Southern Ontario Library Service

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Whitewater Region (3 branches) and Killaloe have installed new wheel chair ramps.
Barry’s Bay has an elevator – looking into cost of  a ramp.
Hamilton – Currently have 28 branches in their system, many of which are small and not wheelchair accessible.
Burlington – looking to make the ranches more accessible and welcoming.
Region of Waterloo – Accessible doors and an elevator are in the planning stages at the Elmira branch; final tenders due to Woolwich Township on November 15. The children’s ground floor level has been renovated to make room for the elevator machine room (the renovation also included some family literacy enhancements to the children’s area). The elevator will open in the adult area on the upper floor so new floor plans have been drawn up by staff for the circulation desk, reading areas, collections. During construction, the library will be open on the ground floor only with adult, teen and children’s collections.
TC #6 – Would like to know if SOLS could help with a Factsheet on Accessibility and new customer service standards – general information on these standards are posted on the Ministry of Community & Social Services website at http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/mcss/english/pillars/accessibilityOntario/ 

Georgian Bay Township – continues to work on policies in response to their pre-audit assessment.
Perth Union – Board is pleased with the results of the pre-audit; quite encouraging They have identified five areas they may improve towards accreditation.  Hopes to be accredited soon.
Newmarket – pre-audit completed, identified need for new space.

Trustee Council 1 - There was a question regarding advocacy, and who speaks for public libraries at the Provincial level. FOPL was mentioned, and AMO is also looking at who funds what, in relation to the public library operating grants.
Trustee Council 3 – There was an extensive discussion about reciprocal borrowing vs non-residents fee and considerable interest in an Ontario library card; many in the group felt that SOLS board could play a role in advocating for a province-wide library card. 
Newmarket – created Advocacy Committee, launch as a program in 2008,  membership in Chamber of Commerce, hosting breakfast meetings, partnering with Imagine Canada for resource collection and workshops, on municipal Cultural Planning Committee.

Port Hope – award-winning program – Every Child a Card – looking at launching a parallel program for teens.

Perth – Plans are underway to get Board members better informed on the new e-resources now available at the library. This would be done before or after the meetings of the Board.
Uxbridge – Board expanded to 12 members.
Burlington – focusing on small business, youth and newcomers. Reviewing their marketing plan.
Lincoln – board now has 3 councilors on the board, plus 6 others. They are finding that this cuts down on the number of people doing the work.
Niagara-on-the-Lake – held a workshop with Daryl Novak on roles and responsibilities of Trustees. 

Ottawa - Board reduced fee for Express Collection from $ 5/day to $2/day – hoping that lowering fees will result in increased revenue.  Budget crunch: Freeze on all discretionary spending expenses until the end of the year.  City wants to cut $3.2 million from library’s budget this year and also find another $ 830,000 cut as part of an efficiency goal. Board is working to avoid the closure of 10 branches. Most of the branches with a lower circulation are rural. Closing 1 day/week could save money but not what is asked by the City. Board has 6 city councilors sitting on Board (including Chairperson) out of 14 member board and all are pro-library. In 2008, the Board will undergo a governance audit by the City Auditor General.
Newmarket – created joint task force to explore cost rationalization, regionalization of services.
Brighton – in previous years, had a carry-over amount to carry library until first payment of the new year – now council wants them to use up this carry-over – so they are wondering about how others handle this transition.
Mississauga – reviewing budget and estimates for 2008.

St. Catharines – 75-80% of the population are active users.
Thorold – circulation is declining and they are pursuing a survey to find out why. They have an aging population that doesn’t come to the library as often, as well as college and university students who are making use of their school libraries, instead of using the public library.
Niagara Falls – A “Battle of the Borrowed Books” promotion was held in October between the libraries of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Youngstown, Lewiston & Niagara Falls, NY. This coincided with the 195^th anniversary of the Battle of Queenston Heights and was intended to celebrate nearly 200 years of peace between the two countries. The libraries competed to see which side of the Niagara River could produce the higher percentage increase in borrowing during the month of October 2007, compared to October 2006. The 5 libraries hoped to see a 2.5% increase in borrowing, which would result in over 100,000 books and other materials in the hands of their residents. The results were that the US circulation increased by 2% and the Canadian by 8%.

Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry. – The new CEO has done extensive weeding in the non-fiction sections of all branches. The weeding of the fiction sections was done by the branch personnel with the final decision made by the CEO. This has caused friction and was not readily accepted by the patrons, although necessary to free up space for new books and other documents.  The last weeding was done more than ten years ago and suggested by a firm of consultants. After the CEO published her reasons, hopefully patrons will understand.

Ottawa– The Library has been rated the 2^nd highest appreciated service in the City of Ottawa.
Hanover – Hanover participated in the Ministry of Agriculture’s First Impressions program.  Hanover was twinned with Aylmer, with representatives from each community visiting the other and providing feedback.  The Hanover PL topped the list of reasons the visitors would return to Hanover.
Waterloo – Waterloo is 150 yrs old and the library has written a book commemorating 150 influential people in Waterloo’s history (inc. current residents); the book is selling well and it puts the library at the heart of the community anniversary celebrations.
King Township – Writer in Residence program, with lots of community outreach programming.
Port Hope – dedicated staff to community outreach, tremendous success, added a business section that has resulted in partnering with the business community.
Niagara-on-the-Lake – held an open house with over 200 people attending and 75 new patrons applying for library cards.

Whitchurch-Stouffville – using development charges to supplement collections budget.

Cornwall – The City has spent over $250,000 to solve the dampness problem in the basement of the library building. The library will now be able to use this part of the building.
Huron – During a tour of 12 branches by the Board, it was noted that 4 need work to accommodate accessibility guidelines.
St. Thomas – A new ramp now makes the library more easily accessible.
Front of Yonge – No possibility for expansion at this moment. Upgrades were made in the lighting and shelving was added in the children’s section.
Lanark – Renovations were made – paint , carpet and lighting.
Middlesex County – The community of Middlesex Centre has three branches serving a fast growing area, none of which are adequate. The library is planning for renovation and redevelopment, using community buildings.
Oxford County – Jim Morgenstern worked with the Board to produce a draft of a facilities study, incorporating ARUPLO guidelines. They are planning for the long term and are planning for a new facility.
Trent Hills – On-going issue with “load bearing” at Hastings Branch – the building was built as the village municipal office and now is a library.  Building code says that load bearing for a reading room is 100 lbs/sq ft but a library is 150 lbs/sq ft – this 2^nd floor space does not meet this code, and the municipality wants to call the library a reading room to meet requirement.  Board is worried about liability should something happen.
Kingston-Frontenac – mould was found in one branch – and this has spread to books, so they have had to clean the building and those books which can be salvaged.
Welland – a light meter survey in June [at dusk] clearly indicated the extreme lighting problems that Welland has. Ten of twelve areas had less than half the Library Standard for lighting. The library will be closed for a day or so to get new brighter lighting installed.

Trustee Council #6 – discussed the building to LEED environmental standards – and someone noted that there has been no postings on the SOLS website in this area (Note: a new sub-section has been created and now posted at http://www.sols.org/links/clearinghouse/facilities/index.htm#Environmentally Clarence-Rockland – Rockland branch will be moving to a new facility which is integrated with a French High School next September. Library Board is concerned about problems in the future as no meetings have taken place between Library Board and School Board.
Barrie – is moving forward on plans to build a branch in the south end of town.
Clearview – The new branch in New Lowell should open in January. The board is studying the need for a new facility in Stayner.
Essa-  Construction for a new 10,000 sq ft building in Angus will begin in 2008 with the new library opening in 2009.
Georgian Bay – Work continues on the new branch in MacTier.  $100,000 has been raised in the community and the municipality received a $500,000 Ontario infrastructure grant. The implementation committee has shortlisted 3 firms to prepare a design and at some point will invite the community in to assess the proposal.
Haliburton County - has made a recommendation to the county to close branches in order to ensure the remaining branches can provide an adequate level of service.  The change is not driven by the need to reduce costs but rather the need to improve service in the county.
Orillia – has been working 10 years on plans for a new library.  The board requested that the city create a Mayor’s taskforce to address the re-occurring questions about the building size and location. The Mayor’s taskforce building program report, prepared by outside consultants, has been well received by council. The various building studies are available from the library’s website http://www.orilliapubliclibrary.ca/newlib.htm
Merrickville-Wolford – Working towards moving to another building with 21,00o square feet with a main floor & a mezzanine. Building needs renovation and library is working with a structural engineer and hope to be ready mid-May 2008.
North Grenville – still working on plans for the new central library in Kemptville. May have to redo the capital campaign because problems have arisen that will certainly impact on the budget for the new building.
Ottawa- New Central Library – consultants were hired to explore synergies between the municipal archives and the library. Their report is going to Council on November 14.
Perth – Still working on a plan for a new union library that would be funded partly by the three Twps. Tangible Capital Asset Survey & inventory completed.
Brantford – A major renovation has made the third floor of the building into an information commons.
Brant County – There is a new branch in Burford that was completed on time and under budget. The construction company that achieved this is Sierra Construction, from Woodstock.
Guelph – The Board’s site selection committee has chosen a site for the new central library in Guelph (Baker Street, currently a parking lot); hopeful that initial tenders will be out in December; the new library will be a 3 storey building with underground parking.
Waterloo – now looking at 2009 for the new West Side branch; starting to work on the East Side branch. 
Meaford – a New Facility committee has been struck; while there seems to be general agreement at Council and in the community that Meaford needs a new library, it’s not considered a priority as yet (behind Firehall and Sewer Treatment Plant).
Brock Township – replacing branch in Cannington with 5,000 sq ft facility, in planning stages.
Richmond Hill – new facility planned, combined public/school.
Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield – planning stages of new library in Bridgenorth, planning stages of fundraising campaign, opening scheduled for Fall 2008.
Arnprior – expansion plans on hold – money in building reserve fund – good council support.
Laurentian Hills – Chalk River branch possible extension / renovation.
Barry’s Bay inaugurated a new children’ section (in basement) last summer.
Leeds & 1000 Islands – board is very proactive –has a reserve account for a new library in Lansdowne – timing is good as mayor would like to see preliminary plans for the new library.
Cambridge – a new branch in Hespeler has opened. It is a new glass building built around the former heritage building library. The board is also contemplating a new branch that would be attached to a community centre. This would be its fifth branch.
Haldimand – The Selkirk branch has undergone renovations. The board has formed a building committee in preparation for 2 building projects in 2010.
Milton – there was to be an expansion completed by 2006 and now that has been pushed back to 2012.
Hamilton – looking as amalgamating some of the smaller buildings. The patrons who would lose the library close to them are unhappy, but the library board feels that closing some makes sense financially. They are actively pursuing branch closures and trying to figure out what makes most sense from the financial viewpoint. They are also looking at partnering with community centres.
Lincoln – Would like to have a new library. Fleming is a Heritage Building and is small and in need of a lot of work.
Niagara Falls – looking to have the libraries in rented facilities moved to facilities that the library would own. They are talking to council about funding for this.
Mississauga – just opened its 18^th branch.
Niagara-on-the-Lake – planning a library to be built next to a community centre.

Huntsville – The Friends of the Huntsville public library contribute $50,000 - $60,000 annually to the library. They sponsor children’s programs throughout the year and manage a used-book store located in the library. Tweed – the Friends held a wine & cheese to celebrate the successful Trillium application & project of online catalogue and new automation system.  Friends group has also sponsored some programs for all e.g. building a bird feeder.  Friends group also participates in the Tweed Festival of the Trees event – this year, the money raised will go toward a new children’s space at the Tweed library (likely in reserve for a new facility).
TC#6 – would like to organize a Friends of the Library roundtable meeting to share ideas – suggest plans be made for early spring 2008.
Petawawa – friends group have donated a garden outside the reading area of the library – will maintain.
Arnprior setting up a Friends group – to fundraise for expansion.
Tyendinaga Township – Friends group holds a Lilac Tea each spring – all money is for project funding not general use.
Trent Hills – The Warkworth Branch has been holding film nights in the community hall above the library - using films originally screened at the Toronto Film Festival.
Marmora – the Friends held a competition for a new logo – received more than 100 entries.
Belleville – new building has a used book shop at front – which brings in a couple of hundred dollars each month – some books are available free of charge.
Haldimand – the Dunnville friends’ group raised $3,500 at their summer book sale.

Cornwall - Fundraising had an interesting result. A company gave the library 40 Bell Canada shares. These shares were then sold quickly and netted $ 4,000 for the library. With this money, the library bought new much-needed large print books.
Guelph – the book sale was held in the Quebec St. Mall, downtown Guelph and yielded over $9,000.
Bruce County – fundraising ongoing for Port Elgin Branch; meeting with Bruce Power, hoping for significant contribution.
Petawawa – friends group have donated a garden outside the reading area of the library – will maintain.
Arnprior setting up a Friends group – to fundraise for expansion.
Niagara Falls – a former library employee who passed away has been honoured by her husband who dedicated his “Great Wall of China Marathon” run in her memory. The library held a “Run, Alex, Run” promotion that was very successful and well received. He took approximately 180,000 steps on his run and the challenge was put to patrons to read that many pages from the library’s books. The patrons read over 300,000 pages. This raised library awareness, as well as bringing in donations.
Haldimand – SOLS Consultant Rob Lavery is attending a meeting in early 2008 to talk about capital fundraising campaigns.

Georgian Bay - The size of the board has been increased by 2 in order to advance the work of the board.  The board is careful not to micromanage the operations of the library but to focus on the board responsibilities.  The board has established a Public Relations committee which will build the influence of the library in the township especially with municipal council.
Waterloo – the Library Board was finally appointed in June!
Merrickville-Wolford – all new Board.
Niagara-on-the-Lake – 6 new appointees.
Lincoln – 3 councilors on board, plus 6 others. Four of the 6 are new to the board.
Burlington – majority of Board members are new.
Mississauga – 5 new members on its Board.
Meaford – the Board is down to 4 members; no controversy, just 3 unrelated resignations; want to be more strategic about board recruitment in the future, work with Council.

North Grenville – The North Grenville library will use the Trillium grant it received to increase its large print collection, start a DVD collection and update the 700s in the non-fiction section of the collection.
Bruce County – received a $40,000 Trillium grant to renovate Lucknow Branch.
Rideau Lakes – The literacy grant was well received and brought in a substantial amount because Rideau Lakes has five small branches and covers a rural /recreation area.
Uxbridge – Trillium grant for new roof and exterior painting.
Tyendinaga Township – received funding through the Local Community Futures project (Tren-val) and will use the money to upgrade the library automation system and computers.
Marmora – received a $50,000 Trillium grant to create a local history/genealogical research area including laptops (and CCTV) in the meeting room beside the library & to renovate the children’s area – now thinking of applying for money to create an Art Gallery in the rooms above the library (currently rented out as apartments).

Cornwall, Merrickville-Wolford, Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry, Rideau Lakes, Tay Township , Ramara Township, St. Thomas, Arnprior, Laurentian Hills (Chalk River), Pembroke and Petawawa  – provide wireless access in their libraries.

And now some discussion about whether or not to limit use and about policies: 

Bruce County – now has CAP sites in all harbours in the county.
Front of Yonge – now have CAP computers.
Head Clara Maria – small twp, low pop, but lots of travelers on Hwy 17 and campers, cottagers – Internet access at the library is important – library shares satellite service with the township office.
Greater Madawaska -- survey found that 93% of pop. uses  Internet at home.
Rideau Lakes – problem with its connectivity. Big demand for computer use especially during summer. Since it is a rural/recreation area, its population doubles during the summer months.
Killaloe – much of municipality still on dial-up; library to upgrade to high speed.
Haldimand – using $25,800 in CAP sustainability funding to introduce wireless access in all branches.
Niagara-on-the-Lake – used a $9,000 grant to redesign the website, and it’s been well received.

Trustee Council 4 – discussed best practice for using municipal accounting services. Libraries reported that the service is very useful but clear guidelines on authority and control need to be established.
Markham – good relations with council, councilors participate in ‘Librarian for an Hour’ program.
Brockville – City doing a new Services Review – Library has representation on the Committee.
Prince Edward – originally related to pay equity but the issue of communication between municipal staff and library board is problematic.  While there are now 3 councillors on the board (up from 1) and the CEO attends department head meetings, often the necessary little details are missing, e.g. exact dates of pay scale changes.
Trent Hills – the municipal staff have been handling the finances for the library – but there has been a long lag time in getting budget reports – board is investigating hiring a bookkeeper for the library.
Milton – population will double in 7 years – leads to infrastructure issues and competition for funding. Complicated further because previous council promised a 0% tax increase, knowing that Milton would grow in the near future.
Niagara-on-the-Lake – Board is active in working with council.
Lincoln – attempting to get on councilors’ list of priorities to make the much needed changes and expansions to the system.
Mississauga – consulting with City on services and demographics to try and serve better.
Thorold – Relationship with council is tenuous. Recently lost half of the councilors and the new council is looking to invest in projects that show a profit, of which the library is not one.The board is attempting to show council the value of a good library and raise money to finance the library. St. Catharines – the library has financial stress because of municipal financial stress.

Trustee Council 4 – reflected on the purpose of the round table and several suggestions were made to help ensure the information remained relevant to trustees.  Consideration was given to establishing guidelines for the roundtable,  identifying areas of learning prior to the meeting and revisiting issues raised during the roundtable, at the end,  to allow for further discussion.

TC 2/Escarpment - Cathy Dowd provided an overview of OLBA’s focus, which is helping Trustees to govern. She promoted the OLA Superconference in January 2008.
TC 6 – A bit of confusion around the “Cut to the Chase” document published by OLBA – all member libraries received copies.  Those who were not members received one copy and a letter to order additional copies for each member, if desired.
Haldimand – new board chair [also their TC rep] will attend Superconference.

Bracebridge - will work in partnership with Nipissing University when it opens a new campus.
Kawartha Lakes – Hydro One partnership for watt readers.
Leeds & 1000 Islands & Rideau Lakes – used some Literacy & Lifelong Learning funds to study literacy in 2 communities – have now applied for an HRDC grant to hire a coordinator for 2 systems.

Arnprior – up to date – with municipal plan.
Pembroke and Whitewater Region interested in update info from workshop.
Haldimand – a pay equity plan should be posted in the next month or so.
Prince Edward – Ongoing problems with the maintenance of the pay equity plan (library tied to municipality) – to bring the library staff up to required levels, the council increased the library budget to cover but communication on required levels continues to be problematic.

Trustee Council 4 - discussed the issue of filtering access to the internet including access being providing through wireless service to people, including children, using their own laptops. Opinions on both sides of the issue were presented and the relationship of policies on restricting children’s access to the internet to policies on borrowing restrictions for children was considered.
Lambton – Due to a recent bomb threat, and a carbon monoxide leak, the county library system is reviewing their emergency measures and the policies around it.
St. Thomas – The board is undertaking a full policy review.
L. E. Shore – new CEO has taken the Board through the process of developing a comprehensive set of policies.
Killaloe & Head Clara Maria working on their policies.
Arnprior  doing a major review of all its policies.
Haldimand – Board has reviewed and adopted new policies for privacy, video surveillance, unattended children, and will be revising the donation and sponsorship policies.
Trustee Council 8 - Working on the definition of an active library card holder (how many years before it is declared inactive???).
Mississauga – reviewing policy under the Carver method.

Brantford – A very successful program has a public health nurse coming into story times, and helping new mothers with their newborns.
Lambton – The library participated in ARTWalk, a 3-day program in downtown Sarnia.
Owen Sound & North Grey – Poet laureate very successful; Poetry Slam and Words Aloud events well attended.
Perth – Successful Summer reading Program – 1,544 children registered and the Kindergarten Ready Readiness Program – 92 registrations.
Brighton – the local art council has now installed art in the library – and the library is working on adult programming – with monthly presentations using people to speak on their speciality e.g. vintage jewelry.
Deseronto – Held a book launch for Frances Itani’s book “Remember the bones” – local setting for her stories.  For remembrance day, had veterans at the library to speak to school kids.
Marmora – with Friends, sponsored performance of Driftwood Theatre in the park – this summer, it was “Much Ado about Nothing” and had a slight profit.  Have set up a homework club – started with 6 and now 15 come on a Wednesday after school – program is run by a retired schoolteacher (and member of the Friends).
Belleville – hold a brown bag lunch every Wed (coffee/tea provided by library) with a different topic each time & then on the 3^rd Tuesday from 6-8, the piano in the gallery is available to anyone who wishes to perform.

L.E. Shore – the library board has just completed work on developing library branding; a very good process, came to agreement in 3 meetings.

Guelph – grappling with a patron with extreme sensitivity to fragrances – not just perfume, also complaining about the library’s cleaning products; the staff have posted signage asking patrons to refrain from using perfume; very challenging. 
Owen Sound & North Grey – library staff had to eject an overly helpful patron who kept approaching other patrons, insisting on helping others who didn’t want or need help.

Brockville - Service Review Report is complete (65 pages) and available soon. In review, all services were examined (what they do, how they do it, how efficient are they. etc.) The conclusions and statistics in the report are very encouraging for the library. All this work was done by volunteers.
Huntsville - has worked closely with the community to improve and promote services to the disabled. 
Ottawa– The Board now receives quarterly performance reports on activity in areas, such as circulation (for multilingual collections), electronic visits, downloadable audio books, public access computer usage, database usage, and program usage.
Guelph – the homework help service costs the library approx. $20,000/year but it is very popular and well used (grades 4 to introductory college).
Prince Edward – obtained a grant through social services to run a tutoring program.  They are trying it out on a Sunday afternoon – this will allow them to open the library on another day in the week.  So far, 12 kids have signed up.
Bruce County – has dropped the non-residents’ fee for tourists/summer residents; very well received.
Waterloo – in the process of acquiring RFID technology; with self check-out starting in January.
Waterloo – Grand River Transit has sponsored a “class pass” service, providing classrooms with free transportation to and from the library.
Greater Madawaska – set –up book drops in remote areas of the municipality – municipal employees handle the  weekly book exchanges– set-up funded with Trillium grant.
Kingston-Frontenac – started self-checkout at Isabel Turner (one of the 5 urban branches with the 17 branch system) and in only 2 weeks, 45% of checkout was done through self-checkout.  Library is also using this RFID technology to sort materials for distribution to the branches.
Region of Waterloo – sessions of their basic computer literacy course for adults, which were offered at 3 library branches in conjunction with the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, are nearing completion. Fee for 8 week course was $120. Courses are well attended and many participants have expressed interest in pursuing follow-up courses.

Cornwall - Union contract had not permitted the library to hire part-time employees but recent concessions from last Union negotiations have allowed the library to hire two part-timers to fill vacancies on holidays and weekends.
Huntsville – used the services of SOLS to assist the board in hiring the new CEO Maureen Cubberley.
Lanark – combination of paid employee and part-time volunteers.
New Tecumseth – has hired Paula Coutts to the position of CEO during Mary Anne Wilson’s leave.
Orillia – will be hiring a new CEO as Mike Saddy nears retirement.
Ottawa–Board approved a two-year collective agreement with the employee’s union. CUPE 503 Library Group, (3% increase in 2007 and in 2008).  A staffing review process, with approval of library board chair, a deputy manager, city manager and the mayor, has been instituted until the end of the year – this is in response to the city’s financial crunch.
Penetanguishene – is starting the CEO hiring process as Rosemary Marchard nears retirement.
St. Thomas – has hired a part-time marketing person in order to unify the look of signs and publications.
Woodstock – Staffing shortages have impacted on their ability to reach some objectives in their strategic plan. As a result, the new strategic plan is premised on extra staff, and the library Board is making that request to the funders. Woodstock is also doing succession planning.
Brock Township – transitioning CEOs newly hired, full time CEO.
Newmarket – heading into first contract with unionized employees.
Richmond Hill – newly unionized staff.
Rideau Lakes – Demand has increase for genealogy; a staff member now works ½ day a week on genealogy.
Uxbridge – one staff member attends board meetings to give update and information, Board hosts pot luck for staff.
Whitby – council approved new branch in Brooklin combined with recreation centre.
Killaloe  -- implementing pay scale and salary review.
Pembroke --  in process of CEO selection.
Bonnechère Valley – new CEO just started.
Region of Waterloo – hired a Family Literacy Coordinator through a grant from the Lyle S. Hallman Foundation. She promotes family literacy, presents workshops and programs for parents and children with family reading activities, does staff presentations, and recommends family literacy resources and services for rural libraries.
Recently received $91,000 from the Hallman Foundation for a three year initiative to continue and enhance family literacy activities across rural Waterloo region.
Burlington – has a new CAO.
Mississauga – reviews CEO performance yearly.

Bruce County – the County Planner is coming to next Board meeting to talk about the county’s demographics and how the community is changing.
Lambton – is working on a cultural services review with the county, using an outside consultant.
Penetanguishine – used the services of OLS- North to develop a marketing plan.  The document has been used to communicate the library’s service directions to the council.
Ottawa– The Board approved its strategic plan for 2008-2011. It will be posted on the OPL website before the end of this year.
St. Thomas – SOLS is assisting the Board with an updated strategic plan.
Springwater – The Board has completed a new strategic plan.
Woodstock – Updating their strategic plan, using the same consultant who assisted them before - Fred Galloway. They have ascertained that the original plan still has some unfinished projects, due to lack of staff.
Waterloo – Board meeting soon to begin the work on a new 4 year strategic plan.
Kawartha Lakes – doing public meetings for strategic planning.
Arnprior – will be developing a Strat Plan to 2010.
Cambridge – Board is embarking on a new strategic plan.
Haldimand – current Strategic Plan is going to be included on a CD-ROM that accompanies a book to be published about library strategic planning. The Board will devote a full meeting in January 2008 to developing a new Plan. The current plan has been in place since 2002.
Burlington – a new strategic plan will be approved in a few weeks.
Mississauga – Strategic Priorities Plan can be viewed at www.mississauga.ca/library.
Lincoln – Strategic Plan has been completed.
Welland – their Strategic Plan for 2007-2010 has been revised twice in less than a year. the second revision was done to include newly appointed board members. The latest document has clearer detail on responsibilities, plus a sharper timeline. As well, an extra ‘status’ column will be added in order to track the new plan’s progress.

Region of Waterloo – 1,447 children registered; 32,375 children’s books were signed out in July and August; 140 children’s programs were held with 3,247 in attendance. A summer student was hired through a Summer Career Placements grant to promote summer reading club and plan and deliver fun programs. Bonus – 183 adults signed up in their own version of reading club in 3 branches; in Wellesley branch, they challenged the kids to read more [but the kids won].
Haldimand – 2,355 registrations for their summer programs.

Hamilton – recently introduced RFID (Self check-out) which has been exceptionally well received in the locations that were completely redesigned (3 of the 4). Not so well received at the 4^th location, where the existing arrangement was kept. The patrons felt that people were being replaced by machines and weren’t happy about it. Since then, the physical floor arrangement has been changed and the patrons are happier with this. Circulation has increased by 15-25% since the introduction of RFID in Hamilton.
Hanover – is in the process of switching from Spectrum to Lib Lime an open source ILS system, largely because the ongoing costs are more manageable. 
Richmond Hill – RFID installed.
Uxbridge – researching Mandarin.
Laurentian Hills – investigating upgrading automated system .
Brighton, Trent Hills, Tweed, Stirling, Deseronto, Tyendinaga (and others) – are moving to Mandarin from Spectrum.
Deseronto – now have 12 computers and the computer area is very popular.
Region of Waterloo – member of Overdrive Consortium [includes RWL, Kitchener PL, Waterloo PL, Cambridge PL, Perth County Information Network], which is preparing for a rollout of the Overdrive downloadable audiobooks service by the end of December. Currently, work is being completed on a combined consortium webpage, which will serve as an access point for patrons of all member libraries. Staff at RWL received initial training on the product at a staff training session late October; follow-up training in November.
Haldimand – library staff will be migrating to Symphony from Horizon sometime in 2008.
St. Catharines – using technology to save money while maintaining service quality.

Ottawa– The Board approved the establishment of a bursary program for employees who wish to further their library education. This program will take $ 50,000 from the library fundraising trust fund, and invest it. At 4% interest, that will provide $ 2,000 per year. The minimum bursary will be $ 500, and the maximum will be $ 2,000 per year. If there are no applications in a given year, the interest will be added to the principal.
Welland – the board listened to the first of 3 seminars by Dr. Ken Haycock for the Education Institute on budgeting for library boards. The first one was ‘Financial Literacy 1”, Part 1 Planning and Preparation. The next session is Part 2, ‘Analysis of Documents’. In early 2008, Part 3 is ‘Planning as Advocacy Tool’. The first session was late for this year’s budget, but it will help them to be especially careful with tying future financial planning to Welland’s Strategic Plan.
The new Coordinator of Children and Youth Services is working on starting a Teen Advisory Group [TAG]. The initial procedural document has been approved by the library board. TAG is part of Welland’s new Strategic Plan.
Free seminars were run this fall on WEB-based e-mail [2X], Introduction to Thompson Gale Databases, and Introduction to Genealogy [2X].
Need additional help in the IT area and vacation backup, but there’s no funding available. To offset this problem, trying to get a high school or college to partner with the library in this practical, hands-on training opportunity for students in IT classes.
Burlington – entire library system closed October 12 and staff was offered an enrichment day, including an appreciation dinner. This event brought a lot of positive feedback from the staff, and the board was very pleased with how the day went. Only one complaint from a patron that the library was closed.

Merrickville-Wolford - Very active group of volunteers.
Uxbridge – Youth Advisory Committee doing very well in first year.
Deseronto & Tyendinaga – Have had Canada World Youth participants helping at the library (this time from Cuba and Cape Breton).