2026 CALA Distinguished Service Award Recipient

Dear CALA members,

The CALA Best Service Awards Subcommittee is pleased to announce that Lei Jin is the recipient of the 2026 CALA Distinguished Service Award. 

Lei Jin is the Associate Dean of Libraries at Toronto Metropolitan University. She has contributed greatly to the profession, especially through the Association of Research Libraries and CALA. As a librarian since 2003, Lei presented or co-presented extensively in many various national and international conferences such as Charleston Conference, the American Library Association, and International conference on theory and practice of digital libraries; has authored, co-authored or co-edited, numerous articles for journals such as International Journal of Librarianship to Serials Review on a variety of topics from data driven acquisitions to collaborating on developing the CALA Canada Chapter. As a Past CALA Canada Chapter President, Lei was instrumental in engaging with numerous stakeholders and supporting CALA Canadian members. Most recently, Lei Jin was selected to participate in the Association of Research Libraries’ Intensive Learning Program Fellows 2025 Cohort, alongside other library leaders, to build on transformative leadership skills.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Lei Jin on this well-earned recognition.

Sincerely,

CALA Best Service Awards Subcommittee

Ray Pun, co-chair

Feng-Ru Sheu, co-chair

Carmen Lei

Edward Junhao Lim

Zhixian (George) Yi