2007-02-08

A perfect librarians’ night out

Charlene Elgee, Library Manager at Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Secretary of Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association Board of Directors attended this week's meeting of the OPL Board.

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Just when you thought that Ottawa night life couldn’t be any more exciting, there was CASLIS with a suggestion for the perfect librarians’ night out on the town: Go to a meeting of the Board of the Ottawa Public Library.

The inaugural meeting of the new Board was held on Monday evening, February 5, and there was lively discussion enough to keep the small crowd of onlookers very entertained. There was opportunity to learn a bit about how city politics work too. And, for any of you out there aspiring to be a city librarian, I'd recommend that you go see how it's done right. Whether she was fielding questions about the complexities of public library funding in Ontario, clarifying issues of governance, or welcoming with kindness and respect the 97-year-old library patron who came out to the Board meeting in -30 weather (she remembers her first view of the OPL in 1925!!), Barbara Clubb is a joy and a revelation to watch. She makes it easy to remember that so much of the best work of social significance that we do as librarians is done in our public libraries. Attending Board meetings gives us an opportunity to learn and appreciate that. And we were most definitely amused and entertained! For information on the new board and its meeting schedule, visit the OPL Web site.

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