Chapter Milestones (1974-2021)

1974
First informal meeting in response to letter of invitation from Mabel Brown.
Attendees were:
-Henriette Schmidt (Vanier Library)
-Pauline Labranche (Ottawa General)
-Jean White (Riverside)
-Suzanne Laurier-Conway (Algonquin)
-Valerie Monkhouse (Health and Welfare)
-Claire Takoff (Grace Hospital)
-Maurice Alarie (Vanier Library)
-Hilda Maclean (CISTI)
-Margaret Parkin (Canadian Nurses’ Association)
-Cécile Fournier (Ottawa General)
-Evelyn Chow (Royal Ottawa)
-Mabel Brown (Ottawa Civic)
-Ann Nevill (CISTI)

1975
Mabel C. Brown elected as first Chair.

1976 
First edition of Union List of Serials in Ottawa–Hull Hospital Libraries produced.
Henriette A. Schmidt nominated as the group’s first secretary.
Letter Ontario Ministry of Education on the rising cost of interlibrary borrowing.

1977
Officially adopts the name Ottawa–Hull Health Libraries Group  (OHHLG)/Groupe des bibliothèques de la santé d’Ottawa-Hull.

1978
Name changed to CHLA: Ottawa–Hull Chapter/ABSC: Section de l’Outaouais.
Constitution and bylaws drafted.
Granted CHLA/ABSC chapter status. Letter of acceptance from M.A. Flower.

1979
Hosts third annual CHLA/ABSC meeting in Ottawa June 13 and 14 (first time the meeting had a two-day program).

1980
Name changed back to OHHLG.

1982
Annual membership fee introduced ($10).

1984 
“Survival” meeting, where future of Chapter is voted upon.
Decision to continue as a Chapter but with fewer meetings.
Revised constitution and bylaws.
Social events introduced.

1988 
Name changed to Ottawa–Hull Health Libraries Association (OHHLA).

1989 
Hosts 13th annual CHLA/ABSC meeting in Ottawa May 27–31 at the Château Laurier; theme is “Capital Investments.”

1994 
Amalgamation of the OHHLA and the Ontario Hospital Association Region #9 Hospital Libraries Group.
Name changed to Ottawa Valley Health Libraries Association/l’Association des bibliothèques de la santé de la vallée de l’Outaouais.
Constitution and bylaws revised.

1996
Granted CHLA/ABSC development fund to finance DOCLINE project.

1998 
Hosts 22nd CHLA/ABSC conference in Hull June 5–10 at the Clarion Hotel; theme is “L’information, c’est CAPITALizing on information.”

1999 
Electronic version of the union list of serials made available on the Chapter’s first website.

2000 
Annual membership fee increased to $20.

2003 
New executive position of Continuing Education Program Coordinator introduced.
OVHLA group code established in DOCLINE.
Union list automatically created using SERHOLD data.

2004 
Joint UNYOC/OVHLA annual meeting held in Ottawa October 13–15 at the Delta Hotel; theme is “40 in 04: Energizing Resources, Services, and Our Environment.”
OVHLA website revived and populated with content.

2006 
Some members of the inactive Kingston Area Health Libraries Association, including Bracken Health Sciences Library from Queen’s University, join the OVHLA.

2007 
Hosts 31st annual CHLA/ABSC conference in Ottawa May 28–June 1 at the Lord Elgin Hotel/National Arts Centre; theme is “Capitalizing on Health Partnerships.”

2008 
Full day OVHLA mini-conference held on 28 November at the Royal Ottawa Hospital.

2011 
Revision of constitution and bylaws; changes include limiting institutional membership privileges to two members of an institution, and a minimum of one meeting a year.

2012 
Joint UNYOC/OVHLA annual meeting held at NAV Centre in Cornwall October 10–12; theme is “Building Bridges.”

2013 
Journal club launched.

2015 
OVHLA mini-symposium held.

2016

President’s Award introduced.

2019

Hosts annual CHLA/ABSC conference June 4-7 at the University of Ottawa; theme is “Big Ideas, Big Impact.”

2020

First virtual symposium during the COVID-19 pandemic.

President’s Award went to the whole OVHLA community – “This has been the year of Covid-19. So many in the library community have contributed, adapting services, rapid searches for evidence, supporting each other, working from home.”

Introduced a new Professional Development Award.

2021

Eliminates the category of institutional membership due to declining numbers and to facilitate communication directly with members. Individual membership fee reduced to $20.