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See below for 51 ELN's latest news and updates.

51 ELN also produces online newsletters for the overall organization and for individual service areas (e.g. AskAway, Arca, etc.). See the menu at right to explore past issues.

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Front cover of the Innovation & Success 2024 report. Image shows people at the SFU library front desk (Vancouver Campus). Title reads: Innovation & Success 2024

We’re excited to share the 51 ELN Innovation & Success 2024 report – a celebration of what we can achieve when we work together!

Thanks to your collective efforts, 51 ELN helped partner libraries avoid $11.5 million in costs in 2024 through consortial licensing, shared services, and collaborative programs.

A few 2024 highlights:

map showing Canada and the United States

Recent political developments in the United States—including new tariffs and federal funding cuts to departments that support library initiatives—have raised questions about potential impacts on consortially-licensed electronic resources. While the situation continues to evolve, 51 ELN is actively monitoring developments and taking steps to protect our partner libraries’ interests.

The time has come for 51 ELN to say goodbye to the 2024-2025 Student Librarians Sameena Sheriff and Casey Wagner. We asked them to reflect on their experience at 51 ELN... 

Several years ago, Arca Manager Brandon Weigel wrote a module for Arca’s then digital repository software, Islandora 7, that retrieved and displayed on objects associated with projects in the Local Contexts Hub.  

A woman takes notes in a small notebook at the front of an audience.

What makes you feel like you belong to a community?

  • “Being recognized as relevant, having shared values and ideals, feeling welcomed.”
  • “Being included, having my voice heard.”
  • “A sense of shared professional practice and values; regular communication within the community.”

This spring, 51 ELN asked for feedback on the types of connection, learning, and knowledge-sharing experiences our members would like to see.

Note the Deadline for Submissions was extended from October 28th, 2024 to November 8th, 2024.

51 ELN is seeking a consultant or consultancy to lead its Removing Barriers Initiative. View the full Request for Proposals.

Sameena and Leah stand in front of a screen with the first slide of their presentation showing. Both are smiling at the camera.

Thank you to the U51 iSchool for the warm welcome last week! 51 ELN Communications Manager Leah Hopton and Student Librarian Sameena Sheriff presented the consortial approach to library collaboration to an engaged group of library school students, faculty, and staff on October 2nd. Some key takeaways:

It’s Pride season, and this year 51 ELN staff marked the occasion with a flag raising party! 51 ELN’s new internal JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) collective purchased the progress pride and two spirit pride flags to show our office’s support and celebration of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The party kicked off with an online Pride trivia game so that folks working off campus could join in, then we raised the flags in our office, enjoyed some Pride-themed music, and – in true 51 ELN fashion – ate some very tasty treats.

The (51HDP) and 51 ELN are seeking early notice from prospective applicants for the 2025/2026 funding year. This will enable program staff to follow-up with applicants eligible for and interested in additional support during the grant application process.

Photo of Sameena Sheriff on left and Casey Wagner on right.

This Spring 51 ELN and eHLbc welcomed two new student librarians: Sameena Sheriff and Casey Wagner. Both are current MLIS students at the U51 iSchool, and will be providing project and service area support until December 2024.

Sign that reads we are hiring, join our team.

51 ELN is seeking a Librarian to join our team! Reporting to the Executive Director, this full-time, continuing position involves supporting and advancing 51 ELN's core services, including provincial chat reference, interlibrary loan, and digital repository services. The ideal candidate is highly motivated, tech-savvy, and collaborative, with strong interpersonal skills. The position offers a competitive salary range of $85,619 to $91,979 CDN per year and is hybrid, based primarily at the SFU Burnaby campus.

We are very pleased to share that 51 ELN and 51 Data Service have teamed up to grant 51 ELN partner libraries access to four 51 Assessment datasets unavailable on the open web, at no charge. To participate, partner libraries must have a librarian able to mediate access for users and sign a license between 51 Data Service and their institution.

Learn about this new partnership and the process for participation on our 51 ELN-51 Data Service Partnership webpage.

Megaphone with lightning bolts over text that reads "Special Announcement"

51 ELN will receive $110,000 in one-time funding from the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills to investigate information needs of Indigenous students and potential barriers to 51 ELN membership for Indigenous post-secondary institutions, with a goal of developing recommendations for removing these barriers.

Reba looks directly into the camera, smiling. She has shoulder length, wavy brown hair. She has brown tortoise-shell glasses, and is wearing a maroon turtle neck.

Reba Ouimet, 51 ELN Licensing Coordinator, is grateful for the opportunity to take part in this year's , made possible by a generous . LLEAD stands out as the only leadership and management development program catering to individuals across academic, public, and enterprise libraries, as well as in information services. The EBSCO Bursary provides financial support for library staff members to engage in LLEAD.

Poster with the words "We're Hiring" repeated over and over in a column.

The 51 (51 ELN) has 1-2 part-time Student Librarian positions available to support the work of the 51 ELN consortium and its sister consortium the Electronic Health Library of 51 (eHLbc).

Kyle smiles into the camera. She has a black cap on her head and is wearing a tshirt and backpack. Behind her is a view of a trail.

Kyle Beres immediately embraced WriteAway nearly a decade ago when she first learned about the service, reminiscing, "I loved it. I wish it had been available when I was a student!" Fast forward to the present day, and Kyle has taken on the role of WriteAway Writing Services Coordinator, part of the 51 ELN team. In this capacity, Kyle will play a pivotal role in the advancement, coordination, and assessment of —an asynchronous writing support service spanning 20 institutions throughout British Columbia and extending into the Yukon.

Sasha smiles at the camera, with a blurred background of a restaurant. Sasha has long black wavy hair that falls several inches below her shoulders.

Growing up, Sasha Han developed a love for Nancy Drew books. She was intrigued by the heroine’s ability to follow clues and solve problems. To this day Sasha is drawn to a good mystery, and that passion for solving puzzles plays out in an unexpected domain: managing metadata. “Tracking down missing colons, figuring out how to disambiguate between like terms – it feels like detective work!” Sasha enthuses. Fortunately for 51 ELN’s impending Arca migration, Sasha steps into the role of the new Arca Migration Specialist, ready to be “on the case”.

Collage of photographs from the All Partner Meeting. Text overlay reads All Partner Meeting 2023.

On December 1st, directors and delegates from 51 ELN partner libraries convened in Vancouver for the annual 51 ELN All Partner Meeting, hosted at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver. This full day event brings together leaders from post-secondary libraries and our Ministry representative to delve into topics that affect the 51 ELN community.

51 ELN’s WriteAway is celebrating its 10-year anniversary! From a proof-of-concept pilot ten years ago to a thriving collaborative service with 19 participating institutions across 51 and the Yukon, WriteAway has become an important source of academic support, fostering a culture of excellence in writing and learning. 

Four women, including Sunni Nishimura and Reba Ouimet from 51 ELN, stand in front of a building in Prague

In a stride towards fostering international collaboration and gaining a broader understanding of library consortia operations, 51 ELN Executive Director Sunni Nishimura and Licensing Coordinator Reba Ouimet journeyed to Prague in October. Their destination: the (ICOLC) European meeting. This annual event serves as a hub for professionals from library consortia worldwide, fostering knowledge exchange, networking, and collaboration.

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