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IM Public Lecture: Vulnerabilities exposed and the opportunity to respond: Reflections on public libraries in the time of COVID-19 (Åsa Kachan)

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The Information Management Public Lectures give attention to exciting advances in research and professional practice. The topics are diverse reflecting the importance and global extent of Information Management in today’s society. The lectures are free of charge and open to all, unless otherwise stated.

All 2020-2021 lectures will be held virtually on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the full schedule. Lecture will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel.

Vulnerabilities exposed and the opportunity to respond: Reflections on public libraries in the time of COVID-19

Åsa Kachan
Halifax Public Libraries

Lecture Details
Tuesday, October 6th, 2020
5:30pm (AST)
Microsoft Teams (click link at above date/time to join)

Abstract: When COVID-19 necessitated the sudden closure of public libraries in March, libraries were faced with an unprecedented challenge. After years of bringing growing numbers of people together within our spaces to learn, share, laugh and even dance, gathering had suddenly become dangerous. From her own experience, and with stories from across the county, Åsa Kachan will share the remarkable ways public libraries have responded to our communities’ urgent need for accurate information, entertainment, technology and connection in a time of COVID.

Bio: Åsa Kachan is the CEO & Chief Librarian for Halifax Public Libraries where she oversees 420 staff working across the 14-branch library system. Halifax Public Libraries recently received international acclaim with the opening of Halifax’s new Central Library in 2014. Halifax Public Libraries is very highly regarded for its services, programs and welcoming spaces that reach diverse populations with equality and respect.

Prior to her role with Halifax Public Libraries, Åsa spent 16 years in senior administrative roles within universities, most recently serving as the Assistant Vice-President Enrolment Management & Registrar for Dalhousie University between 2004 and 2014. During Åsa’s time at Dalhousie, she undertook critical transformations to improve the student experience, including revamping undergraduate scholarships and bursaries, modernizing admission and recruitment practices, and improving front-line student service.

Åsa has volunteered her time with a number of community organizations, including Halifax Dance, the Halifax Grammar School, and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. She is currently serving as Chair of the Governance Committee of the United Way of Halifax and sits on the Advisory Board for the Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University. In 2018 Åsa was appointed to the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for a three-year term.

Katie Kehoe Receives 2020 Margaret Williams Trust Fund Award

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The QEII library at Memorial University announced Monday that SIM MLIS student Katie Kehoe is a recipient of the 2020 Margaret Williams Trust Fund Award.

This award was established at Memorial University Libraries to promote the development of librarianship in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Funds are awarded on a competitive basis to applicants seeking funding for library‐related projects or assistance in pursuing graduate studies in librarianship, archival studies, or teacher librarianship.

Congrats Katie!

SIM Students Awarded MITACS Research Grants

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Two SIM students have been awarded MITACS research grants.

Congrats to Dan Phillips (MI/MREM) and Shannon Faires (MI/MPA)!

Dan Phillips and Mike Smit (Associate Professor, SIM)
Project Title: Identifying and Evaluating Best Practices for the Description of Shared Research Data
Value: $6,000

Shannon Faires and Sylvain Charlebois (Professor, Director-Agri-Food Analytics Lab)
Project Title: New Brunswick’s food security potential in CEA horticulture
Value: $30,000

SIM Co-Authored Report on Food Waste Released

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Re-blogged from the Halifax Examiner. Read the full article here. Learn more about the Dalhousie Agri-Food Analytics Lab here.

Featuring SIM student Erica Finch, and cross-appointed Professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois:

Because of the pandemic, we’re cooking more at home; we’re also wasting a lot more food

A new report released Tuesday suggests that Canadian households are wasting between 20 to 24 million kilograms more food each month since the pandemic began.

The report focusing on food waste in the home during COVID-19 is a collaboration between Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab and Ontario-based research firm Caddle. It suggests Canadian households are wasting 13.5% more food at home overall, generating 2.3 kg of organic food waste when compared to 2.03 kg per week pre-pandemic.

“It’s not necessarily surprising that people are wasting more food, since they are at home more and cooking more, producing their own meals,” the report’s co-author Erica Finch said in an interview.

“But how much of that food that they’re buying are they using, and how much is being thrown away compared to before the pandemic? That’s the part that’s difficult for us to tell.”

Finch said at the outset of the pandemic when restaurants were closed, people couldn’t eat in restaurants. With options still somewhat limited, they wanted to know how eating more frequently at home was playing out with food waste.

“We know that (the restaurant) sector is producing less food waste but what we wanted to know was, was that food wastage just moving into the domestic sphere or were people being conscious of what they were throwing away,” she said.

Finch said it’s difficult to determine if households are “proportionally” generating more waste than before the pandemic simply because they’re eating more food at home.

“A 13.5% increase at home is consistent with the amount of waste that municipalities are processing,” she said.

The report involved a nationwide survey of 8,272 Canadians who responded between Aug. 21-23. Overall, 55.4% of those surveyed indicate they’re wasting less food in percentage of volume compared to before the pandemic.

SIM Alumna Publishes Debut Novel

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Deborah Hemming’s debut novel “Throw Down Your Shadows” was published by Nimbus on July 30th. Deborah is an MLIS graduate (2017), a Reference and Research Librarian with Dalhousie Libraries, and the interim IM Liaison Librarian. An interview and review was included in the Chronicle Herald on August 21st (excerpt below – read the full article here).

Congrats Deborah!

From the Chronicle Herald: The lush vineyards of the Annapolis Valley (not far from where she lives and where she spent her adolescence) provide the backdrop for Deborah Hemming’s debut novel, a coming-of-age story with a surprising twist.

“I think I always wanted to set a book here,” she said in an interview from her home in Wolfville. “It was a really magical place to grow up. It felt really free.”

Hemming spent her childhood years in Port Williams, a small community just outside Wolfville. Maybe it is why she is drawn to stories set in rural places. While fictional characters living in cities can find anonymity to develop and evolve through their varied experiences, those living in the country face something different, she said.

“Rural stories don’t provide that anonymity,” she said. “You are known. Characters seek out change and growth in other ways. The whole idea of pushing boundaries is different. You have to do it interpersonally.”

Throw Down Your Shadows (Vagrant Press), follows 16-year-old Winnie as she navigates growing up on the fringes in rural Nova Scotia alongside her three best friends, all boys. Their lives change dramatically when Caleb, a new boy from the city moves to town. Under Caleb’s influence, Winnie and her friends test boundaries, and in the process reveal to themselves their inner complexities, desires, and darkness.

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