By Chelsea Baker
On May 10, the ABQLA, L’Association des bibiliothécaires du Québec/Quebec Library Association, held their 91st annual conference in the heart of Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles at the Centre des mémoires montréalaises (MEM). I felt more young and hip just walking through the doors of this cool venue! Looking at the vintage decor, the retro gift shop/corner store, the high ceilings, and open welcoming spaces, it all made me feel so grateful to be there. I was lucky to have the PD funds and supportive administrators who encouraged me make the trip from Québec City, where I work as the Central Quebec School Board Librarian.
As a new member of the ABQLA, I wanted to learn more about this bilingual, non-profit association. Attending their 91st annual conference (that must be a record in consecutive library conferences) was a first step in seeing their mission in practice, which is to provide members a network “…through education, advocacy and communication.”
M’entendez-vous? Can you Hear Me?
The theme of the conference was M’entendez-vous? Can you Hear Me? The significance of this theme was best described in the opening words of co-presidents, Kristen Goodall and Nicholas Lobraico and in the conference program:
“This year’s theme not only calls attention to the structural imbalances of voices in the GLAM sector, but also underscores the importance of amplifying voices that have historically be silenced or underrepresented, while ensuring that everyone’s perspective, regardless of format, finds a meaningful place in our collective dialogue.”
I had never heard of the term GLAM sector, which stands for Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums – such an honourable group of people to be associated with! As places of culture and learning in our school settings, we can easily relate to institutions whose mission is to connect, communicate, represent, and make accessible information for our communities.
La langue: Au service de l’unité ou de la division? or Language: Unifying or Dividing?
The opening keynote speaker, Dr. Marina Doucerain, started the day with a thought-provoking talk entitled La langue: Au service de l’unité ou de la division? or Language: Unifying or Dividing? Dr. Doucerain is an assistant professor in social/cultural psychology at Université du Québec à Montreal. Their work focuses on relationships between people from different ethnolinguistic groups, and the ways in which people negotiate belonging within these groups. I appreciated Dr. Doucerain’s insight into our unconscious biases when interacting with people (students) who have a different cultural background. Think about the schools you work in – some of them may resemble a mini-United Nations of learners! Dr. Doucerain asked us to think about the curriculum and how teaching is often reflective of a particular (mainstream) way of learning and doing things. Thinking about this in the context of school libraries, it confirms what most of us already know, our school library spaces need to represent a variety of perspectives from different cultural backgrounds. They need to be safe, welcoming spaces where students feel a sense of community. Nuances in language for second language learners was another key take-away for me. When building relationships with students who are new to Quebecois society, I want to be someone they can trust and feel comfortable with.
Musée des ondes Emile Berliner – Sound and Image Archives
After the opening keynote address, participants were free to join their choice of workshops. I chose to hear Dr. Anja Borck, a Doctor of Art History, talk about her project to update online archives of the Musée des ondes Emile Berliner – Sound and Image Archives. The process of digitizing this sound and image collection is an ongoing monumental task that Ms. Borck is clearly passionate about. I liked hearing about the criteria scale used to determine what to add to the database. I also enjoyed seeing the website and hearing some of the sound clips. Ms. Borck mentioned that she wanted the website to be “fun, loud, and inviting”. Visit the website, and I am sure you will agree that it is all the above; note that it is an ongoing project, and the search engine is not fully functioning. I came away wondering how I can make my library catalog and database webpage a little more fun, loud, and engaging for students.
Decolonize Your Collection – The Graphic Lit Way
Next up was a session with librarian Max Crowther from Bishop’s College. His workshop was entitled Decolonize Your Collection – The Graphic Lit Way. This engaging presentation was about comic books written and created by Indigenous authors and an introduction to a website he created with book recommendations, website resources, and more – including his slide deck from his ABQLA appearance. I appreciated hearing the story of how he started revaluating his collection with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in mind, and how he was compelled to explore and highlight Indigenous illustrated stories. Visit his website.
On a Wing and a Prayer: The Marianopolis Crane Project’s Call for Hope and Peace
When choosing which workshop to attend next, the words Hope and Peace jumped off the page and helped me decide. In this presentation, Amy Mclean, college librarian, and Dr. Allison Crump, an administrator at Marianopolis College (a private English college in Montreal specializing in pre-university education) told the story of how their college community folded 3,000 origami cranes in the name of hope and peace and how most of the cranes ended up at the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima City, Japan! Due to the pandemic, the project evolved in a different way than the original plan, but students appreciated the creative aspect of this project and the chance to write down their hopes and wishes for a peaceful world on the wings of some of the paper birds that now hang above their heads in the library.
Students were encouraged to read the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr and Ronald Himler. Immediately, I started thinking about how books unite us and started a mental list of titles that would make a good board-wide reading for peace initiative. My school board covers a large geographic area. We have schools in Chibougamau, LaTuque, Thetford Mines, and Shawinigan, to name a few places. If I could pair up some classes to create a literature exchange within my own school board, the results could be interesting.
BaladoWeb: Produire et diffuser des balados / Podcast Web: Create and Broadcast Podcasts
My last workshop of the day took place in French, and I must say how much I enjoyed the bilingual nature of this conference!
This workshop was a collaboration between the Bibliothéque et archives nationales du Québec (BANQ) and educators at Récit, an organization dedicated to the integration of technology in Quebec classrooms and helping teachers and students develop technological skills. BaladoWeb offers educational resources for the production and broadcast podcasts. The project focuses on creativity, cultural relevance and the development of digital and information skills. The possibilities for using this guide in the school library are endless! Check out the website!
Closing Keynote : Vous êtes la mémoire de Montréal, ensemble parlons de vous/ You are the memory of Montreal, let’s talk about us!
At the end of the day, Annabelle Laliberté, director of the MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalises, talked to us about her 30-year career in the museum world. Her expertise in creating exhibits, collaborating on educational projects, and promoting cultural initiatives across Quebec was evident in her words and actions at the MEM.
I carved out time between sessions to participate in one of the exhibits. “A Mile in My Shoes” is a collaboration project with the Empathy Museum. Visitors are invited to choose a pair of shoes from a display that brings a typical shoe store to mind, and then try on or hold the shoes while listening to an audio clip on a headset about the person who owned those shoes before donating them to the museum. The story I listened to had me chuckling one minute and tearing up the next! It was such a sweet way to tell a story and to evoke feelings of empathy.
Thank you to the organizers of the ABQLA conference for putting on such a rewarding event. There were many other sessions that I did not get to attend, and a lovely silent auction and vendor booth area to stroll around in over the lunch hour. It is my hope that this conference continues for years to come, and that more people in the GLAM sector in Quebec benefit from your mission and vision.
Chelsea Baker is the librarian consultant at the Central Quebec School Board in Quebec City. She has an MLIS from Western University in London, Ontario. Originally from New Brunswick, she has been working in the anglophone school library sector in Quebec since 2008. Sharing and making children’s and young adult literature accessible to students and teachers brings her a lot of professional satisfaction. When she is not reading books or walking her cat, you can find her on nature walks, cross-country ski trails, or local swimming hangouts.