Author: Technology Coordinator

Date: Monday, November 10, 2025
Time: 1:00pm – 3:00pm ET
Location: Online

Do you notice burnout in yourself or your staff? Burnout can manifest in many different ways, from a lack of motivation to complete mental and/or physical exhaustion. Library work is becoming increasingly demanding, and it is essential to develop supportive skills and strategies to help library staff flourish in today’s challenging times.

Learn how to identify, manage, and avoid burnout in this interactive workshop for anyone working in libraries. Participants will leave with techniques to manage their time, energy, and wellbeing.

To register for this workshop, please click here.

New Brunswickers can now access free radon test kits at libraries across the province.

The provincial government is partnering with the New Brunswick Research and Productivity Council and NB Lung to provide the free kits, which include a 90-day test and information about radon gas.

The province says radon tests should be conducted during the colder months, when people typically keep their windows and doors closed.

The New Brunswick Research and Productivity Council will analyze the tests and provide the results.

“Our team of radon-certified scientists have been working hard over many years to ensure that families across New Brunswick have access to reliable, accurate radon testing,” said Diane Botelho, the council’s CEO and executive director, in a news release. “We don’t just test; we educate, guide and feel the duty to help protect our communities.”

According to the province, one-in-four New Brunswick homes have high radon levels, with radon exposure being the second-leading cause of lung cancer in Canada.

“With this program, New Brunswick is poised to be a leader in preventing preventable lung cancer as the first province to implement free access to testing,” said NB Lung president and CEO Melanie Langille. “High radon in a home is fixable, but you must test to know if your radon is high.”

According to Health Canada, radon is a radioactive gas that occurs naturally when the uranium in soil and rock breaks down. It is invisible, odourless and tasteless. High radon levels in homes can have a negative impact on a person’s health.

Source: CTV New Brunswick

Nearly 100 library workers across three school districts in New Brunswick are once again fighting for their jobs.

Layoff notices went out Friday, just before the Thanksgiving weekend.

It’s the latest move in a months-long battle between the provincial government and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

“I guess they want to go and fight this out for a third time,” said Theresa McAllister, president of Local 2745 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Continue reading “New Brunswick: Library workers issued notice of layoffs – again – a month into new school year” →

Breaking Barriers/Brisons les Barrières

Proposal Deadline: Monday, February 10, 2025

The APLA 2025 Conference Team invites proposals for consideration for presentation at the 2025 In-person Annual Conference from June 10-13, 2025.

Our theme is: Breaking Barriers/Brison les Barrières.

Libraries have always been at the forefront of democratizing knowledge, fostering inclusion, and supporting their communities in overcoming obstacles. With our theme, Breaking Barriers, we aim to explore how libraries are challenging traditional boundaries, embracing innovation, and empowering individuals and communities. The APLA 2025 Conference seeks to address the challenges and opportunities in breaking down barriers, whether they are cultural, economic, digital, or educational.

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

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)
  • Hour Presentations (45 mins with additional 15 mins for questions)
  • Half-hour Presentation (20 mins with additional 10 mins for questions)
  • Interactive panel discussions (60 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. We also encourage you to join Micro Talks or give presentations to discuss previous or on-going research or barriers you have broken.

Submit your proposals, via PheedLoop (APLA Conference 2025) by Monday, February 10th, 2025.

Include the following information:

  • Title
  • Type: Pre-Conference Workshop, Hour 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
  • Suggested track (eg. Public library, Cataloguing, School library, etc.)
  • Contact information including email, address, and phone number.

Presenters will be notified by Monday, February 24, 2025, via email, if they are selected to present at the conference.

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

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

2022-2023 APLA membership drive posterThe APLA membership drive is on! An association is only as strong as its membership, and we need YOU to join us in our efforts to promote library interests and support colleagues throughout Atlantic Canada. Do you have colleagues who haven’t joined us yet? Now’s the time to spread the word and help recruit new members to amplify our voice!

Join or renew your membership between June 2022 – June 2023 and your name will be entered in a draw for a great prize package.

The APLA Merit Award honours an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to library services in the Atlantic Provinces. Please consider nominating a deserving colleague who inspires you. Some of the contributions that might be considered in selecting a person for this award are:

  • leadership in library associations at the local, regional and provincial levels,
  • contributions to the development, application and utilization of library services and library systems
  • significant contribution to library literature.

The APLA Merit Award is presented during the Annual Conference.

A list of the past recipients of the APLA Merit Award may be found on the APLA website, https://www.apla.ca/funding-awards/apla-merit-award/.

Nominations, including documentation of the nominee’s achievements and letters of support, should be submitted by March 31 to the APLA Past-President, past-president@apla.ca

PDF of this statement

The Atlantic Provinces Library Association (APLA) acknowledges there is a long history of racism against people of colour, Black people, and, particularly, Indigenous people in Canada. This history is present in all public institutions, including libraries, across the country. The effects of colonialism, slavery, the building of the reserve system for Indigenous people, the residential schools project, the Sixties Scoop: these atrocities, and many other actions, have manifested in the significant socioeconomic disparities present today.

APLA recognizes that library services have not been made available equitably and collections have not been as inclusive of the voices of Black people, people of colour, and Indigenous people, as they should have been, both historically and presently. We believe that representation matters. We recognize that public institutions such as libraries were built within a colonial lens, with only one set of voices at the table, therefore, only represent a portion of the populations libraries are meant to serve. Libraries are meant to be wholly democratic institutions, but for many, they are not, and despite the growing number of progressive library initiatives, as well as community outreach programs which reach populations who are exposed to vulnerability and oppression, we need to continue transforming library services, collections & acquisitions, as well as the bureaucratic structure of libraries.

APLA commits to listening carefully and respectfully to all people who experience oppression, and to learning how libraries can be truly open, diverse, democratic, and safe from racist and discriminatory behavior.

APLA also commits to working to ensure that neither racism nor discrimination taint libraries today or in the future. To do this, we start by fully acknowledging the historical wrongs libraries have reflected and acquiesced to with their inaction.

APLA’s mandate is to promote library and information service throughout New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In recognition of the historical inequity in serving people of colour, Black people, and Indigenous people, APLA is committing to change by:

  1. Ensuring APLA adopts an intercultural lens when creating its board and programmes
  2. Adding a special focus on intercultural equity, diversity and inclusion, and properly compensating experts from whom APLA learns
  3. Promoting and encouraging the reconceptualizing of the terms on which libraries have historically been framed, by exploring how different worldviews celebrate reading, learning, storytelling, and community building
  4. Creating a channel to hear from community members and libraries in the provinces we serve to hear how APLA can better support anti-racism efforts.
  5. Supporting libraries as they carry out their missions and review their practices in a multicultural context.

APLA thanks you for joining us on this journey.

Anti-Racism Resources

APLA’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.

The session will be held on Thursday, March 31, 2022 at 11:30am-12:30pm (ADT). Feel free to bring your lunch!

The theme for this drop-in session is What I Learned. We will be sharing stories about mistakes we made while teaching, and what we learned from them that has improved or will improve our instruction. We will also seek constructive feedback from fellow participants. You can share as much or as little as you feel comfortable sharing, and if you just want to listen to other participants’ stories, that is fine, too. This session is meant to be a safe space with the goal of encouraging and empowering fellow information professionals in their teaching journey.

You do not have to be currently employed as an information professional to participate in this session, nor does your teaching experience that you would like to share have to be from information literacy instruction sessions. All teaching  experience is relevant, as it shapes individuals as educators. Students are welcome to participate!

Please register using the form below:

https://forms.gle/ACDEc9HWyzQRqaBA6

PDF of this Statement

The Atlantic Provinces Library Association adds its voice to the global outpouring of support for the people of Ukraine. As mentioned in the Canadian Federation of Library Associations’ (CFLA) statement, over 1.3 million Canadians have Ukrainian roots, and many within the Canadian library community have friends and family members still living in the region. The Atlantic Provinces are home to approximately 15,000 people with Ukrainian heritage.

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine has highlighted the unique contributions librarians offer societies. It has also underlined the dangers our professional colleagues are facing. These are illustrated in Ukrainian Library Association (ULA) President Oksana Brui’s letter to the world’s library community as well as the ULA’s appeal to the International Federation of Library Associations.

We join the CFLA and other associations, on a national and international level, in applauding our Ukrainian colleagues’ dedication to the vital roles that libraries, archives, and digital media play in ensuring information access, countering misinformation, providing social supports, and protecting intellectual freedom. We also join these associations in expressing our concern for the security and well-being of these same professional colleagues.

As a regional library association, we echo the CFLA’s position to assist in any way we can.