Southern Ontario Library Service

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TC#7 – discussion around whether provincial funding will eventually be tied to achieving accreditation.
Haldimand -5 branches have received accreditation; 1 branch has not because of facility issues.
North Grenville – Would like new central library to be located in Kemptville to be accredited.
St. Thomas is completing a policy review as its first step toward accreditation.
Tillsonburg is working toward accreditation.

Waterloo – the library has installed Zoom Text enlargement software on selected workstation to improve access for patrons with visual difficulties; the purchase of the software was made possible through CAP funding.
Hanover gave a library card with a Canadian stamp on it to every grade 6 student.
Guelph – online homework help is getting very high use, mostly with students grade 4- university, between 4-8 pm.
Meaford – offering a Chamber of Commerce event after hours this spring, as a way of serving the business community.

Bruce County – last fall sent the Minister of Culture their DVD “Bruce Remembers” and rec’d a letter of thanks; apprising the Minister of new programs/services a very worthwhile undertaking.

Ottawa – OPL Children’s and Youth Manager Jane Venus received the 2006 Children’s Librarian of the Year Award at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference in February.
Orillia – honoured for its Lifescapes program, the MPP was invited to be on hand for the awards at OLA.

TC# 7 – discussion around whether municipal councillors who are board members should be eligible to represent their libraries at TC due to potential conflict of their double responsibilities – majority agreed that this is not be an issue; more general discussion on the role of the municipal council rep on the library board – group concluded that both groups are better served by a collegial relationship.
Augusta Twp – When new boards members are needed, the Board looks at its weaknesses and tries to attract members that can help them in these areas.
Brockville – Newly appointed mayor – who would like to change the councilor on the library board every year rather than naming one for the next full 4 year term.
Cornwall – Municipal council has decided that it will not be necessary for the future to have school board representative on the library board – too hard to recruit. Good board.
Deseronto – All new council, all board members returned.
Front of Yonge– Five new members have joined the board this year. They were recruited from the community for their diverse experiences and skills.
Grimsby- only 1 returning board member out of 9.
Markham – purchased Ken Haycock’s audio-conferences for the board to listen to.
Merrickville/Wolford – Practically all new member board – only 2 returning members.
Niagara-on-the-Lake-5 new board members.
North Grenville – 2 new members.
Oakville-7 new members on the board including 1 city councillor and 4 returning members.
Ottawa – 11 new members - only 3 returning members on 14 member board (8 citizens and 6 councilors).  Orientation (1/2 day) held Feb 3 and inaugural meeting held Feb 5.
Perth & District Union – 3 new members.
Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry - Almost all new member board – only 3 returning members – hope new board will work better with the different Friends of the library groups.

Belleville – Budget cut of $50,000 over amount requested.  Compounded by new collective agreement which awards increases of 4%, 3%, and 3%.  Presently open on Sunday but may need to close on Sunday for part of the year due to budget concerns.
Brockville – The City has a budget issue, so imposed a budget freeze on all city services including cost of living increases. For the library, the only discretionary budget is the book collection budget, so the board started a service review, looking at all jobs & may need to cut staff even though the staff is working to its limits. The library Board would like to have an HR person on the board as this might help.
Cornwall - The budget was passed without a problem and the library was not imposed a 2% reduction of their budget like other municipal organizations.
Fort Erie - budget approved; includes funds for roof repair, extending library hours, hiring a full time library technician.
Grimsby - 2.8% increase in budget (maintenance budget).
Marmora – due to all new council and a new CAO, as of April, budget was still in the municipal office.  Library has been asked to prepare a 10 year plan mostly around costing.
Niagara-on-the-Lake - received 4% increase.
North Grenville – The construction of the new library would require a 2.5 million loan.
Ottawa – Budget passed without any question – $30 million.
Waterloo – as part of 2007 budget process, the library established a long-term funding agreement with the City that is designed to maintain municipal support at a certain level, based on the number of households in Waterloo and the 50^th percentile of funding support of comparator communities.
New Tecumseth – received a 3% budget increase.
Essa – the library’s request for funding for additional hours was turned down by council.

Merrickville – Wolford – 150t^h anniversary.
Perth & District Union – Perth is celebrating its 175th anniversary on Wednesday, May 16th.
Waterloo – in January 2007 launched Waterloo 150 project in celebration of city’s sesquicentennial.  The project, which has been made possible with grant funding from Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation, profiles 150 people of note in the community.  A new profile is posted on the library’s website ever 3-4 days; a book of the profiles will be published in the fall. 
L.E. Shore – the library’s parking lot has bee significantly increased by the purchase of the neighboring lot; having a parking lot party on June 2nd, a way of saying thank you.

Halton Hills-circulation up by 14% and 38% over 2 years.
Marmora – last year, opened 5 days/week in summer and due to popularity will continue with extra hours.
Merrickville-Wolford – now open Monday evening.
Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry – Would like to increase readership and number of patrons.
Whitby-since opening the new central library circulation has increased 40+% in 2005, 25% in 2006.

Head Clara Maria - joined the DVD pool – only place in town for DVDs & appreciated.
St. Thomas is undergoing a collection evaluation with the assistance of SOLS.
Hanover – received a $2500 grant from Parents for French to purchase French language materials; also running a French storytime program.

Head Clara Maria – library is the hub for social events. The community agency able to organize and host events on behalf of various groups. A way of promoting the library service itself through annual May Madness Fair etc. Now working on a policy re: its involvement in community development to delimit library responsibilities.
St. Thomas is pleased that their new CEO is focusing on community outreach and is raising awareness of the library and its services.

Trustee Council # 8. A discussion took place about the possibility of libraries receiving a percentage of the development charges. Some had never heard about this. May not be a substantial amount unless the library is situated in a growing community but board members were told to check at their municipality to see if the library is listed as a potential ‘receiver’ of this money.

Augusta Twp – Last year, the roof was repainted & siding and paving redone. Next projects include replacing the rugs and create a reading area outside the library for the summer.
Barry’s Bay- New ramps for disabled projected for Barry’s Bay.
Front of Yonge - Five years ago the library moved from rented space into the newly renovated Front of Yonge Community Centre. It was entirely refitted with new shelving, the book collection was expanded and community access computers were installed at the time of the move. In the past 5 years we have used provincial grants to continue to improve service. An elevator was installed to allow barrier-free access and they're in the process of improving lighting to allow for an expansion of the shelving system. FOY, with a population of 2,444, is one of the smallest townships in the province and, as such, is dependent on continuing provincial grants to carry out expensive capital projects.
London is reorganizing the main branch at Galleria – they have created a Teen Annex, Pond Mills Branch has recently received a facelift.
Prince Edward – CEO has been able to find space where little seems to exist – and, using grants, is presently renovating the children’s area to create a cozy reading area.  However have discovered some mould in the wall, so this must be tackled first.
Renfrew has installed automatic doors.
St. Thomas is adjusting its exterior ramp in order to comply with accessibility requirements.
Whitewater Region – new ramp in one branch.
Springwater – a bequest allowed the board to improve the streetscape in front of the Elmvale branch.

Alnwick-Haldimand – Need new location for Centreton branch due to small space, low ceiling, accessibility problems, water damage.
Arnprior’s planning going ahead for expansion to a second floor.
Belleville – new library opened in May and circulation has greatly increased.  Includes an Art Gallery which has also seen increased use.
Bonnechère Valley – major library expansion underway.
Brampton – trying to renovate a building this year and has built 2 new branches.
Brant County has a new branch in Scotland. The support and use have been overwhelming. They are also planning a new branch in Burford, to be ready by Public Library week.
Bruce County – TC #3 was welcomed to the brand new Chesley Branch; the renovation and expansion of the Port Elgin branch has been greatly assisted with a Rural Infrastructure Investment Grant of $731,000, which will cover about 75% of the project costs. Clarington-planning new branch in Newcastle.
Clearview Township -  a new branch is being built in New Lowell with an approved budget of $700,000; an old school will be renovated -in assessment of the space in the Stayner branch was completed by a SOLS consultant which begins the planning for a new branch.
Essa - just completed addition to Thorton branch and planning for a new facility in Angus.
Georgian Bay Township -   received $500,000 grant from Ontario Infrastructure program to build new facility in McTier. The board is interested in construction of a green building.
Guelph – new Westminster Square Branch is experiencing unusual use patterns due to it being a commuter community (online activity – reserves/renewals – happening between 2-5:00 am); may change hours to accommodate commuters; Site selection committee for new central library making its recommendation May 8^th, new Council very supportive of new central library, sees its connection to urban renewal.
Haliburton County – is planning for new facilities in Dysart and Minden.
Hamilton-renovated a branch in Ancaster and will be building a shared facility with community health centre.
Halton Hills-have done branch renovation.
Killaloe -library moved to new quarters in same building – better use of space.
Kingston-Frontenac – in process of building a new branch for Calvin Park.  Have completed a rural branch review and the report is now with the board for priority setting.
L.E. Shore – serves an unusual community in that most of it is pretty rural, but in development areas the population is dense; also the population doubles if you factor in part-time residents; weekends are getting longer , (i.e.) Thursday to Monday; how to calculate population, let alone plan for service; have just rec’d consultant’s report, have yet to review it as a Board; grappling with larger library or 2^nd location.
Markham – planning branch in a multi-purpose wellness centre in collaboration with hospital, building addition on Markham Village.
Meaford going after a new building within the next 5 yrs; in addition to space shortage and structural problems with the building, there is a serious mold problem in the children’s library.
Merrickville-Wolford - library is in an historic building (a bequest to the Town) and the Town does not have the right to sell it. Lions Club offered to purchase the old Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association building, & then lease the space for a library, eventually turning the building over to the Town for use as a library, once the mortgage is retired. This proposal a win-win situation as it will give library more space and also keep the building in the community (because on Town land, have to move the building if the Town did not approve of the end use of the building). Approximately 800 square feet of space – requires some walls to be knocked down, new stacks and automatic doors openings. Second floor cannot be used for books because of weight but could be use for storage.
Middlesex County is going through fundraising for a new branch in West Missouri.
Milton-will build its first new branch which is scheduled to open in 2008. This initiative is part of the municipality’s master plan called DESTINY MILTON. The library is receiving $1.2M from the city.
Niagara-on-the-Lake-there is concern over the potential need for another branch.
North Grenville –new building in Kemptville would have 10,000 square feet. Chosen site would allow for parking on the river side (a flood plain).  With new main, board plans to close three of its satellite branches but extend the opening hours of the new library.
North Kawartha – discussions with school to plan combined library.
Oakville-will open a new satellite library specifically geared to children and teens. It will be open 20 hours per week and is connected to a community centre.
Orillia – library is 1/3 the size that is should be, council approved program study for new building in the downtown area.
Ottawa – In November, the Board received a report on a Facilities Growth Planning Study, which outlines the anticipated need for additional libraries in high-growth areas. OPL forecasts in the 2007-2011period, a new 30,000 square foot facility will be needed in Kanata. From 2012-2016, two new branches in South Nepean/South Gloucester and expansion of the existing Cumberland branch.
Perth & District Union Library- Board made a DVD presentation to the council for a new $8 million library of 21,000 square feet. Due to proposed location on 100-year flood-plain, need to construct a water basin for potential flooding. According to the needs assessment, the new library would serve 3 townships and a population of 18,000 people (in 2008) but the population serve by the new library is expected to rise to 25,000 by the year 2020.
Smith Ennismore Lakefield – planning a new branch in Bridgenorth.
St. Marys – with a population of 6,600 and 6,000 sq.ft library, seems like the right amount of space but that’s not the case; very cramped and service is curtailed because of space problems (a significant portion of the 6,000 sq. ft is meeting room upstairs, not the library itself); no expansion possible in current building and it’s a Carnegie; the new Board grappling with the future of libraries, especially in terms of facility .
Tay Township – Victoria Harbour Branch – new building purchased and a tender for renovation to the building is underway.
Wasaga Beach – library is too small and the board is considering an building project and fundraising for the project.
Whitby – planning expansion of Brooklin branch as part of leisure centre.
Whitchurch Stouffville – planning library expansion in 2008.
Waterloo – planning for the library’s West Waterloo District Branch Library, in partnership with the KW YMCA is progressing.  WPL and YMCA are working with Teeple Architects on the conceptual design drawings, to be reviewed by Council this spring. 

Arnprior- looking to set-up a Friends group to help with the fundraising for the library addition.
Cornwall – Fantastic group of Friends of the library. They organize a lot of activities which bring in a substantial amount of money.
Deseronto – suggested that a Friends roundtable be set up for area libraries.  Presently do not have a Friends group but would host a meeting to get things started.
Brighton – Friends group started last year and have already given funds for new large print books.
Marmora – Friends group is very supportive and has started a homework club on Wednesday evening.

Niagara-on-the-Lake- the library is looking for funding to update the website; has made a submission to RBC for $25,000 to start an after school club.
Trent Hills – looking at using funds for a new automation system – sometimes have had difficulty in separating the library funds from the municipality and who will pay for which services/programs.  Now have a Personnel and Budgeting Committee to try to work out the issues.

Burlington-4 out of 7 board members: 3 are new city appointments + 1 municipal councillor.
Wainfleet- 3 new board members.
Haldimand- all new board members.
Port Colborne- board is reviewing its policies by tackling a few at every meeting.
Middlesex County Board is using a part of their meeting to vision and plan. They are also looking at succession issues.
Ottawa - Some members are not yet at ease with the Carver governance model.
St. Thomas Board is working through the modules in the Trustee Orientation kit formally.
Trustee Council 4.  Discussed the provision of liability insurance for board members through the municipality.
Woodstock Board is looking at succession issues.
Tillsonburg is planning for a new building.
Orillia – increased board size to 10 trustees.

Augusta – A Trillium grant helped the library’s accessibility problems and paving.  P & G and Brockville Community Foundation grants allowed replacement of Gates computers.
Deseronto – Received a Trillium grant for accessibility including a new back accessible back entrance and accessibility improvements to the front entrance.
Grand Valley – applying for a grant to put geo-thermal heating system into the library.
Haldimand- received $14,400 from Service Ontario.
Havelock- Received Trillium money for new ramp, washrooms – but do have ongoing problems with vandalism of property – even the new ramp.
Marmora – received a Trillium grant to improve children’s activity area and update/renovate a multipurpose room in the same building as library which is used by seniors group but which will also now house local history materials and microfilm equipment.  Will need to use a monitoring system to supervise that area.
Port Colborne-received Trillium grant for infrastructure repair to the library. The library is rebuilding the circulation area and the library will be closed 1 week in order to complete the renovations.
Owen Sound & North Grey – got a grant from Artsvest for a poet laureate (Ministry of Culture); the poet is getting great coverage in local papers; she organizes community events, delivers poetry workshops, profiles an aspiring poet every month; poetry house parties are becoming quite popular.
Wollaston-Limerick – appreciated receiving Literacy grant money & will be definitely using this money for literacy and not to replace existing operating funding.  (Other libraries in the area have had some trouble explaining to councils that the money should be used for its intended purpose).

Augusta Twp  Added plaques with photos behind the desk to honour the ”Dreamers and Doers”,  people who contributed to the improvement of the community as well as those who have helped financially throughout the years. Currently working on list for honoring the “Pillars of Strength”.
Lambton County is offering live homework help for grades 4-12 in sciences, math, social studies and English.
London has initiated a “Quick Picks” service, where bestsellers are available on a first come, first served basis – no holds, and no renewals.
Middlesex County had good response offering elected officials the opportunity to job shadow a librarian for a day. There was a real understanding of the requirements for this job.
Niagara-on-the-Lake-introduced Knowledge Ontario databases to the Board and will be doing sessions for the public too.
Pickering–conducted a survey of non-users in June 2006.
Whitby–started email notification of holds and overdues.
Bruce County – Board considering joining Librarians without Borders, contributing to libraries in less fortunate countries 
Orillia – is considering assuming the functions of Information Orillia, the community information service.
Penetanguishene – a new born program provides library card and new book.
Orillia – partnered with Georgian College for the design of a new logo for the library.

Augusta Twp - Problems with downtime with Ripnet, so the staff started to log in the downtime every time it occurred. IT volunteer wrote a “ping” program to keep the connection active and automatically logged any additional downtimes. 
Head Clara Maria PL–new satellite high speed through connectivity grant. Great as 90% of community does not have access to high speed – Developing Internet .

Cornwall Public Library –Council has agreed to give another $100,000 to the library to repair humidity problem in the basement. Presently used to store some municipal “dead files” and books for Friends’ sale.  Investigating basement for a Regional Art Gallery but would need some renovations i.e. washroom, staff room etc.  Library always acknowledges the municipality’s generosity or its Friends initiatives by sending back a note of appreciation.

Port Colborne-asked what other libraries do about “hangers on” who may linger at the library for many hours at a time. Libraries responding agreed that they let these individuals remain in the library as long as they don’t disturb other patrons.
Orillia – Lieutenant Governor James Bartleman launched the Telling our Stories program at the Orillia Public Library.

Cut to the Chase: Library Governance At A Glance. Soon to be issued to OLBA member, a handy four page plasticized reference document. This is part of the six-part OLBA’s Leadership by Design Program, for public library boards.

   Invitation to library boards to join the OLBA, along with their OLA membership.

Haldimand - Board orientation was conducted by SOLS and went very well.

Addington Highlands – Received $25,000 to be a Service Canada location.  Two other libraries (Havelock and Madoc) have Service Canada representatives come the library once a week to help local residents with forms and information but in the Addington case, they will be trained to give information (although with less scope than the Service Canada employees).
Bruce County – the Tobermory Branch has partnered with the Tobermory National Park to host movie nights once a month at the Visitor’s Centre, with great success.
Deseronto – Library board/staff participate in local interagency group – out of that came a request for the Alzheimer Society to use the library.  Good information exchange.
Haldimand-investigating partnerships between its libraries and area schools.
Lambton County’s Petrolia Branch is a pilot for Service Canada. As well, the branches in the county system are Service Ontario outlets.
North Grenville – Now has a cooperative website to access all of CHEO’S literature – fully funded by CHEO.
Pickering – is a pilot site for Service Canada.
The libraries in Waterloo Region are partnering with the Grand River Transit system to offer “Class Pass”, free public transit to students and teachers for travel to the library for class visits.

Augusta Twp Public Library – “Paws to Read” – This is a program to encourage children to read. Kids read to dogs that lay beside them and the children love it because no one interrupts them to tell them they are not reading correctly.
Cornwall – Bernard Carrière –Excellent communicator. Bilingual. Attracts tons of people at each of his sessions. Winter session: Philosophy course:  “Le sens de la vie”. Next session in the Fall entitled : Woman in Mediaeval Times.
Hamilton-Implementing 1 city 1 book; Hamilton has the highest child poverty in the area.
Oakville- will be hosting a “Battle of the Books”.
Niagara Falls- hosting Family Literacy Event.
Lambton County holds an annual genrecon – genre authors convention. They are also offering Hindi story times, and a very broad array of programming for teens, including a GN and anime club.
Meaford - summer concert series planned again this spring.
Grand Valley – local artist painted a ‘walk through history’ mural in the library; a program this spring will launch the mural.
Leeds and 100 Islands – at 4 branches, trying to focus more on youth – programs & collections.

Arnprior and Killaloe -New CEOs at both libraries.
Belleville – Long-time CEO retired, have temporary CEO until new CEO appointed.
Brockville – See Board development.
Burlington-has implemented a new salary administration system which incorporates pay for performance. This change was initiated by the municipality.
Cornwall – Problems staffing weekends and holidays – would like to hire 2 part-time permanent staff only to work weekends and holidays – but need to sort out with union.
Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry (18 branches) – New CEO – Pam Halley – has an MLS and an MBA and comes from Queen’s University.
Huntsville – CEO is retiring, contracted with SOLS to facilitate the hiring process.
Orillia – the board will begin to plan for the succession of the CEO.

Burlington - underway and being conducted jointly with the city. Susan Wright is the consultant. It is scheduled to be completed by July. In a ranking of municipal services, the library ranked 5^th.
Ottawa – City has asked all services for strategic plans for the next four years. The Board had 1-day retreat to look at strategic planning and develop specific outcomes.  Have awarded a 10-month contract, at a cost of $264,000, to the Resource Planning Group to develop a functional building program for a new central library. RPG also did the functional plans for Vancouver, Winnipeg, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Philadelphia libraries. RPG has also been asked to develop a functional plan for the Archives.
Pickering – published service plan for 2007-2010.
Whitby – using Counting Opinions for community consultation.
Woodstock is reviewing and updating their strategic plan.

Augusta Twp – Suggest creating a “technology trustee support group”.  Mentioned that “Techsoup” sells Microsoft licensed software programs inexpensively to charitable organizations, e.g. Microsoft Office Suite for $25.00 (value $700.00). Other companies give donations (either money or equipment - computers or software) to charitable organizations.
Barry’s Bay – automated checkout (Spectrum) to be up an running by early May.
Bonnechère Union looking for a new automated system.
Brighton – finally now have high speed access in Coderington branch.
Georgian Bay Township – is providing wireless access in both branches.
Haldimand-is looking to replace its Horizon system.
Hamilton-will implement self-checkout at 3 branches with the Ancaster branch get self-return too. These services use RFID (radio frequency identification). This technology will be implemented in more limited way in other branches. The library will be keeping a close eye on how well received these new services are by the public.
Huntsville is making wireless internet available using a grant, access is limited to those with a library card.
Merrickville-Wolford – has purchased Mandarin system. Now possible to renew books remotely.
Pembroke has installed new automated system (Mandarin).
Smith Ennismore Lakefield – received a Trillium grant to migrate to Mandarin.
Whitewater had grand opening of its retrospective conversion and installation of new automated software (Stacks) in 2 out of 3 branches.
Middlesex County is participating in the Overdrive digital audio book purchases through SOLS consortium purchasing.
Woodstock is finding that the self-service option is working well, and is popular.

Fort Erie-hosted the Volunteer Fair for the community. 60 agencies were represented including the library.
North Grenville – Rob Lavery will be coming in June to train the volunteers for the upcoming capital campaign to raise $ 500,000 for the new library building.