Recent CLA Statements and Advocacy Tools

Updated: March 31, 2013

Looking for statements from the Canadian Library Association about current issues affecting the library community and its clients?

Access Copyright

• CLA Statement on Licenses with Access Copyright in Post-Secondary Institutions (June 2012)

Access to Information

• Submission to the Information Commissioner’s consultation on the Access to Information Act (January 2013)

Community Access Program

• Canadian Library Association Dismayed at Cancellation of Community Access Program (April 2012)
• CLA releases CAP Toolkit (May 2012)
• CLA’s letter to Industry Minister regarding cut to CAP (April 2012)

Copyright

• Canadian Library Association Releases Proposed Technical Amendments to Bill C-11 (February 2012)
• Urgent Call to Action on Bill C-11, An Act to Amend the Copyright Act (February 2012)
• National Library Association Acknowledges Passing of the Copyright Modernization Act (June 2012)
• IFLA-EIFL-CLA Statement on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives at SCCR 25 (November 2012)

Federal Budget 2013 Consultations

• Pre-Budget Consultation 2012 – Submission by the Canadian Library Association (August 2012)

Government Libraries

• 2012 Federal Budget highlights (March 2012)
• CLA dismayed by impact of budget cuts on federal libraries (May 2012)
• CLA Toolkit: Budget Cuts to Federal Libraries
• CLA Member Advocacy Survey on the Impact of Federal Budget Cuts to Canada’s Libraries: Final Report (December 2012)

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

• Position Statement on Access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (June 2012)

Intellectual Freedom and Freedom of Expression

• Challenges to Materials and Policies in Canadian Libraries 2011 (July 2012)
• CLA Supports Dale Askey in Libel Suit Defence (February 2013)
• CLA continues its support for Dale Askey (March 2013)

Library and Archives Canada

• 2012 Federal Budget highlights (March 2012)
• CLA dismayed by impact of budget cuts on federal libraries (May 2012)
• CLA’s letter to Heritage Minister regarding cuts to federal libraries and LAC (May 2012)
• CLA continues dialogue with LAC (June 2012)
• CLA Member Advocacy Survey on the Impact of Federal Budget Cuts to Canada’s Libraries: Final Report (December 2012)
• Determining the impact of the 2012 federal budget cuts on LAC : Questions to LAC (January 2013)
• CLA Responds to Article on Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in Toronto Star (March 2013)
• CLA Statement on the Library and Archives Canada Code of Conduct (March 2013)

Print Disabilities

• National Network for Equitable Library Service for Canadians with print disabilities (NNELS) (June 2012)

School Libraries

• Canadian Library Association Disturbed by Cuts to School Libraries (April 2012)

Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)

• IFLA and other library organisations express concern about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) (July 2012)

Canadian Library Association Disturbed by Cuts to School Libraries

(April 12, 2012) The Canadian Library Association (CLA) is disturbed by the recent announcement of the elimination of all school librarian positions in the Chignecto‐Central regional school board in Nova Scotia. Media reports indicate that 41 school librarians will no longer have jobs as of 30 June. And by extension, hundreds of students in the region will no longer have access to qualified staff in their school libraries.

Information and digital literacy skills are increasingly crucial for students to succeed in their academic pursuits and in future employment, and to become informed and engaged citizens. School librarians serve an essential function in providing leadership and support within schools to ensure that students can acquire these skills.

“Having a school library is not enough. The libraries need to be staffed by qualified teacher‐librarians and technicians, who bring a dedicated skill‐set to coordinate and supplement the work of teachers,” said CLA President Karen Adams.

A teacher‐librarian is an accredited teacher with additional qualifications in librarianship, with those added skills focused on expertise in digital (computer) information.

“Over twenty years of research supports increased student achievement with quality school libraries coordinated by certificated teacher‐librarians,” said Linda Shantz‐Keresztes, Chair of the CLA School Library Issues Advisory Committee. “Our national study, Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada, emphasizes that the library is the heart of learning and essential to student success. Without trained and qualified library staff Nova Scotia will not be able to meet the acceptable standards outlined in this document. This should be a serious concern for Nova Scotia parents in advocating for the highest standards in their children’s education through effective school libraries.”

Substantial research over several decades provides clear evidence of a correlation between good quality school libraries and increases in student achievement. School boards across Canada need to take note and allocate sufficient resources to maintain and improve school libraries and the essential services that teacher‐librarians provide.

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CLA is Canada’s largest national library association, representing the interests of public, academic, school and special libraries, professional librarians, library workers, library trustees, and all those concerned with enhancing the quality of life of Canadians through access to knowledge, literacy and lifelong learning.

For more information, please contact:
Alana Fontaine, (613) 233‐8906 (Office), (613) 299‐4017 (Cell), cla@impactcanada.com

Canadian Library Association Alarmed at British Columbia Government’s Recent Cuts to Education Funding

April 29, 2010, (Ottawa, ON) – The Canadian Library Association (CLA) and its school library division, the Canadian Association for School Libraries (CASL), has expressed dismay and alarm at the erosion of funding for education in British Columbia. This erosion is pushing districts into making cutbacks to personnel and programs to balance their budgets, resulting in the elimination of professional teacher-librarians in many schools in British Columbia. Teacher-librarians are those professional teachers who teach curriculum based information literacy skills to students at the elementary and secondary level.

Linda Shantz-Keresztes, President of CASL asks, “How can basic literacies and the essential new literacies of our digital world be achieved without qualified teacher-librarians in BC schools?”

Studies across North America for the last fifteen years have consistently demonstrated that students in schools with effective school library programs supported by teacher-librarians experience greater academic success than those in schools with no such programs and professional teaching.

In 2008 the Minister of Education in British Columbia stated at the Pan Canadian Literacy Forum in Vancouver that: “I am personally proud that British Columbia is the lead jurisdiction for literacy in our country.”

Parents in BC have to ask some hard questions. Do they want to abandon libraries and literacy programs in public schools, or do they urge the British Columbia government to recognize the importance of literacy education, school libraries and the essential role of teacher librarians in preparing B.C. students to be lifelong learners.

John Teskey, President of the CLA, urges the BC government to reconsider these cutbacks and to fund school library programs and hire qualified teacher librarians.

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The Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques (CLA) is Canada’s largest national and broad-based library association, representing the interests of public, academic, school and special libraries, professional librarians and library workers, and all those concerned about enhancing the quality of life of Canadians through information and literacy.

For more information, please contact:

Kelly Moore, CLA Executive Director
Tel.: (613) 232-9625 Ext 306
Email: kmoore@cla.ca