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Feb 23

Professional Development Grant

Each year, GELA awards Professional Development (PD) Grant to a GELA member to participate in or attend library-related conferences, workshops, seminars, or lectures.

Applications for this year’s PD Grant are now being accepted until midnight on March 17, 2023. This year we will award up to $200.

The PD Grant recipient will be chosen by the end of March and applicants will be contacted at that time. The recipient will also be announced at GELA’s 2023 Annual General Meeting.

You must be a current member for the 2022/2023 membership year to apply for this grant. Please refer to GELA’s membership page to update your membership. You can join or renew your membership at the time of applying for this grant. If you are unsure of your membership status, please email gelaedmonton@gmail.com. 

In your application, you will be asked to provide:

  • personal information
  • an estimated budget
  • a brief description (200-300 words) of the PD activity stating the benefits of this opportunity to you and/or the library community.

If you are a successful recipient of the GELA PD Grant, you agree to:

  1. provide associated receipts to the GELA Treasurer within 30 days of the end of the event, and
  2. present a summary of the event to GELA members at the next AGM following the event (e.g. a verbal presentation or written brief)

** Members of the GELA executive are not eligible to apply for this grant.

GELA Professional Development Grant Application Form

Oct 14

GELA Program and Services Survey

Hello library community and fellow information professionals! 

The Greater Edmonton Library Association (GELA) is looking to re-evaluate and revitalize our services and programs to better reflect the needs of our community and we want to hear from you. We believe every voice is important, whether you work in a library or are part of the information profession more broadly, and welcome your input on how we can be a resource for you.

Our primary purpose has always been to create a sense of community between librarians, library technicians, library staff, students, and library supporters as well as create space to build meaningful connections. To build this sense of community, we have historically offered our programs to both GELA members and non-members, through in-person and, more recently, online events.

In 2020, we had to transition many of our programs to an online format, due to COVID-19, and cancel our programs and events that could not be facilitated online. Now, with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, we are very excited about the opportunity to once again offer in-person programs and events and we want all of our programs and events to be relevant to the needs and wants of our community. We are asking for 5-10 minutes of your time to fill out this survey on how GELA can be relevant to YOU, even if you are not currently a member. The survey will be open for 1 month, closing on November 13, 2022.

To reach as many members and non-members as possible, we also request that you distribute this email and survey within your respective channels, with our apologies for any cross-posting that may occur. 

We hope you are all enjoying this lovely fall weather and look forward to hearing from you. Please contact gelaedmonton@gmail.com with any questions.

GELA Executive Committee

Sep 28

GELA Student Mixer

Feb 28

Professional Development Grant

Each year, GELA awards Professional Development (PD) Grant to a GELA member to participate in or attend library-related conferences, workshops, seminars, or lectures. Applications for this year’s PD Grant are now being accepted until midnight on March 26, 2022. This year we will award up to $200.

The PD Grant recipient will be chosen by the end of March and applicants will be contacted at that time. The recipient will also be announced at GELA’s 2022 Annual General Meeting.

You must be a current member for the 2021/2022 membership year to apply for this grant. Please refer to GELA’s membership page to update your membership. You can join or renew your membership at the time of applying for this grant.

If you are unsure of your membership status, please email gelaedmonton@gmail.com. 

** Members of the GELA executive are not eligible to apply for this grant.

In your application, you will be asked to provide personal information, an estimated budget, and a brief description (200-300 words) of the PD activity stating the benefits of this opportunity to you and/or the library community. If you are a successful recipient of the GELA PD Grant, you agree to:

1) provide associated receipts to the GELA Treasurer within 30 days of the event, and

2) present a summary of the event to GELA members at the next AGM following the event (e.g. a verbal presentation or written brief)

GELA Professional Development Grant Application Form

Feb 6

Virtual Games Night

Join the Greater Edmonton Library Association (GELA) and the Library and Information Studies Student Association (LISSA) for a night of virtual games on February 17, 2022, at 6 PM. This free event will be hosted on Discord and is an opportunity to connect with other members of the LIS community in Edmonton. Please RSVP by February 16 at 11:59 PM using the following form: https://forms.gle/sk3iD69uTBm9XcKV6
We hope to see you all there!

Feb 1

Career Planning Workshops

Poster for Virtual Career Planning Series. Lists the three workshops with dates and times, and includes a photo of a woman with brown skin and black hair smiling as she looks at her laptop screen.

The Greater Edmonton Library Association (GELA) in partnership with the Northern Alberta Health Libraries Association (NAHLA) will be offering three virtual sessions focused on career planning. Sessions include: 

  1. Ace Your Cover Letters & Resumes – March 3, 2022; 6:00-7:00pm
  • This Q&A panel will discuss cover letters and resumes including tips on what employers look for in applications.
  • Sign-up using this Google Form
  1. Resume & Cover Letter Review Workshop – March 10, 2022; 6:00-7:00pm
  • In this workshop you can have either your resume or cover letter reviewed by at least one professional, who will give you suggestions and feedback.
  • Sign-up using this Google Form Space is limited for this event.
  1. Taking Interview Responses from Good to Great – March 17, 2022; 6:00-7:00pm
  • This session will showcase interview questions you may encounter with examples of average responses and exemplary responses alongside discussion of what makes one response better than the other. 
  • Sign-up using this Google Form

These free events are open to all, but planned with our GELA and NAHLA members in mind. Membership is not required; however GELA or NAHLA memberships can be obtained by visiting their respective online membership pages. Attendees are welcome to sign up for one or multiple sessions.

Zoom links will be emailed to registrants the day of each event. Please email gelaedmonton@gmail.com with any questions.

Oct 20

Fall 2021 Speed Networking Event

Illustration of several blue stick figures standing apart from each other and connected with black dotted lines. Image attribution: ccPixs.com, Creative Commons License

The Greater Edmonton Library Association (GELA) invites professionals from GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums), new graduates, and students to participate in our Fall 2021 Speed Networking Event taking place virtually on Thursday, November 4th from 6:00pm-8:00pm.

Our goal is to encourage connections and dialogue between experienced professionals from GLAM institutions and students/new graduates/emerging community members. The event will be set up with professionals in virtual breakout rooms rotating at 15 minute intervals with new participants. There will be icebreaker questions to get discussions started.

We would like to invite professionals from GLAM institutions to share what a work day looks like for you, what your research interests are, or what interesting projects you’re working on. This is an excellent way to provide guidance to emerging professionals.

If you’re interested in participating as a professional, recent graduate, or student, please register on Eventbrite by Sunday, October 31st, 2021.

Oct 8

GELA Student Mixer

On September 29, GELA’s student reps hosted a board game night for all current MacEwan LIT students and U of A SLIS students. The event was held at the Table Top Café, and a couple dozen (fully vaxxed) students came out for an evening of (masked) games and pizza.

Feb 24

GELA/NAHLA Career Planning Workshops

GELA, in partnership with NAHLA, are offering three virtual sessions focused on career planning!

These free events are open to all, but planned with our GELA and NAHLA members in mind. Membership is not required; however GELA or NAHLA memberships can be obtained by visiting their respective online membership pages. Please email gelaedmonton@gmail.com with any questions.

Attendees are welcome to sign up for one or multiple sessions. Zoom links will be emailed to registrants the day of each event.

1. Ace Your Cover Letters & Resumes

  • March 8, 2021; 5:30-6:30pm
  • This Q&A panel will discuss cover letters and resumes including tips on what employers look for in applications.
  • Sign-up using this Google Form

2. Resume & Cover Letter Review Workshop

  • March 17, 2021; 5:30-6:30pm
  • In this workshop you can have either your resume or cover letter reviewed by at least one professional, who will give you suggestions and feedback.
  • Sign-up using this Google Form NOTE: Space is limited for this event.

3. Taking Interview Responses from Good to Great

  • March 25, 2021; 5:30-6:30pm
  • This session will showcase interview questions you may encounter with examples of average responses and exemplary responses alongside discussion of what makes one response better than the other. 
  • Sign-up using this Google Form

Oct 26

GELA Professional Buddies Mentorship Program, 2020-2021

GELA is excited to announce its Professional Buddies Mentorship Program for 2020-2021!

We believe in fostering positive relationships in the library community, and although our program will run until the end of April 2021, the casual mentoring relationships may develop over the years to come. For mentees, this program is a great opportunity to network and learn from someone working in the field. Mentors not only get to share their knowledge and experience, they also gain new perspectives and insights.

To become a mentor or mentee, please fill out the GELA Professional Buddies Application Form.

Mentees: students (e.g. U of A, MacEwan, and SAIT), new professionals, or other interested individuals from galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM).

Mentors: library and information professionals from galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM).

For 2020-2021, the Professional Buddies Mentorship Program is being facilitated virtually. You will be paired up with a person(s) of similar interests to mentor/be mentored by. You then can choose to connect through email or one of the many meeting options such as Google Meets or Skype. There will be a (non-mandatory) virtual fall social event to give pairs the chance to meet “in person”. 

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