September 28, 2024
Education News Canada

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES
Announcing CARL's Visiting Program Officer and Working Group for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

May 14, 2019

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to announce the knowledgeable and diverse team that will develop its program of bilingual initiatives to support the creation of diverse, equitable, and inclusive environments in CARL research libraries.

With the support of the advisory working group, Maha Kumaran, Head of the Education & Music Library and the Education liaison librarian at the University of Saskatchewan, will be leading CARL's Equity Diversity and Inclusion efforts while on a one-year part-time secondment in the newly created role of Visiting Program Officer for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

Maha's program of research has focused on diversity, multiculturalism, visible minorities, inclusion, and equity. With help from the then Canadian Library Association, she initiated and established the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) Network, the only one of its kind in Canada. She also authored Leadership in Libraries: A Focus on Minority Librarians, co-edited Aboriginal and Visible Minority Librarians: Oral Histories from Canada, and served as a guest-editor to the diversity issue (Volume 4) of the Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship. In 2018, she undertook a sabbatical project on diversity and leadership in Canadian academic librarianship, the results of which were presented at OCUL's Scholars' Portal Day, the Indian Institute of Technology's international library conference, and the Saskatchewan Libraries Conference. She delivered the closing keynote at the CAPAL 2018 conference and serves as a Director for CAPAL and co-chair for its Diversity and Equity Committee. She also undertook a course in education policy-making, which helped her realize the importance of addressing diversity through national-level policy-making.

As part of her role as VPO, Maha will work closely with Melissa Just, Dean, University Library, University of Saskatchewan, who will chair CARL's new Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group. This group, which brings together librarians from post-secondary institutions across the country, will provide experienced input and advice to guide the development of CARL equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives.

Members of the CARL Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Working Group:

  • Mandissa Arlain, Library Technician, Ryerson University
  • Michelle Brown, Liaison Librarian - Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa
  • Saran Croos, Engineering and Computer Science Librarian, University of New Brunswick
  • Rebecca Graham, University Librarian, University of Guelph (on administrative leave)
  • Vicki Jay Leung, Reference Librarian, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
  • Ebony Magnus, Interim Library Manager, Reg Erhardt Library, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
  • Julie Morin, Project Officer, CARL
  • Maggie Neilson, Academic Librarian, Acadia University
  • Katya Pereyaslavska, Online Learning and Accessibility Librarian, Scholars Portal, Ontario Council of University Libraries
  • Anne Pottier, Associate University Librarian for Services & Facilities, McMaster University
  • Christine Shaw, Associate University Librarian for Staff Administration, University of Manitoba
  • Tomoko Shida, Student Intern (ARL / SAA Mosaic Program), University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services
  • Dominic Silvio, Public Services Librarian, Killam Memorial Library, Dalhousie University
  • Dee Winn, Reference & Subject Librarian, Webster Library, Concordia University

For more information

Canadian Association of Research Libraries
309 Cooper, Suite 203
Ottawa Ontario
Canada K2P 0G5
www.carl-abrc.ca


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