentation at the 2026 In-person Annual Conference from June 15-18, 2026 , at the Delta Dartmouth Hotel in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Our theme is: Together We Thrive: Sustaining Libraries and Communities

Library workers are no strangers to handling challenging situations, and the last few years have brought more than their fair share. With this year’s APLA theme, we are looking for proposals that highlight how library professionals of all kinds come together to work through challenges big or small, figure things out, and continue to help and grow with our communities.

We want perspectives from students, public libraries, academic libraries, school libraries, health libraries, special libraries, archives, non-profit organizations, student support departments/organizations, community groups and more!

We are seeking presentations in the following format categories:

  • Pre-Conference Workshop (time to be determined)
  • 45 Minute Presentation (35 mins with an additional 10 mins for questions)
  • Half-hour Presentation (20 mins with an additional 10 mins for questions)
  • Interactive panel discussions (45 minutes)
  • Micro Talks (5-10 minutes)

Proposals that do not fit the above timeframe and structure will be considered by the team but selection is dependent on schedule, logistics and other proposals.

Submit your proposals via PheedLoop (APLA Conference 2026) by March 20, 2026.

You will be asked to include the following information:

  • Title
  • Type: Pre-Conference Workshop, 45 Minute Presentation, Half-hour Presentation, Panel, Micro Talk
  • Name, title, institution of presenter(s)
  • Two-sentence bio of the presenter(s)
  • Abstract (250 words or less)
  • Language of presentation
  • Contact information including email and phone number.

Presenters will be notified by March 31, 2026, via email, if they are selected to present at the conference.

Presenters are responsible for their own registration, lodging, and travel.

We request that presenters make their presentations available on the conference website.

Questions? Email conference@apla.ca for more information.

———————————————————-

Appel de propositions

L’équipe de la Conférence de l’APLA 2026 vous lance un appel de propositions pour notre conférence annuelle en personne du 15 au 18 juin, 2026.

Notre thème est : Ensemble nous prospérons : Soutenir les bibliothèques et les communautés

Le personnel de bibliothèque est habitué à gérer des situations difficiles, et ces dernières années leur en a présenté plus que leur juste part. Dans le cadre de notre thème cette année, nous sollicitons des propositions qui mettent en évidence les façons dont les professionnels de bibliothèque de toutes variétés s’unissent pour relever des défis (petits ou grands), trouver des solutions, et continuent à aider et grandir avec nos communautés.

Nous souhaitons connaître le point de vue des personnes étudiantes, bibliothèques publiques, bibliothèques universitaires, bibliothèques scolaires, bibliothèques de santé, bibliothèques spécialisées, archives, organisations à but non lucratif, services/organisations d’aide aux personnes étudiant.es, groupes communautaires et bien d’autres encore!

Nous sollicitions des présentations dans les catégories suivantes:

  • Atelier pré-conférence (durée à être déterminée)
  • Présentation de 45 minutes (45 min avec 10 min additionnelles pour questions)
  • Présentation d’une demi-heure (20 min avec 10 min additionnelles pour questions)
  • Table ronde interactive (45 minutes)
  • Présentation éclairs (5-10 minutes)

Les propositions qui ne respectent pas les critères du temps et de la structure ci-dessus seront quand même considérées par le comité. Cependant, elles dépendront des plages horaires disponibles, la logistique, et des autres propositions reçues.

Soumettez vos propositions, par l’entremise de PheedLoop, (APLA Conference 2026) d’ici le 20 mars, 2026

Veuillez inclure les informations suivantes :

  • Titre
  • Type: Atelier pré-conférence ; Présentation de 45 minutes, présentation d’une demi-heure ; Table ronde ; Présentation éclair
  • Nom, titre, et institutions des personnes conférencières
  • Une biographie de deux phrases des personnes conférencières
  • Résumé (250 mots ou moins)
  • Langue de la présentation
  • Coordonnées, y compris : courriel et numéro de téléphone.

Les personnes conférencières seront avisé(e)s d’ici le 31 mars, 2026, par courriel, si leurs présentations ont été sélectionnées.

Les personnes conférencières sont responsable de leurs propre frais d’inscription et de déplacement.

Nous demandons aux personnes qui présentent de rendre disponibles leurs présentations sur le site web de la conférence.

Questions? Contactez conference@apla.ca pour de plus amples renseignements.