MISSION STATEMENT
The Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians is a national non-governmental membership organization representing academic librarians and the profession of academic librarianship in Canada. Our mission is to promote, advance and support the profession of academic librarianship for the advancement of research, teaching and learning at accredited post-secondary institutions and to further the professional interests of our members.
To further the professional interests of our members, CAPAL shall take national leadership on behalf of the entire membership in advocating for high standards in the profession, fostering the creation and dissemination of knowledge about academic librarianship, and providing critical analysis and public comment on issues affecting academic librarians and academic librarianship.
ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP: A STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
Academic librarians are members of a profession committed to fostering and upholding the core academic values and principles associated with teaching, learning and research in higher education and play an integral role in supporting the academic missions of post-secondary institutions. Change, whether technological or fiscal, can introduce conflicting values. In these instances, academic librarians need to re-affirm the core principles of academic librarianship. Academic Librarianship: A Statement of Principles is an articulation of those values. It is intended to provide guidance and support to academic librarians in order to enable them to demonstrate leadership in the profession at large and withstand challenges at the institutional level.
Academic librarians are professional librarians committed to:
- Intellectual and academic freedom
- Shared governance
- Eradicating discrimination
- Academic integrity, free inquiry, and the advancement of knowledge
- Uncensored and unbiased access to information
- Fostering diversity and equity
- Collegial decision-making and mutual respect
- The pursuit of scholarship and professional creative endeavours in academic librarianship
- Sustaining and preserving knowledge for current and future generations
- Supporting all professional librarians as members of a common profession with shared values and principles
- Respecting different views and individual expertise
- Promoting high standards in the profession
- Fostering, upholding and defending the core principles of academic librarianship for the benefit of our communities
CAPAL was incorporated on June 12, 2013. Here is a link to a pdf copy of the CAPAL BYLAWS