Anita Brooks Kirkland

B.Mus., B.Ed., M.M., School Library Specialist

Anita is the Library Consultant for the Waterloo Region District School Board, supporting the library program in 116 elementary and secondary

schools. She is a frequent workshop presenter at the Ontario Library Association's Super Conference, The Partnership's Education Institute, school districts, subject associations and other education organizations.  Her presentations focus on many topics relating to school library programs, but most particularly the effective integration of Information and Communication Technologies. She has also published several articles in The Teaching Librarian, School Libraries in Canada, Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, and Synergy, the journal of the School Library Association of Victoria, Australia.

Anita served on the Ontario School Library Association Council from 2002 to 2009, as councillor for the Central West region, the division’s president in 2005, and ended her term on council as the association’s website editor. Her work in OSLA has included representing the association at the Ministry of Education and the Ontario Curriculum Forum, and participating in several writing teams, including Be The Change and Together for Learning. She represented the association on the Ontario Digital Library business plan steering committee, and now represents OSLA and TALCO (The Association of Library Consultants and Coordinators of Ontario) on the Knowledge Ontario board of directors. Her latest ventures in OLA include becoming an InsideOLITA blogger, and dabbling in the Library Networking Group project. Currently, Anita is enrolled in the Executive MLIS program at San José State University's School of Library & Information Science.

Anita was the 2009 recipient of the Ontario Library Association's Larry Moore Distinguished Service Award. 

In her life outside libraries, Anita is an active musician, playing clarinet in the Wellington Winds and other ensembles. She is also mildly obsessed with gardening.