December 5, 2013
Royal Society of Canada
Expert Panel on the Status and Future of Canada’s Libraries and Archives
Walter House
282 Somerset W/o
Ottawa ON K2P 0J6
Dear Panel Members;
Thank you for the opportunity. Attached please find the response of the Nunavut Library Association to
your framing questions.
You asked in your notice letter for some information about our Association and I refer you to our
website which will provide a good overall perspective http://nunavutlibraryassociation.ca/
In a snapshot, our membership is open to all persons serving residents of Nunavut who are interested in
or work with library issues, regardless of their professional qualifications or geographic location. We
operate in an informal, consensual manner, on a purely volunteer basis. We provide services to our
members not directly to users.
In the span of very few years, our members have seen a significant shift in the patterns of use in
Nunavut libraries, also in how people ask for and expect to find or receive information. At the same time
we are working with the on-going challenges of mother tongue and English second language literacy,
infrastructure shortfalls and a skills gap with library workers.
Within a national framework, our Association has been very supported by other organizations such as
the Ontario Library Association and the Library Association of Alberta so that we can participate in
initiatives of The Partnership. But we also feel the current absence of any national library leadership and
vision; we would hope that this leadership and lost services can be restored.
Respectfully,

Yvonne Earle
President, Nunavut Library Association
Nunavut Legislative Librarian

Nunavut Library Association P.O. Box 1321 Iqaluit NU X0A 0H0