Mission

It is the mission of the Canadian Health Libraries Association / Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada to lead health librarians and information specialists towards excellence through professional development, networking and advocacy.

Vision

The vision of CHLA/ABSC is to facilitate and enable access to the best available health information and knowledge.

Past and Present

Established in 1976, CHLA/ABSC grew out of the efforts of the Canadian Group of the Medical Library Association and the Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services. The original mission statement was, "to improve health and health care by promoting excellence in access to information". Today, CHLA/ABSC is a professional organization of approximately 400 individuals in the health sciences library field in Canada.In 2008 the Canadian Health Libraries Association / Association des bibliothèques adopted a new mission and vision statement as part of developing a strategic plan.

An article by David S. Crawford,"CHLA/ABSC 25 Years On," reproduced from the Winter 2000 issue of Bibliotheca Medica Canadiana, gives a historical look at the formation and first 25 years of the association. The new millenium afforded CHLA/ABSC a chance to survey its membership in order to shape the future direction of the association.

Through its programs and publications CHLA/ABSC encourages the professional development of its members whose foremost concern is the dissemination of health sciences information to those in research, education and patient care.