Location

Seneca College, Newnham Campus, CITE Building (Building K), Room K2100

This Year’s Theme: Building Sustainable Communities

What is a “sustainable community?” A sustainable community “is a place where people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives feel welcome and safe, where every group has a seat at the decision-making table, and where prosperity is shared” (Institute for Sustainable Communities, 2019). The American Library Association provides a framework for thinking about sustainability in libraries, outlining three important factors to building sustainable library communities: economy, ecology and equity - the three E's. Sustainability does not just refer to the environment, but to social equity, inclusion, diversity, access and entrepreneurship (ALA, 2019).

This year, we want to explore how sustainable thinking has an impact on our GTA college libraries. How do we build a healthy sustainable environment for our users and library staff that meets the three tenants of economy, ecology and equity? What are we doing and where do we need to go to continue fostering sustainable college libraries of the future?

A call for Lightning Talk proposals will be sent out mid-March. In the meantime, look for updates on our conference website.

Connect5 seeks to strengthen the network between GTA librarians, library technicians and staff at Centennial, George Brown, Humber, Seneca and Sheridan College. Our goals are to share strategies and resources, explore opportunities and challenges, and create a support network among GTA college libraries and staff.