Congrats Donna (MLIS ’90), from everyone at SIM! We look forward to following your initiatives over the next two years.

From the Dalhousie Libraries Blog: The Canadian Association of Research Libraries has elected Donna Bourne-Tyson, Dalhousie’s University Librarian, as CARL President for a two year-term, 2017–2019. “It’s a great honour to serve the research library community in Canada in this capacity,” said Donna. “Academic research libraries are at the vanguard of technology as the sharing and dissemination of information shifts to digital environments. It’s a time of rapid change and growth for libraries.”

Donna has recently commenced her second term as the University Librarian at Dalhousie and has been in the role since 2011, previously having served as the University Librarian at Mount Saint Vincent University. Currently, she oversees a team of 120 librarians and staff and ensures Dal Libraries meet the needs of the Dalhousie community through supporting initiatives such as open access, scholarly communications, research data preservation and learning communities.

As President of CARL, Donna will work collaboratively with 29 of Canada’s largest university libraries plus Library and Archives Canada and Canada’s National Science Library. CARL supports Canada’s research community by providing improved access to research services, promoting effective and sustainable scholarly communication and advocating public policies that enable broad access to scholarly information. CARL member libraries spend over $335 million annually on information resources to support learning, teaching and research and act as a foundation for Canadian-led innovation by providing access to knowledge, as well as preserving vital information required to support Canada’s research community.

As CARL’s president, Donna will be joining an impressive group of university leaders who have served in this role, including: Tom Hickerson, Vice-Provost for Libraries and Cultural Resources at the University of Calgary; Gerald Beasley, Vice-Provost and Chief Librarian at the University of Alberta, soon to become the Carl A. Kroch University Librarian for Cornell University; and most recently Martha Whitehead, Vice-Provost Libraries & Digital Planning at Queen’s University.