IAML Stellenbosch Congress Diary #1: Canada

The following Congress Diary has reached us from Jan Guise (IAML Vice President, University of Toronto, Canada):

This was my first congress as a member of the IAML Board, and my 6th in-person congress. I have also attended 2011 (Dublin), 2012 (Montreal), 2018 (Leipzig), 2019 (Krakow), and 2023 (Cambridge). The Board has a day-long meeting on Sunday before the opening reception, and a shorter meeting at the end of the congress week. During the congress, Board members are responsible for making presentation at the First Timer session before the opening reception, at the two General Assemblies, and we are expected to attend the Forum of Sections and the Forum of National Representatives meetings. We are also encouraged to sit in on any of the committees' meetings throughout the week, as the committees often have questions about IAML policies or procedures. While I found it very useful and enlightening to attend the Forums and various committee meetings, these responsibilities naturally meant I had less time to attend speaker presentations.

On Saturday evening, the Board hosted the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) at a local restaurant. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know these new colleagues and thank them for all their work preparing for the congress. On Tuesday evening, Ellen Tise, chair of the LOC, hosted the IAML Board and the keynote speakers at a local restaurant. I found this another excellent and fun opportunity to get to know more of our new African colleagues. I also had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with our three Outreach recipients, all of whom came from African countries. As Chair of the IAML Outreach Committee and as a Board member, I now have a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to make IAML accessible and affordable to colleagues in under-represented countries.

I was also pleased to see such a strong representation from my own country (Canada). Canadians made up 10 percent of the papers presented. Canada is such a large country that we rarely see each other in person. When we come together at a IAML congress it is always a joyful occasion. Several of us also found joy in Veldskoen, beautiful shoes made in Durban, South Africa, and sold in the Maties shop on the Stellenbosch University campus. I can't wait to wear them in Salzburg next year!