Kathleen Scheaffer

Kathleen Scheaffer, Strategic Initiatives and Liaison Librarian, University of Toronto Mississauga (U of T), works closely with faculty, researchers, librarians, professionals, students, and alumni to enrich research, teaching, and learning spaces and opportunities. At the forefront of all her endeavors is her commitment to establishing and reinforcing strong relationships with each other, ideas, and possibilities within and beyond the walls of the University. 

PARTNERSHIP:
Since 2015, Kathleen has served as a Digital Tattoo (DT) Strategic Co-Lead. In this position she works collaboratively with the other U of T and UBC team members to foster cross-institutional engagement in digital identity discussions. She and her colleagues at UBC, have been award grants 2017 - 2020 by the UBC Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund for their projects Your Professional Digital Identity [for Teacher Candidates] : Case Studies from the Digital Tattoo Project & Professional Digital Identity for Pharmacists: Case Studies from thte Digital Tattoo Project.

OUTREACH:
iRelax is U of T’s 1st secular, ethically and sustainably-sourced mindfulness resource area was developed by Kathleen as a result of her research, and in consultation and partnership with Faculty of Information community members. The goal of iRelax is to provide items to assist users with resilience, personal development, stress-reduction, and increased focus throughout the year as a means to facilitate the development and/or expansion of our community’s wellness toolkits and destigmatize mental health conversations. The first instance of iRelax was launched in the Inforum at the Faculty of Information in Fall 2016. Since then, it has served as a model for the Robarts Library Reflection Room, Vaughan Public Libraries Mindfulness, Meditation, and Relaxation Space, UTSC Library Mindfulness Space, the Gerstein Information and Science Centre Reflection Room

Kathleen is also a mindfulness facilitator. As such, she partnered with the Faculty of Information and the UTM Health & Counselling Centre during Covid lockdowns to offer all those who were interested in joining her guided mindful meditation sessions. 

SERVICE and LEADERSHIP:
After 40+ years of being frozen, the Policies for Librarians were brought to the barganing table for modernization.  The emphasis was on reflecting our community’s priorities, the current academic landscape, and the pertinent roles of librarians within the University of Toronto.  Having a strong sense of leadership and labour solidarity Kathleenserved as the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) Policies for Librarians Lead Negotiator.  She, along with her negotiation team and the adminitration, after 6 long years, at the end of 2023 achieved 9 agreements that improved the working terms and conditions of librarians. She served with a dedication to a collegial, diverse, transparent, and equitable future for academic librarians at the University of Toronto. 

In addition to the aforementioned leadership role, in 2019 she was appointed as the Interim Inforum Library Director, from 2018-2019 she was elected and served as the UTFA Vice-President Salary Benefits and Workload, and from 2016-2018 she was as the Chair of the UTFA Librarians Committee.  She continues to sit on UTFA committees and serves as an UTFA 801 consituency Council representative.