Canadian Library Association

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Canadian Library Association

Abbreviation	CLA
Successor	Canadian Federation of Library Associations
Formation	1946
Dissolved	2016
Type	Library Association
Purpose	advocate and public voice, educator and network
Headquarters	Ottawa, Ontario
Region served	Canada
Membership	60 organizations
Official language	English French
Website	www.cla.ca

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) was a national, predominantly English-language association which represented 57,000 library workers across Canada. It also spoke for the interests of the 21 million Canadians who are members of libraries. CLA members worked in all four types of libraries: academic (college and university), public, special (corporate, non-profit and government) and school libraries. Others sat on boards of public libraries, work for companies that provide goods and services to libraries, or were students in graduate level or community college programs.

CLA's Mission Statement was: "CLA is the national voice for Canada's library communities. As members, we:

• champion library values and the value of libraries
• influence public policy impacting libraries
• inspire and support member learning
• collaborate to strengthen the library community"^[1]

The statement highlights the Association's advocacy role on behalf of the Canadian library and information community.

As of January, 2016, the organization claimed it had 924 paid members, although it is unclear whether this means personal members, or total membership (including corporate, associate, institutional, and honorary members). The executive council claims it had spent several years dealing with the difficulties of declining membership, efficiency, and financial power.^[2]

On January 27, 2016, the CLA membership formally voted to disband the organization.^[2] The last CLA Forum was held in June 2016 in Ottawa, Ontario.^[3] The CLA was replaced by the Canadian Federation of Library Associations, which was incorporated on May 16, 2016.^[4][5]