The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) are pleased to invite member directors to the 2027 Joint ARL-CARL Spring Meeting. Marking the 10th joint gathering of our organizations, this meeting will provide an important forum for exchanging ideas, advancing strategic priorities, and fostering collaboration on issues shaping the future of research libraries across Canada and the United States.
We are pleased to introduce the members of the 2027 Joint Spring Meeting Program Planning Task Force. The Task Force will work collaboratively to develop and deliver an engaging and relevant program for the 2027 Joint Spring Meeting, drawing on the expertise and perspectives of members from both associations.
Representing ARL
Representing CARL
TBD.
| Time | Session | Room |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30-9:00 | Board Breakfast | Aux Chantignoles |
| 9:00-16:30 | Board Meeting | Prince Edward Island |
| 16:30 | Bus Departs to Montebello | |
| 18:30-20:30 | President’s Opening Reception | Curling house |
| Time | Session | Room |
|---|---|---|
| 7:45-8:30 | Breakfast | Aux Chantignoles |
| 8:30-9:30 | Strengthening Capacity Committee | Montebello |
| 9:30-9:45 | Break | Montebello |
| 9:45-11:00 | Impact Committee | Montebello |
| 11:00-11:15 | Break | Montebello |
| 11:15-12:15 | Advancing Teaching and Learning Committee | Montebello |
| 12:15-13:45 | Lunch | Aux Chantignoles |
| 13:45-15:00 | Advancing Research Committee | Montebello |
| 15:00-15:15 | Break | Gatineau |
| 15:15-16:30 | Policy and Advocacy Committee | Montebello |
| 18:00 | Dine around with colleagues | |
| Time | Session | Speakers | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:45-8:45 | Breakfast | Aux Chantignoles | |
| 8:45-9:00 | Opening Remarks | Mary-Jo Romaniuk | Canada |
| 9:00-9:30 | Study Tour Report | Vivian Lewis Stéphanie Gagnon | Canada |
| 9:30-11:00 | Panel: Open Science in Canada: Needs and Outlooks | Dr. Vincent Larivière Kathleen Shearer David Tweddell Dr. Stefanie Haustein | Canada |
| 11:00-11:30 | Break | Mezzanine Canada | |
| 11:30-12:30 | Plenary Discussion: Open Science Opportunities for CARL Institutions | Susan Haigh Mark Swartz | Canada |
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch | Aux Chantignoles | |
| 13:00-14:30 | Intellectual Freedom Needs Civil Discourse Needs Intellectual Freedom: Making the Case for a Virtuous Cycle | Randy Boyagoda | Canada |
| 14:30-15:00 | Intellectual Freedom Plenary Discussion | Chair: Joseph Hafner | Canada |
| 15:00-15:30 | Break | Mezzanine Canada | |
| 15:30-17:00 | Exploring Three GenAI Questions | Su Cleyle Janice Kung | Canada |
| 18:30-21:00 | CARL Dinner and Awards Ceremony | The Nymark Restaurant (in Chateau Montebello) | |
| Time | Session | Speaker | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00-9:00 | Breakfast | Aux Chantignoles | |
| 9:00-10:15 | Navigating Uncertainty: The View from Harvard | Martha Whitehead | Canada |
| 10:15-10:30 | Break | Mezzanine Canada | |
| 10:30-12:00 | Director’s Workshop - Adapting Organizational Structures to Changing Landscapes | Su Cleyle | Canada |
| 12:00-13:15 | Lunch / Board Working Lunch | Aux Chantignoles / Prince Edward Island | |
| 13:15-14:30 | Business Meeting | Mary-Jo Romaniuk | Canada |
| 15:00 | Bus Departs to Ottawa | ||
TBD.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 9h00 ET – 9h30 ET
Chair: Mary-Jo Romaniuk
Speakers: Stéphanie Gagnon, Université de Montréal and Vivian Lewis, McMaster University
CARL organized a study tour of selected libraries, archives and research centres in Belgium, France, and Switzerland between June 22 and July 2, 2026. The delegation included member directors (Deans of Libraries / University Librarians) from seventeen research libraries across Canada, plus two members of the CARL staff. 12 members of the delegation continued on to Lausanne, Switzerland to attend LIBER, the Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche’s conference.
The overall objective of the tour was to create dialogue, information exchange and potential partnerships between research libraries in Canada and Europe.
Presenters will share with CARL members key takeaways from those meetings in the areas of open science, the impacts of and responses to changing political and funding environments, the work of European and national academic and research library associations, research assessment reform, and research libraries’ documentary heritage collections, facilities, and service innovations.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 9:30 am ET – 11:00 pm ET
Chair: Mary Jo Romaniuk
Speakers:
Dr. Vincent Larivière, Professor, Faculty of Library and Information Sciences (EBSI), Université de Montréal
Kathleen Shearer, Executive Director, Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR)
David Tweddell, Interim Vice President, Strategy and Planning, Digital Research Alliance of Canada
Dr. Stefanie Haustein, Associate Professor, School of Information Studies, University of Ottawa
Description:
First, each presenter will make short (5-7 minutes) opening remarks, speaking to the area of open science that aligns with their work and expertise (diamond publishing, repositories, RDM & software, and research assessment, respectively), offering insights regarding to where we are currently, what has been most instrumental driving progress, and what is needed now for Canada to move forward. This will be followed by a guided discussion on common themes such as policy, collaboration and common services, open infrastructure, and the role of AI. There will be time for questions from the floor.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 11h30 ET – 12h30 ET
Presenters: Susan Haigh and Mark Swartz, VPO Open Science
Following the morning’s panel on Open Science, CARL directors and guests will reconvene for a status report from CARL to outline, amid current activity in this domain, where the organization sits in relation to progress towards open science. How ready are CARL libraries for the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy? Where are we at when it comes to research data and the impending implementation of the data deposit pillar of the Tri-Agency Research Data Management policy? What progress has been made in terms of PIDs? The presentation will be followed by open discussion.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 13h 30 – 14h 30
Chair: Mary Jo Romaniuk
Speaker: Randy Boyagoda, Provostial Advisor on Civil Discourse, University of Toronto
In this talk, writer and professor Randy Boyagoda, the University of Toronto’s Advisor on Civil Discourse, reflects on the state and stakes of civil discourse these days, on and off campus, and across personal, professional, and public settings. In particular, he will explore the importance of intellectual freedom in higher education to civil discourse, and likewise the irreducible mission and work of research libraries as both convening spaces and distinct sources for models and resources that ensure robust and vibrant cultures of productive disagreement. These efforts, which we might collectively describe as a commitment to thinking out loud together, support of advancing knowledge, serving the common good and the pursuit of truth.
Wednesday, November 19, 2025, 15:00 pm – 16:30 pm ET
Facilitators:
The influence of generative AI is rapidly reshaping higher education and impacting academic libraries. From collections to policy, library administrators are navigating uncharted territory, seizing new opportunities and exerting influence.
This workshop offers academic library leaders dedicated space and time to reflect, share, and strategize together three key topics: descriptive practices, institutional policy, and team engagement. In facilitated small group discussions, participants will explore these guiding questions:
How can directors participate and position libraries in the development of institutional policies on generative AI? Do our librarians support the institutional direction as much as we would like?
Can AI transform descriptive practices for unique collections?
How can library directors actively engage staff in open conversations about their fears of AI, while encouraging meaningful exploration of the technology despite ongoing reluctance?
Through these conversations and a plenary debrief, participants will identify pain points, uncover gaps in current approaches, and consider actionable next steps. The session emphasizes peer-to-peer dialogue, enabling directors to learn from one another’s perspectives and experiences, and to discover areas where collective attention and leadership are most needed.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 10h30 ET – 12h00 ET
Facilitator: Susan Cleyle, CARL VPO – Leadership Development Initiatives
The second in a two-part series on adapting organizational structures to changing landscapes.
Keeping in mind the forces reshaping universities and libraries, this session will provide an opportunity to reflect on legacy and emerging roles, to hear how some colleagues have chosen to respond, and to collaboratively identify critical approaches to successfully adjust organizational structures.
Building on the discussion at the Directors +1 session held on October 3rd, this directors-only session will focus on how directors can rethink their individual organizational structures within union and budget constraints, explore long-term strategies for structural change, and consider if/how CARL can support and accelerate these transformations. Leave with a clearer understanding of the shifts underway and a list of emergent key areas requiring organizational shifting.
TBD.
Randy Boyagoda is a novelist and Professor of English at the University of Toronto, where he also serves as the university’s advisor on civil discourse, the first such position in Canada. He was named one of Toronto’s fifty most influential people by Toronto Life magazine because of his work in civil discourse. He is the author of seven books, including four novels that have been nominated for the Giller Prize, the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize, and named New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice selections and Globe and Mail Best Books of the year. A frequent contributor to CBC Radio, including as a national columnist on civil discourse, and former President of PEN Canada, he writes opinions, essays and reviews for publications including the Atlantic, the New York Times, the Financial Times of London, the Globe and Mail, and The Walrus. He also podcasts for the Toronto Public Library and lives in the east end of Toronto with his wife and their four daughters.
TBD.
