Southern Ontario Library Service

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Brighton - has been working on policies to include in a written policy manual.
Hanover - intends to work towards accreditation.
Leeds & 1000 Islands - recently accredited, the challenges they faced were with the need to have policies on planning, as well as ongoing space problems.
L.E. Shore - has been accredited; received certificate at OLA conference.
Lincoln – board is being urged to go for accreditation.
North Augusta - working on policies but having difficulty developing them. (sample policies available on SOLS website pointed out).
North Grenville - accessibility of facilities and restricted hours are handicap .
Perth - Felt they scored well, however they fell down on assessing community needs.
Ramara - reviewed requirements for Accreditation and will consider it further in the fall.
Rideau Lakes - found the mandated checklist quite useful, did quite well.Mandatory guidelines were only briefly discussed – in most cases, the unsuccessful ones were related to lack of policies, or regularity of practices, eg. evaluation of CEO; Board review.
Tyendinaga Township - Board have been working on all of their policies – partly with respect to the OPL Guidelines but also because they now have a meeting room in the library and now need a policy for use.

Bruce County - CEO of Library has been invited to speak to the Rural Caucus of the Ontario Legislature on the role of public libraries in rural Ontario.
Halton Hills – each board member is paired with a councilor and they meet frequently.
Head, Clara and Maria – is hosting a “Community Madness Day” on May 14^th to involve the whole community and raise the library profile; events will include a book and plant sale, a hot dog lunch, a silent auction of leftover construction materials from the Township, a car wash by the fire wardens and tables for rent at $1 a foot.
North Grenville  - Advocacy has worked to bring the library on to the radar. Council all attended a meeting on budget presentation.
Oakville – pursues advocacy with MPPs.
Trustee Council #7 –advocacy discussion led participants to encourage OLBA representative to lobby government to increase the per household grants and to support SOLS.

Pickering - won award for partner program with FN library.
Waterloo - was awarded the Minister’s Innovation Award for its Books and Quilts program.

Deseronto - added a non-voting member to the board – they now have a youth representative at the board table (age 17).
Lincoln – has board education on each meeting’s agenda.
Orillia - 4 councilors on the board;  this prompted discussion in Trustee Council 4 on how to utilize councilors to advocate at municipal council.
Ramara - reviews one module of the Trustee Board Orientation Kit at each meeting.

Brockville  - statistics have shown that Brockville is the most efficient mid size library in Ontario, with an $.85 per transaction cost.
Bruce County - got a 15% budget increase; an increase in the book budget; now paying fair rental rates for library facilities.
Grimsby – library is in its first year in a new building but Council has indicated that they must cut 30% from budget; current thinking is a 50-50 split between part-time hours and books; this is causing a dichotomy on the board.
Haliburton County - book budget increasing.
Kawartha Lakes -  2004 book budget eliminated, $10,000 reinstated for 2005, cut $18,000 in operating; looking at feasibility of closing branches.
Niagara-On-The-Lake – council approved funds for new full-time Children’s librarian.
North Kawartha - library gets less than 1% of municipal budget.
Ottawa - budget not quite as challenging this year.  The potential closing of three branches galvanized the community.
Pembroke – is facing a budget crisis as City of Pembroke and contracting municipality (Laurentian Valley) are trying to arrange equitable funding but the outcome is uncertain.
Penetanguishene - received an 18% budget increase.
Port Hope - funding struggles, Council requested 0% increase, board asked for 7%, 4% was approved; small branch is causing financial problems – not sustainable, and has no internet access for circulation.
Richmond Hill - 2005 budget reduction of 10%; reduced staff costs to meet budget.
Uxbridge- board is spending lots of time on the budget – 20% cut in development charges to library, 7.4% increase in staff salary, only 3.5% increase in budget, resulted in Monday closures.
Woodstock - budget was approved at 15% increase. The Board did a televised budget presentation which was well received.

Admaston-Bromley –open house on April 20 to dedicate the Clarence McBride Reading Room in honour of the retiring Board chair and to present the annual Patron of the Year award.
Hanover - celebrating its centennial next year (2006).

Bonnechere – circulation and attendance are up.
Head, Clara & Maria – circulation is up, as is usage by both tourists and local residents.
Oshawa - circulation in mall branch is decreasing.
Pembroke – circulation is up but funding is down.
Renfrew - circulation is up by 10%. 

Head, Clara and Maria – is doing a major weeding of the collection; have opted out of the Rideau Large Print pool due to receiving a block of large print books from Deep River; they found that many of their patrons had already read these books as they also use the Deep River Public Library.
Killaloe – has completed inputting the materials database for automation and is now testing circulation functions; also using business cards for patrons; bought their own bar codes to keep costs down.
Penetanguishene - completed an evaluation of the reference collection and has developed a plan to enhance both paper and electronic resources; also has a large French collection and offers the summer reading program in both English and French.
Renfrew - users will now be able to access ebooks and maps remotely as they have been installed on the on-line catalogue.
Waterloo - got $1.4 million boost to collections; consulting with patrons on how to spend it.

Hamilton – had candidates meetings at a number of branches – fits in with strat plan and new catch phrase – “We’ll meet you at the Library.”
Marmora - has a branch library at Deloro – and in an attempt to make it more useful, have opened the library on Saturday.  A sign has also been erected to make the library more noticeable in the community.
Ramara - CEO has been involved in a community wide project called Our Ramara, http://www.ourramara.com/  which brings community partners together to build access to information on community resources and businesses; CEO recently won a Chamber of Commerce award for her leadership on this project.
Waterloo - again involved in the One Book One Community with neighbouring libraries.

(Town of the) Blue Mountain - has undergone a Development Charges study, identifying capital expenses required 2005-2014; includes an additional 15,000 square feet of library space; Library board has to develop a capital plan specifying the location and nature of the space required.
Whitchurch-Stouffville - development charges had been a part of operating budget for a number of years, but because of the “big pipe”, no development has taken place in the catchment area for a few years, therefore the library has lost out on $40,000 for the past 2 years, the library was still able to balance the budget.

Admaston-Bromley – the library is housed in a portable building that belongs to the Catholic school board and is in need of capital improvements.
Bonnechere –library facility roof leaks and there is a space problem.
Cornwall - has challenges because of size of facility, no room to expand, parking is an issue.  Would like to use their basement, looking for funding sources.
Deseronto - has the local archives in the library building and was wondering about special requirements for archival material.  It was suggested that he contact the Heritage Centre in Tweed for further information.
Fort Erie – renovated children’s area; local artist painted a mural with a castle made of books.
Haliburton County - system is below standard in space, working with the municipality on planning for space.
Head, Clara & Maria – moved into their newly renovated space one year ago.
L.E. Shore - has engaged an engineering firm to prepare a report on the creation of a special reserve fund to maintain the library facility over the next 40 years; included a time line, showing the life expectancy of major building components, eg. roof, heating/air conditioning, windows, brick work, and the anticipated costs associated with replacing/repairing each; the Board has submitted the report to the Town, requesting the reserve fund be created.
Renfrew – has asked Town Council to expand the library by putting a second floor in the atrium.
St Thomas - requires building renovations, but no budget is in place. They are surveying staff and board re: future needs.

Belleville will finally have a new library facilities with construction starting May 1^st.  They received 2.8 million in SuperBuild money and will fundraise for more. There will be about 38,000 square feet of library & art gallery/meeting room space. The entrance is a rotunda with a gift and used book store there & administration and computer facilities above that.
Brant - has built a new facility in Scotland, and is now preparing for required changes in Burford.
Brantford – in the 3^rd phase of an extreme makeover of the library.
Brock Township has a new facility at Beaverton.  They have noticed an increase in use by teens and in computer use.
Caledon – will soon increase from 7 to 8 branches; new branch from development funds as there is lots of money in the  community.
Fonthill – getting positive feedback so far  in talks aimed at including library as part of new community recreation centre.
Georgian Bay Township - planning a new branch in McTier without financial support from the Municipality. A friends group has been established and the board is considering establishing a foundation.
Guelph – spent 2 years and lots of money searching for a new downtown location; City authorized the library to go ahead but then did not want to purchase the former post office; this has been quite divisive for board and council but beginning to get back on track; growth is mainly in the south end; new branch (4^th) will open in the fall with another in the east end in 2007;  main location needs more computer space.
Haldimand – recently opened new branch in Caledonia; Cayuga branch up for renovation in joint project with Fire Hall.
Halton Hills – part way through facility study for new library; looking to build 33,000 square foot facility.
Hamilton – currently has 24 branches and is anticipating starting a new shared facility with Police Services; Ancaster branch will close for renovations; a branch in Flamborough in a Twin Pad complex is only at the discussion stage.
Huron - looking at a new branch to serve Fordwich and Gorrie.
Kingston-Frontenac is putting one branch though a review – primarily to determine whether to renovate or build a new building that would be multi-use and serve the community in a number of different ways.
Markham – new  Angus Glen branch, opened in Dec ’04, situated at the north border of Markham to bring traffic north and anticipate development; circulation at the new branch sky-rocketed, in one month the new branch circulated 100,000 pieces – one-third of system total; workload has presented challenges – staff workload, keeping books on the shelf, borrows from new branch but returns to home branch.
- turned challenges into good new stories for press and council
- would like to do surveys of who and how often patrons are coming to new branch, and why (new branch vs. home branch).
Niagara Falls – new branch scheduled to open in September, part of a community centre.
Norfolk - looking at a new branch in Port Dover.
North Grenville - going ahead with plans for centralization of services in a main library in Kemptville.  Have a working group looking at options for centralization.
North Kawartha - library might be moving into new municipal building. Orillia - advocating to council for support with the building of a new library.
Oshawa - planning for new branch in the north end of the city, some discussions between city and library board around naming rights and who retains the dollars.
Ottawa  - new branch is being planned for South Central.  Building Committee has been formed for this large project ( $200 – 300 million)Oxford - planning a new branch in Norwich in the near future.
Perth is in the early stages of expansion discussion.  Challenge is that they are connected to a heritage fire tower. 
Petawawa – the roof leaked in the newly renovated library.
Prince Edward, Wellington Branch renovations/construction is now complete, with the official opening set for Sat. May 21^st.  This addition links the old 1928 building to a former town hall where the library has been given work space in the lower level. The purpose was to make the facility accessible but also to add space.  The library will also be providing office space for the local arts and HQNet (a local initiative working on a portal project.
Quinte West’s Trenton branch, located in the municipal office, has been open for a few months & the municipal staff can now see how busy the library really is.  The board is now considering improvements at the second branch in Frankford.
Richmond Hill - new branch in Richmond Green in collaboration with school; municipality is planning around the development of the north end of RH, planning for a new facility, a joint community centre in Oak Ridges; expanded children’s dept in Central – great response.
Tyendinaga Township library renovations are complete, with the official opening held on Sat. March 4^th.  The old library at the back of the hall was demolished and a new library constructed.  The renovations also expanded the library into the meeting hall.  The next step is signage.
Waterloo - finally has a direction with regards to facilties:  building an east and west district branch (21,000 sq.ft. each) by 2007; then refurbishing/renovating the existing main library.
Whitby - busy with new central library opening on May 16^th;  closed Rossland branch, with great community attention; planning for Brooklin branch in 2007.
Woodstock is looking at expanding their capacity by offering services from a satellite library.

Bruce County - annual Friends Day is April 30^th.
Halton Hills – active Friends group running book sales.
Hamilton – thinking of starting up Friends again but may look to other service groups in the community too.
Hanover - Friends donated $4,000 to the library’s DVD collection and audio/large print books.
Marmora noted that their Friends group seems to be in a low cycle with respect to numbers.  Still been generous with donations and sponsorship for library programs.
Niagara-On-The-Lake – 8^th Annual Storytelling Festical  program run by Friends has programs for all ages all day during the event.
Norfolk - has a plan In place to establish a Friends’ group.
Oakville – sponsor “Opal the Dinosaur” mascot who is a huge hit with kids.
Rideau Lakes - asked for advice on how to resurrect its Friends Group; North Grenville and Brockville offered suggestions.
TC #7 – discussed the implications of Friends groups doing fundraising through gaming activities.

Barrie - working on a capital campaign to build a branch in the southern part of the city, with site close to the GO train. The hospital is also fundraising for a cancer center.
Belleville has launched a fundraising campaign for $1.5 million for “improvements beyond the bricks & mortar” such as furnishings.  There are naming opportunities up to $6 million. The downtown business association pledged $250,000.
Deseronto - has been designated to receive funds from the local Rick Hansen Run – the money will be used to improve accessibility of the washrooms in the library.
Gravenhurst - funds raised from the Antique Road show have gone towards children’s programming.
Head, Clara and Maria – raised $600 selling calendars with historical pictures of the local area.
Killaloe –held plant and book sale in May; theatrical group from Eganville will present a show in the public school inn June - a joint fundraiser with the Rainbow Valley Heart Centre. 
King City - wanted to apply for a Trillium grant for accessibility upgrades and had some discussion with the municipality but was told that they couldn’t apply for it!
Lambton County - is looking at fundraising, as is Woodstock.
Madawaska Valley – held Trivia night in May; annual barbecue on May long weekend raised $1400; Christmas cards with designs donated by local artists were also a successful fundraiser.
Markham – - looking for naming donations; need policy on donations and art donations.
Marmora has had some “in memorium” donations of books, and is thinking of formalizing this.  Belleville was able to share the literature that they have on the “Honour with Books” program.
North Kawartha - applied for Royal Bank after school program funding.
Oakville – fundraising for enhancements to the Children’s department.
Pembroke – held two mystery night fundraisers.
Petawawa –fundraising duck race will be held on July 1^st - cost is $5 a duck or a “quack pack” of 5 ducks for $20; fundraiser sold 300 tickets and draws continue every two weeks for $200 prize.
Port Hope - library looking at increasing their fundraising activity.
Renfrew – murder mystery programme raised $600.
Trustee Council #7 – is interested in having Rob Lavery, SOLS Funding Resource Consultant, come to a meeting to do some training on funding development.
Tyendinaga Township is a small municipality & has two major building projects in town (a Recreation Centre and the library), so they have worked together with the other group to raise funds jointly and then to split the money, eg. Silent Auction and Dinner.
Whitchurch-Stouffville - book sale was doomed this year with a snow storm and power outage.
Whitewater – held a successful family bingo.  Trivia and Valley Day programmes raised $1200. 

Admaston-Bromley – increased the number of board members.
Head, Clara & Maria – is reviewing a module of the Library Board Orientation Kit 2004 each month and find it works for both new and experienced trustees.  Once the Kit is completed, they will be looking at the Ontario Public Library Guidelines.
Kawartha Lakes - thanks to the group (Ian Hunter) for responses on policy help for board member hi-jacking meetings.
L.E. Shore - Board has set an objective of reviewing and discussing 2 modules from the kit at every Board meeting – proving to be very effective and helpful to members.
Quinte West Board has been reviewing all of their policies – many have had to be altered due to the new facility and new services now available.
Kingston - now board meets as a committee of the whole in addition to the regularly scheduled 10 meetings per year.
Pembroke – board is updating its policies.
Pickering - Carver board, very positive change, stopped micro-managing; - established a governance committee for community outreach; held a combined meeting with Ajax library board (also a Carver board).
Springwater - developed a new procurement and hiring policy using the municipal policy as a model.
Tillsonburg - reports an attempt by the municipality to take control of the Board. This issue brought the Board together, and they have successfully negotiated a new memorandum of understanding.
Uxbridge - implemented “consent” agenda, working very well.

Admaston-Bromley – has received a Trillium grant for furniture and an accessible washroom.
Addington Highlands has applied for Trillium to build a washroom area for the library (currently without one); others who are eligible are all working on applications.
Addington Highlands received CAP funding which is being used to fund additional opening hours which allows for more public Internet access.
Bruce County - 3 branches got government funding from Corporate Services for equipment related to being an access point to government services.
Deseronto & Tyendinaga Township have applied for a student through HRDC – although frustrated because the grant only pays 50% of the cost.
Hanover - refurbished teen area that was done through a Trillium grant is very well used, very popular.
Head, Clara and Maria – will apply for a Trillium grant for non-fiction materials, shelving and dividers for the November 1^st deadline.
Killaloe – the CAP grant money arrived late so library was not able to get a contract for computer maintenance; funding received for teaching about how to use computers; also applied for a summer student through HRDC.
King City - wanting to apply for a Trillium grant for accessibility upgrades, but after some discussion with the municipality library was told that they couldn’t apply for it!
Madawaska Valley –received Trillium funding for an accessibility lift and washroom and will be applying for funding for shelving and the children’s area.
North Grenville - received Trillium funding for furniture for childrens’ areas ($11,000).  Also received $8,000 from the municipality for books for children. 
Pickering - HRDC grant for collaborative online project with Ajax.
Renfrew – has applied for a $52,000 Trillium grant for shelving and furniture.
Smith Ennismore Lakefield - CAP money for computer training.
Whitewater – will be applying for a Trillium grant for automating the three-branch library system.

Fonthill, Lincoln and Oakville – completed Guidelines questionnaire and found only 1 item missing.
Kawartha Lakes - did not pass guidelines check list.
North Kawartha - board looking at guidelines.
Tweed has a Katimavik student again this year – using them to measure space, shelving against the requirements in the guidelines.

Huron County - Library website now hosts the Reuben R. Sallows Digital Library – gorgeous historic photographs of Huron County; the Library won an award for the online gallery.
Kingston-Frontenac will be running a Summer Cybertutor Program using Gates funding & some HRDC students – this is by popular demand.
Laurentian Hills – Chalk River Branch has switched to Vianet; a satellite dish has been purchased for the Point Alexander branch using CAP funding; dish will be used to provide service to the municipality, fire and roads departments.
Oakville – has instituted several initiatives in response to the pornography episode that was covered on national TV last fall; library installed privacy screens on 160 internet stations but these were reported stolen within two weeks; subsequently, filters were installed on 40% of the machines, resulting in few problems and fair acceptance by patrons; these actions do not however entirely stop pranksters; also trying age-related library cards but this has been problematic.
Tweed noted that their computer use has doubled and circulation is way up this year & more hours will added to the assistant’s time.

Brighton now has a monthly book talk column in the newspaper, trying to attract more people to the library & its collection.
Clarington - hosted Blue Spruce awards – first time in a public library.
Laurentian Hills – has set up a treasure chest in which patrons can put their names to be the first to borrow the new Harry Potter book.  There will be two copies for each branch and there will be a draw to see who gets to be first to read the books!
Marmora now has a “Books for Babies” program in which they give new mothers/babies a new book, as a gift from the library.
Niagara-On-The-Lake – for the last 10 years have asked local businesses to sponsor. magazine subscriptions; usually get up to 50% of the subscription costs covered.
Oakville – Friends set up “Book Nooks” in locations where people normally wouldn’t find or look for books (e.g., Emergency Rooms, supermarkets).  This is done on an honour system and no card is required.
Richmond Hill - radio frequency tags going system-wide, worked well in pilot.

Barrie - city is working with the library on the issue of homelessness; staff have received training and the library has a policy on the issue.
Brockville - reported that the library has benefited by having developed a profile with the council.
Fort Erie – opened new local history project with 50 years of hard copy news clippings housed on computer with ribbon-cutting with Mayor and Council; relationship with Council is relatively good.
Guelph – need assistance with relationship with municipality.
Hamilton – has excellent relationship with Council; switching website to join with City’s – MyHamilton.ca.  Every page will link.
Huron County - CEO of Library is also head of Cultural Services, responsible for museums.
L.E. Shore - Board made a half-hour presentation to Town Council in the fall on the role and value of the library to the community; part of an on-going effort to build and maintain an effective relationship with Council and Town staff.
Kawartha Lakes - CEO is Director of Leisure Services – he’s doing very well, and structure is working out.
Niagara-On-The-Lake – developing ideas with Town for new web-page.
North Perth - experiencing some difficulty working collaboratively with municipality, eg. new Director of Operations wants physical repairs to library to be dealt with by library board; Town now charging the library for space in the Town’s newsletter.
Springwater - recognized the need to raise library profile with municipal councilors and invited council members to a meeting at the library to review the roles and responsibilities of the library board.
Whitchurch-Stouffville - continued good relationship with council.

• Stressed the need for trustee training to be a part of accreditation.
• OLBA's advocacy mandate may change with the emergence of the Federation to assisting boards to advocate at the local level.

Brant County - has developed reciprocal agreements with Norfolk, Cambridge, and Waterloo Regional, and has severed a service contract with Brantford.
Brantford – partnerships with Nipissing, Laurier and Mohawk which all have satellite campuses in Brantford.
Chatham-Kent - is building on their successful partnerships with their municipal services, and is now partnering with Service Ontario, Workplace Wellness, and with local schools.
Halton Hills – meetings with Chamber of Commerce and Service clubs.
Pembroke – partnered with local “prom” vendors (clothing, florists, limousine service etc.) to put on a pre-prom expo for a second year; goal is to bring teenagers into the library.
Port Colborne – collaboration with Marine Museum Heritage Resource Centre – the ground-breaking will take place in August and the finished partnership will free up room for the library as archives will be moved to this new centre.
Tyendinaga Township library now partners with Community Care and Alzheimer’s Society where people come to the library for a program & can stay on to use the library.

Brock Township has settled an outstanding pay equity issue with several hundred thousand dollars owing to 13 employees dating back to 1990.  Also reminded libraries that the pay equity money currently being sent with the operating grants is set to run out in the next year.

Bonnechere –will join Literacy Plus group for the Literary Tuesdays programme in July; will host children’s author, Janet Lunn;  board is also considering an outreach programme, with the possibility of a joint programme with the seniors’ residence.
Deseronto is working on reaching out to the community & ran craft classes during the March Break, as well as a magic show.
Fort Erie – After School program received $10,000 from local credit union to continue the program which has 100 students participating.
Haldimand – PAWS program has kids who have reading problems reading aloud to animals.
Laurentian Hills – will host a One Book, One Community – Renfrew County Reads event in partnership with the Rolph, Buchanan, Wylie and McKay Historical Society.  A Strawberry Social Tea will be held inn June at the School House Museum. 
Pembroke – is planning a One Book, One Community – Renfrew County Reads event, possibly partnering with a new restaurant in the community, Café au Lait.
Petawawa –official launch of the One Book, One Community – Renfrew County Reads programme was held in April showcasing local author Mary Cook.
Port Hope - library involved in community programming –“Port Hope reads Farley”(Mowat).
Smith Ennismore Lakefield - run Silver Birch program; reading buddies program in all three branches.

Guelph – vandals burned out bookmobile.
Norfolk - having persistent problems with vandalism and trespassing.
Petawawa –vandalism occurred in the children’s section when a carboy filled with donations was stolen and smashed.

Bonnechere – CEO on extended sick leave so Pembroke CEO is helping out with weeding the collection.
Brockville - closes its service for Professional Development days for staff.
Cornwall - reported that their collective agreement does not allow part time staff.
Hunsville - in anticipation of the retirement of the CEO, Board is involved in succession planning.
Kawartha Lakes - need for policy on protocol for staff behaviour. Laurentian Hills – has put in for paid relief staff in their budget.  
L.E. Shore - has budgeted for an additional staff position to meet the needs of the growing population.
Markham –  pay rate not balanced with systems in the area (TPL) – losing staff to other systems.
North Kawartha - reviewing staff salaries, all workers have less than 35 hours a week therefore no benefits – compromise with municipality that they would increase hourly rates, but not extend benefits.
Quinte West - library is exploring ways to cut down on the staff time to book and monitor computers.
Whitchurch-Stouffville - worked with SOLS on finding new CEO, very pleased with results.
Whitewater – asked for information from other boards on whether employees are replaced for vacation and sick leave.

Admaston-Bromley – goal of the Board is to automate the library.
Bonnechere – a very successful visioning session was facilitated by the Board chair.
Brantford – had a 1-day planning session and are now using the active strategic plan developed in the session.
Gravenhurst  - develops an annual plan but recognizes the for a “big picture” plan.
Haliburton County - strategic plan in place, starting annual agenda of tasks.
Halton Hills – finished Start plan in 2004.
Hanover - distributed 2,800 community surveys, received 266 replies; positive feedback for the most part; did learn what people don’t know about the library; working on developing the strategic plan.
Huntsville - undertaking the development of their next strategic plan, building on the current one;   needs assessment completed to inform the decision making.
Lambton County - is doing a core review of services along with the municipality.
L.E. Shore - is working towards updating its strategic plan, with SOLS assistance.
Lincoln – Board retreat for strategic planning.
Middlesex County - is planning, and has completed their visioning session.
Niagara-On-The-Lake – time to re-visit Strategic plan.
North Kawartha - board looking at strategic planning.
Orillia - develops an annual business plan based on the strategic plan; this year’s focus is on the development and review of policies.
Oxford County - is restructuring, looking at the viability of their many branches.
Penetanguishene - starting the process of preparing its third strategic plan.
Petawawa – board is working on a strategic plan.
Port Hope - Strategic plan in place – board identifying do-able projects.
Renfrew - is preparing a strategic plan; completed on-line user survey soliciting input from stakeholders.
Smith Ennismore Lakefield - looking at trying to implement a survey for non-users.
St. Thomas - is looking at their mission and their goals.
Uxbridge - started strategic planning process.

Augusta – moving to Ripnet for connectivity.
Bruce County - automation system will be up and running within the month.
Fonthill – developed new website as precursor to moving to new automations system (Dynix) by the end of the summer.
Halton Hills – moving to Horizon with Oakville.
North Grenville  - migrating to Unicorn.
North Kawartha - installed a Service Ontario kiosk with high speed internet access; applying for Trillium grant for automation – looking at Mandarin.
Oakville – new automation system (Horizon).

Deseronto - felt that a “burn out” of volunteers & others suggested that this happens and one needs to be sure that they are “appreciated”.
Leeds & 1000 Islands - wants to start a Homebound service, had volunteers lined up, but no one was interested in using the service.
LE Shore - Working in partnership with the Beaver Valley Outreach Organization, the library’s volunteer program has been formalized, with registration forms, and job descriptions to clarify roles and expectations.
Marmora held a dinner to acknowledge the volunteers – they used the “National Volunteer Week” theme.
Niagara-On-The-Lake - Library has volunteers separate from Friends of the Library.
Smith Ennismore Lakefield - 3 branches open 30 hours/week, 3 paid staff with 160 volunteers.
Whitewater – asked for information from other boards on how volunteers are insured.

TC #1 – Vince Marchesano (Norfolk) was re-elected and Stephanie Murray (Lambton County) was elected.
Escarpment – Alan MacEwan (St. Catharines) stood for re-election and was acclaimed; Sandy French (Halton Hills) was elected.
TC #3 – Bob Ernest (Waterloo) and Paul Elgie (Huron County) were elected.
TC #4 – Jane Vanderkraan (Huntsville) was re-elected; 1 vacancy remains and an election will be held at the fall 2005 meeting.
TC #5 - Jane Marlatt and Brenda Carrigan stood for re-election unopposed, and were acclaimed.
TC #6 - Jim Neill (Kingston-Frontenac) was re-elected and Travis Shalla (Stirling-Rawdon).  Subsequently, Travis Shalla withdrew so an election will be held in October.
TC #7 - Patricia Walters-Holst stood for re-election and was acclaimed.  She has actually moved to Killaloe but the Petawawa P.L. Board has appointed her as Petawawa’s TC rep. 
TC #8 - Lynne Baxter (North Grenville) and  Jackie Houde (Cornwall).