UBC’s University Librarian and iSchool alum Ingrid Parent has been conferred an Honorary Fellowship by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). Parent is the third Canadian to be given this distinction; 30 fellows have been honoured since 1936. The honour is the association’s highest award and conferred on the basis of merit.
An active member of IFLA since 1995, Parent served as its first Canadian president from 2011 – 2013. She has been noted for engagement in promoting Canadian libraries in the international library community. Her presidential theme, “Libraries a Force for Change”, highlighted the global digital potential of libraries to provide inclusive and transformative services, innovative ideas, and new ways to collaborate. Her other achievements with IFLA include the development and release of the IFLA Trend Report, which has been published in over a dozen languages. The Report encourages library communities to lead, shape, and drive the evolving digital information environment.
“The quality of an international leader is always expressed in their ability to remain engaged in the issues of concern to their home constituency,” says Sandra Singh, President of the Canadian Library Association and Chief Librarian for the Vancouver Public Library. “In this way, Ingrid truly demonstrates her dedication to library priorities and professionals, not only on the world stage, but also within Canada.”
In her role as University Librarian, Parent has used her international experience to bring the world to the UBC campus. In 2012, UBC Library hosted the Indigenous Knowledges conference and was instrumental in bringing the UNESCO Conference, The Memory of the World in the Digital Age – Digitization and Preservation, to downtown Vancouver. In 2013, the Library hosted the annual meeting of the Pacific Rim Digital Library Alliance, which drew scholars from both sides of the Pacific and, the University has benefited from a number of national and international partnerships including those with Peking University Library and the University of Washington’s Library. Parent is a UBC alumna, graduating with a BA Honours in History and Library Science degree, and has a honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa.
“As an international ambassador for UBC, this is a tremendous achievement,” says Angela Redish, Acting President and Provost pro tem for the University. “Ingrid’s contributions to the library profession – both here and abroad – demonstrate her leadership and vision and, on behalf of UBC, we congratulate her.”
The award was presented to Parent in Cape Town, South Africa this week during IFLA’s World Library and Information Congress.
