Southern Ontario Library Service

EXCEL Program

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EXCEL: A certificate programme in
managing a small public library

E1-Introduction to Pubic Libraries

Final examination

This is a “take home” examination. It does not require the presence of an exam supervisor. You may spend as much time as you wish to complete the examination and you may consult whatever resources you choose. The exam must be returned to your tutor no later than seven days after you receive the examination. If you have any questions regarding the exam, contact your tutor immediately.

Be certain to keep a copy of your examination when you submit the original. Remember to put your name on all pages. There are two (2) questions in this examination. Your answers should be one to two pages in length.

QUESTION 1- COOPERATION WITH OTHER LIBRARIES

The municipal funding for your public libraries has been cut by 20% for the next fiscal year. What can you do to stretch your budget for the next year?

In one approach, a small library with limited or reduced resources can often cooperate with other libraries to everyone’s advantage. Reciprocal borrowing, where patrons of one library can use the collection of all the other libraries, is one possibility for cooperation. Another suggestion is to use the ‘pool’ collections. This cooperation could extend to school libraries, libraries in other organizations, neighbouring public libraries and perhaps other areas that are unique to your community, such as those identified in Assignment 6.

In answering this question, you must:

Think of ways that your library could take advantage of cooperation, and perhaps save money.
Compile a list of your suggestions for cooperation.
Under each suggestion include a short paragraph explaining your rationale for the suggestion.

Note: If you work in a county library system, you can either create a list of new suggestions for cooperation or you can make a list of ways the county library branches already cooperate.

QUESTION 2 - ROLE OF THE LIBRARY

In this course, we have examined the public library from a number of angles. You now have an overview of many areas such as the purpose of a public library, library governance, how a library’s collection is organized and how the library can offer services to the public.

Each public library in Ontario is different. Each serves its community in a different way. Given all of the information you studied, you must now write a one-page written description of the role of your library in your own community. The reason for this description is that a citizen in your community has complained about his taxes being spent on the public library. He has criticized the library (and other municipal services) for years but this time has asked for his complaint to be taken seriously. Your description will be used as part of a response to this taxpayer from the municipal council. You need to explain to him about the value of the library to the community and what it can offer to taxpayers in terms of roles (for example preschoolers' door to learning).

In your one-page description, you need to include information from the course, in particular, any information gathered for the course activities. It should be directed at the citizens of the community but will be submitted to the municipal council.