Leslie Weir: From the University of Ottawa’s Librarian to Canada’s

From The Fulcrum (Student Newspaper at the U. of Ottawa):

If you’ve spent any time at the University of Ottawa over the past 25 years, chances are you’ve had some kind of interaction with Leslie Weir, the university librarian from 2003 to 2018.

Since joining the university in 1992, Weir has grown into an institution on campus herself, spearheading monumental changes to the university’s Wi-Fi systems, websites, and, of course, its library. She’s also cross-appointed to the School of Information Studies at the university.

But come August, Weir won’t just be remembered as one of the U of O’s librarians — she’ll go down in history as one of Canada’s too.

“It is pretty exciting, it’s sort of returning to something that’s new,” Weir said of her homecoming. Before coming to the U of O Weir worked in the National Library of Canada, which eventually became Library and Archives Canada after it merged with the National Archives of Canada in 2004.

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Come Aug. 30, Weir will circle back to one of the institutions where she launched her career as she becomes librarian and archivist of Canada for a four-year term. She’ll become the first woman to hold the role.

Weir said she’s excited to take on the new role and praised the recent initiatives of the federal institution, including the digitization of military records, working with Indigenous communities to “decolonize libraries” and help preserve Indigenous languages, along with the collection of censuses all way back to the 17th century, among other things.

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See Also: Leslie Weir Appointed Librarian and Archivist of Canada (May 27, 2019)

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