TMC8 Schedule & Locations

 TMC8 Times and Locations

Friday January 31: Opening Dinner, Keynote and Awards
Ballroom A, Intercontinental Hotel (Please note the change of location)
5:30 pm: Meet & Mingle
6:00 pm: Dinner

Saturday February 1: TMC8 Symposium
Ontario / Niagara Room, Intercontinental Hotel
7:45 am: Continental Breakfast
8:20 am: Program begins

The full TMC8 schedule is now available on the TMC website:https://tmc.canadianschoollibraries.ca/tmc8-2025-schedule/

Two Essential Documents

We know you are all busy reading the papers posted for TMC8. We encourage you to also look at two relatively new documents directly relevant to our symposium discussions, particularly as we contemplate an advocacy plan for school libraries in Canada.

Foundations & Frameworks

The theme of TMC8 is Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success. This theme is based on the Canadian School Libraries guideline of the same name, published in 2023. 

Foundations & Frameworks answers the essential question, "What support do schools need to successfully implement Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada?"

Excellent school library programs are built on solid foundations and infrastructures or frameworks for success. Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success provides standards for building these strong foundations and frameworks. It establishes strong policy, robust funding, and a commitment to equity of access as necessary foundations. It describes the elements that frame program success, including design factors for library spaces, technological infrastructure, professional staffing, and accessibility, as well as the ethics of school librarianship, a commitment to a growth mindset, and ongoing accountability.

Recommendations in Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success are based on the International Federation of Library Association’s (IFLA) School Library Guidelines, 2nd revised edition (2015), internationally-approved standards for school libraries, adapting recommendations from the IFLA guidelines to the Canadian context.

Download Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success

CFLA-FCAB Position Statement on the Status of School Libraries in Canada

Canadian School Libraries is a member of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations / Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques. CFLA-FCAB includes associations from all library sectors and geographic regions of Canada. 

In 2024 Canadian School Libraries worked successfully with CFLA-FCAB to draft this position statement, which demonstrates the solidarity of the entire library community across the country and across sectors in support of improving the status of school libraries. As the position statement emphasizes, 

Across the country there are widely divergent understandings of the role of the school library, and equally divergent or even non-existent policy frameworks, funding models, staffing, and program expectations. That Canadian students’ access to library programs and services depends largely on where they live is a deplorable situation in one of the world’s richest democracies. Equity of access to quality school library programs and services should be considered as a core foundation for education in Canada. 

CSL is very grateful to the CFLA-FCAB board of directors for endorsing this position statement. How can we in the school library community use this wonderful document to support advocacy efforts? 

Download the CFLA-FCAB position statement on the status of school libraries.

Great Discussions! 

It is great seeing so many of you participating in discussions about the TMC8 papers. We encourage everyone to participate.

A friendly reminder to always identify yourself when commenting, either by signing into your Google account, or by naming yourself at the beginning of your comment. 

Anonymous comments risk being removed by the moderator. (That would be me.)

An Invitation to Participate

 A Message from Your Symposium Co-Chairs

Treasure Mountain Canada is a participatory event, and we are now ready for you to participate! 

Read, Reflect, Comment, Question and Network, network, network! You will never get a better opportunity to grow your professional learning network with teacher-librarians, school library professionals, and scholars from across the country.

In just two weeks we will be gathered in Toronto for the eighth Treasure Mountain Canada symposium. Many of the TMC8 papers contributed by enthusiastic and talented school library professionals and supporters right across the country are now published on our TMCanada Blog. We invite you to begin reading and responding to papers today. The paper writers will in turn respond to your comments and questions and others will join in with their ideas. These conversations are a very important component of the success of the TMC8. 

A note to those who prepared papers for TMC8. Please follow the conversations posted regarding your paper but also read other papers and respond to those that interest you. Participants who will be attending the Saturday symposium will be working with the papers and collaboratively responding to challenges designed to delve deeper into the issues of the day. However, there will be no time to read papers on Saturday. The expectation is that participants will already be very familiar with the ideas put forth in the papers.

And finally, an invitation for the CSL community, please read, enjoy, and learn with us. Encourage colleagues who are not attending in person to follow events on our TMCanada Blog and/or follow us on Social media -  X, Blue Sky and Instagram #TMCanada2025. We need to hear everyone’s voice and build our commitment to advance school library learning commons in Canada from coast to coast to coast.

This TMCanada Blog is where we present the papers submitted for your consideration, and where the true collaboration that makes TMC so unique begins. Please visit the blog regularly, as papers continue to be added. Participate in the discussion.

Please Note: We request that you always identify yourself when commenting. Anonymous comments risk being deleted by the blog moderator.

CSL Awards to be Presented at TMC8 Dinner

Canadian School Libraries presents awards every other year, at Treasure Mountain Canada symposiums. We are pleased to be presenting the following awards at TMC8, 2025.  

The Angela Thacker Memorial Award

The Angela Thacker Memorial Award has been established in memory of Angela Thacker, teacher-librarian, library coordinator, and school library colleague, mentor, leader and advocate who served the Association for Teacher-Librarianship in Canada (ATLC) and the Canada School Library Association (CSLA) in many capacities. This award honours teacher-librarians who have made contributions to the profession through publications, productions or professional development activities that deal with topics relevant to teacher-librarianship and/or school library learning commons. 

The recipients of the 2025 Angela Thacker Memorial Award are Jenn Brown and Diana Maliszewski. 

Read more about Jenn Brown and Diana Maliszewski.

The Donald Hamilton School Library Advocacy Award

The Donald Hamilton School Library Advocacy Awardwas established in memory of Donald Hamilton, (1938–2023), a leader in the field of school libraries and teacher-librarianship throughout his long career, and a strong advocate for the crucial role of school libraries in student learning. The Donald Hamilton School Library Advocacy Award was established in 2023 in honour of Donald’s outstanding legacy. This is the inaugural presentation of the Donald Hamilton Award.

The recipients of this inaugural Donald Hamilton School Library Advocacy Award are Wendy Burch Jones of the Ontario School Library Association, and the Executive of the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians' Association.

Read more about the BCTLA Executive and Wendy Burch Jones.

 Welcome to the TMCanada Blog – Action Central for TMC8 2025!

TMC8 takes place on January 31 and February 1, 2025 in Toronto, as part of the Ontario Library Association Super Conference.

This TMCanada Blog is where we present the papers submitted for your consideration, and where the true collaboration that makes TMC so unique begins.

We are close to publishing TMC8 papers for you to read ahead of the symposium. Please stay tuned for updates!