SIGNAL online
March 3, 2010
Published by the Southern Ontario Library Service
All issues of SIGNAL
can be viewed online. However, if anyone would like to receive the
e-mail version of this newsletter, please send a message to
. You can reach the editor of SIGNAL at
or by telephone at 1-866-380-9767.
The introductory page for the Southern Ontario Library Service is
www.sols.org
. From that page, you can move to any other pages created by staff at
the Southern Ontario Library Service, as well as to links to resources
and professional information.
In this issue:
1. SOLS HOLIDAY CLOSURE
2. $15 MILLION INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES FROM THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE
3. PROJECTS WITHIN THE $15 MILLION INVESTMENT
a) Virtual Online Community Library (VOCaL)
4. SOLS DELIVERY SERVICE – Route Changes are effective Monday, March 29,
2010
5. CONSORTIUM PURCHASING AGREEMENTS (CPAs)
a) Accessibility resources
6. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
a) Rural Learning Association – deadline April 15, 2010
7. SOLS TRAINING
a) Workshops and webinars
b) Special webinars: Mobile Library
Application
c) EXCEL
8. FIRST NATIONS PUBLIC LIBRARY INITIATIVES
a) New Teleconference Networking
Opportunity for Municipal and County Libraries Interested in Serving the
First Nation Peoples in Their Communities
9. NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
a) Library Committee Meetings – March 22
To April 12, 2010
b) Trustee Council Meetings – April 17
To May 1, 2010
10. ELECTRONIC RESOURCES : CANADIAN POINT OF VIEW
11. ANNUAL SURVEY OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES
12. LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
a) AODA 2005
13. SOLS PUBLICATIONS
14. BOARD SUMMARY – February 2010
15. SOLS CEO LISTSERV
SOLS offices will be closed and the delivery routes will not operate on
Friday, April 2 and Monday, April 5, 2010. For libraries receiving delivery
only on Fridays or Mondays, special arrangements have been made. The changes
for individual routes will be posted in the
Delivery Service section
of the SOLS website.
Southern Ontario Library Service (SOLS) received $15 million from the
Ministry of Culture to be used in collaboration with Ontario Library
Service-North (OLSN) “for the purpose of supporting public libraries’
efforts to provide equitable access to a range of digital information,
community collections and services to Ontarians”. The funds have been
divided into three program components:
- Library Credits/Grant Program
- Applications Program & Education Fund
- Projects
There is a webpage within the SOLS website which has information on
various components of the
$15 million investment including library credits, project descriptions,
application forms, reimbursement forms, and forms for post-project reports.
Within the $15 million program, all libraries are eligible to participate in
the
Library Credit/Grant Program using their library credits. A library
credit is a designated amount of money for each library system which may be
used for eligible expenditures. Keep in mind that all funds within this
component of the program should be expended by December 31, 2010.
A post project report form has been added to the website and should be
completed only after you have expended all
of your library credit.
a) Virtual Online Community Library (VOCaL)
The Virtual Online Community Library
(VOCaL) is a one year pilot project of Ontario Library Service-North to
provide library services to communities that do not have a public library.
Through VOCaL users can search online subscription databases; access a
secure online chat reference service; download audio books; borrow books
from Ontario public libraries through Interlibrary Loan; and search family
history. The project is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Culture’s $15
million investment in public libraries through Southern Ontario Library
Service (SOLS) in collaboration with Ontario Library Service-North
(OLS-North). There is a website for
VOCaL which is hosted by OLS-North.
Virtual Online Community Library kiosks are now installed in their
communities and the first VOCaL patrons have registered and will be
receiving their library cards in the mail shortly. Libraries may get
interlibrary loan requests from these patrons in the near future via the
VOCL VDX account. These requests will be mediated by ILL staff in the SOLS
Toronto office. VOCL patrons can only place requests for printed
material. Non print material (tapes, CDs, DVDs etc.) are not permitted as
they cannot be shipped using the Library Book Rate. The “tips sheet” was
distributed to all INFO administrators by the INFO Help Desk but it is also
posted in the User Documentation page of the INFO section of the SOLS
website under the heading “Lenders
shipping to Virtual Online Community Library patrons”.
On Monday, March 29, 2010, the proposed route changes for the SOLS
Delivery Service will take effect. The updated routes can be found in the
Delivery Service
section of the SOLS webpage. On this page you will also find a link for
the alphabetical listing of all the SOLS libraries, with their route
designations and day by day delivery service and a link to a summary page
listing the changes for each library.
SOLS contracted with KPMG in the summer of 2009 to investigate options to
relieve cost pressures on the delivery service. An email providing
context on the study was sent to CEOs on December 15, 2009. The
final report was submitted on November 16, 2009. One of the
recommendations in the report was to adjust the
service benchmarks to
determine the number of delivery days per week a library will
receive. Effective Monday, March 29, 2010, we will be using the following
service benchmarks:
SOLS negotiates charitable/consortia purchasing agreements (CPAs) on
behalf of public libraries. CPAs are ‘economies of scale’ pricing for the
purchase or lease of a range of goods and services. More information on the
various agreements already in place is posted in the
CAP section of the SOLS website. There is
one new offer this month which might be of interest (please note that all
CPA messages are also posted to the SOLSCEO listserv and the special SOLS
CPA listserv):
a) Accessibility resources – SOLS has negotiated a new
consortia purchasing agreement for assistive technology products for Ontario
public libraries trying to achieve AODA compliance. Special Needs Computers
has been chosen as our vendor of record for adaptive technology products.
Libraries that spend over $200 with Special Needs Computers are eligible to
receive a 10% discount. Further information on this CPA with
Special Needs
Computers is posted on the SOLS website.
Assistive technology products are eligible for use under the Library Credits
part of the $15 million investment in Ontario Public Libraries program.
Further information on the
Library Credit program is posted on the SOLS website.
For further information on CPAs, please contact Brenda Lewis at 416-961-1669
or 1-800-387-5765, extension 5130 or by e-mail to
.
a) Rural Learning Association – deadline April 15,
2010
The Rural Learning Association is
pleased to announce the resumption of its funding program for rural Ontario
libraries. The Sarah Badgley Literacy Fund for Rural Ontario Children will
provide grants of up to $500 for Ontario libraries' children's programs for
2010. It is anticipated that at least three grants will be made this year,
and possibly more, subject to the availability of funds. The initial
applications are due by 15 April. For additional information, please consult
the RLA's website, or contact
Kerry Badgley at 613-258-1395 (e-mail kerry.badgley@inspection.gc.ca).
a) Workshops and webinars
The first
SOLS Training Bulletin was e-mailed to
library staff on January 11, 2010. A copy of the SOLS Training Bulletin was
also be posted on “Workshops and Webinars”
page within the Training section of the SOLS website. The second
SOLS Training Bulletin will be published during the week of March 8th and
will be distributed to library CEOs, branch managers and those who have
attended sessions.
b) Special webinars: Mobile Library
Application
Are you interested in a “mobile app” for your library? I have been
approached by a mobile solutions provider for libraries who would like to
demonstrate what this product has to offer libraries. You can see their
application at work for Santa Clara PL on various handheld
platforms at:
(It also runs on iPod touch, Windows Mobile, Palm, and
Symbian devices.)
Such an application extends access of your library’s resources to those
who use mobile devices to access information on the Internet. The mobile app
makes it possible for users of devices like the iPhone and the Blackberry to
more easily view your website and OPAC. SOLS will be holding three
introductory webinars in March and April from a company called
Boopsie, a mobile solutions provider
for libraries. They have already been selected by OCLC and Califa, a library
consortium in California, as their vendor of choice in this arena. “We
have reduced a complex development and maintenance effort with man-years of
resource requirements into a world-class, industry-leading solution that
launches in a matter of weeks across all major devices (not just the iPhone!).
The implementation process is straightforward and requires only a couple of
days worth of library resources. We take care of all hosting and platform
expansion. Note also that ours is a next generation native app solution with
a client/server architecture and not simply an older browser-based
solution.”
If you are interested in such a product, you can sign up for one of the
webinars being offered on:
Wednesday March 24: 2:00 - 3:00
Thursday, April 8: 3:00 - 4:00
Tuesday April 12: 10:00 - 11:00
Just go to the Workshops and Webinars page of the SOLS website after March 8th to
register.
c) EXCEL
With respect to EXCEL, please note that the registration for the Summer
semester will be open on Monday, March 22, 2010. After that date, the
registration form will be posted in the EXCEL
section of the SOLS website.
This summer, in English, we will be offering the following
courses:
#1 – Introduction to Public Libraries (M) – new edition
#6 – Basic Collection Development (M)
#9 – Collection Development for Adults and Special Groups
#19 – Readers' Advisory Service
This summer, in French, we plan to offer:
1. – Introduction aux bibliothèques publiques (O)
2. – Principes d'administration d'une bibliothèque (2009) (O)
17. – Ressources électroniques d'information (O)
Courses marked as M or O are mandatory for those wishing to complete an
EXCEL certificate. Bilingual students are welcome to take courses in either
French or English, and to switch back and forth to take courses in either
language.
Submitted by Patty Lawlor, SOLS First Nations consultant
New Teleconference Networking Opportunity for Municipal and
County Libraries Interested in Serving the First Nation Peoples in Their
Communities
In response to interest, SOLS will offer municipal and county libraries
committed to serving the First Nation people in their communities a
teleconference-based networking opportunity for staff.
The goal of the new networking opportunity is to support libraries in their
efforts to increase public library relevance to, and public library usage
by, First Nation peoples living off reserve. The initiative will establish a
support group for library staff who plan and deliver in-library and/or
outreach services to the First Nation peoples in their communities.
Libraries are welcome to have as many staff members participate as wish to.
This initiative will contribute to:
- increasing awareness and understanding of First Nation cultures;
- sharing information about resources, programs, and opportunities;
- celebrating successes;
- discussing challenges;
- brainstorming solutions.
This opportunity may also interest municipal and county libraries with
neighbouring First Nation communities.
SOLS plans to launch the first teleconference the week of March 8th
and will contact interested parties with the date, time, and teleconference
call-in information. If you are interested in participating, please contact
Patty Lawlor (
), First Nations consultant, by
Friday, March 5.
a) Library Committee Meetings – March 22 to April
12, 2010
Library Committee meetings are held three times a year in seven locations.
The meeting is usually a half day and is combined with a half day Clinic
training event. CEOs and senior staff of libraries have an opportunity to
meet and discuss common issues, and receive updates and news from SOLS
staff. The next meetings will be held as follows:
- Tri-County area – Monday, March 29, 2010, Trent Hills Public Library
- Campbellford Branch
- Prescott-Russell Comité des services en français – le lundi 22 mars
2010, Bibliothèque publique de Alfred-Plantagenet – Lefaivre
- Leeds & Grenville area – Wednesday, April 7, 2010, Rideau Lakes
Public Library - Newboro Branch
- Simcoe/Muskoka area – Thursday, April 8, 2010, Collingwood Public
Library
- Renfrew area – Thursday, March 25, 2010, Greater Madawaska Library (Calabogie)
- Peterborough area – Monday, March 22, 2010, Douro-Dummer Public
Library
- Saugeen area – Monday, April 12, 2010, Shelburne Library
Registration information will be posted in the
Networking and meetings
section of the SOLS website.
b) Trustee Council Meetings - April 17 to May 1, 2010
Trustee Councils meet twice a year in eight areas. The meeting is about
three hours long and provides an opportunity for library trustees to discuss
governance issues and receive updates and news from SOLS, OLBA and
occasionally FOPL. While all trustees are welcome to attend, public library
boards may designate a representative who will receive a print mailing of
the agenda. Further information and maps to each location are posted in the
Trustee
Council section of the SOLS website. The next meetings will be
held as follows:
- Saturday, April 17, 2010 from 10 am to 1 pm, Huntsville Public
Library - Trustee Council 4 (new date)
- Saturday, April 17, 2010 from 10 am to 1 pm, Ottawa Public Library,
Greenboro Branch - Trustee Council 8
- Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10 am to 1 pm, Middlesex County
Library, Branch TBA - Trustee Council 1
- Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10 am to 1 pm, Milton Public Library,
Beaty Branch- Trustee Council 2
- Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10 am to 1 pm, Belleville Public
Library - Trustee Council 6
- Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 10 am to 1 pm, Renfrew Public Library
- Trustee Council 7
- Monday, April 26, 2010 from 6 pm to 9 pm, Hanover Public Library -
Trustee Council 3
- Saturday, May 1, 2010 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, Ajax Public Library,
McLean Branch - Trustee Council 5
SOLS/OLS-N and Knowledge Ontario have made a number of electronic
resources available to public libraries through funding from the Ministry of
Culture. Resources provided through Knowledge Ontario are available through
to December 31, 2010 and those from SOLS/OLS-N continue into 2011. As a
result, all public libraries in Ontario have access to the following
electronic resources. Please take a few minutes to check your website to
ensure that all electronic products available to your library are linked.
For those products licensed through Knowledge Ontario, registration
instructions are posted on the
KO website .
At the same time, also ensure that staff are familiar with these resources,
and where possible, register for upcoming SOLS webinars or vendor training
sessions.
In this issue of Signal, we will highlight the Canadian Points of
View database which is available for FREE to all public libraries.
Canadian Points of View Reference Centre is a full text database
for use in public and school libraries in Canada. Content in the database is
designed to provide students and schools with a series of controversial
essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. Essays provide
questions and materials for further thought and study and are accompanied by
thousands of supporting articles from the world's top political and societal
publications. The product has a deliberate Canadian focus that highlights
the issues in the country of Canada.
Sources for this database are varied, and include magazines and newspapers,
both international and national, TV and radio transcripts and reference
books. The unique portion of this particular database is the essays compiled
on topics of interest to or impacting on Canadians. These are found by
searching for a topic, and looking under the “Points of View” tab in the
search results.
The database has many search options, with help available within each
screen. Essays and tips on writing good essays, evaluating materials, and
research and presentation are included. As with most databases, there is
assistance with citations, and you can select from a variety of citation
standards.
The Programs and Services Branch of the Ministry of Culture maintains
statistics on public libraries in Ontario. These
statistics are compiled using data from the Annual Survey of
Public Libraries. In the next few weeks, each library system
will receive a letter from the Ministry with details about this year’s
deadline date and providing a unique password so that the Annual Survey can
be completed electronically. The
form posted on the Ministry website should
only be used as a guide to see which pieces of information are required, and
as a way to collect the required
Typical Week data (which should have been completed in November 2009).
For those looking for electronic resources statistics for the
Annual Survey, the following is information that has been
collated by Resource Ontario:
C 1.3.1 - Answer: 31 English Language databases, not
including the ebooks.
Explanation: This represents the number of individual database titles for
all the databases licensed by KO, not including the Gale Virtual Reference
Library of ebooks. Because the Eureka.cc database is only one title but
contains both English and French periodicals I have not separated it out as
French Language.
C 2.3.3 - Answer: 1 copy of each of 31 databases and 36
ebooks
Explanation: Each library is provided with 1 copy of each database title and
ebook title which can then be accessed by an infinite number of simultaneous
users.
C 2.3.4 - Answer: 67 titles
Explanation: There are a total of 31 database titles plus 36 ebook titles.
C 3.2.1 - Answer: 27 titles
Explanation: Of the 31 database titles, four do not contain periodical
access; Career Cruising, Auto Repair Reference Center, Canadian Points of
View and Teen Health & Wellness.
C 3.2.4 - Answer: 18,460 English Language, 23 French
Language
Explanation: The Gale collection of 26 databases contains the bulk of the
individual periodical titles, primarily in English. The Eureka.cc
database accounts for 11 of the French Language titles, and Gale accounts
for 12.
In addition, for those products licensed for public libraries by SOLS, here
is further data for the Annual Survey.
For Ancestry Library Edition, over 4,000 databases are
included in the product.
For those of you participating in the OverDrive Collection,
it currently includes 2,924 eAudiobook titles.
For those participating in NetLibrary, the following is the number of titles
in the NetLibrary collections. The number to be entered
depends on when the library joined the program, e.g. COOL I, COOL II, etc.:
| Collection |
eAudiobooks |
Number of eBooks in Collection |
| COOL |
|
4859 |
|
COOL II |
|
2388 |
|
COOL III |
|
232 |
| COOL IV |
761 |
23 |
| COOL V |
1189 |
292 |
| COOL VI |
767 |
206 |
a) AODA 2005
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005
has been in place for almost four years now, and yet there is still
plenty of confusion around the requirements and related regulations. It is
important to know that there are five areas in which mandatory accessibility
standards will be created – customer service, information and communication,
employment, built environment, transportation.
Standards explain an accepted way of doing something. They state the
requirements that must be met, who has to meet them, and by when. The legal
requirement for accessibility falls under the AODA 2005 which is the
responsibility of the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services and
the government has created a website called Access ON to cover the topic of
Accessibility including understanding disabilities, barriers, and Ontario’s
disability laws. In late 2009, the
AccessON
website was redesigned and moved, so you may have to change any bookmarks
you have.
The Ministry of Community and Social Services has created a number of tools
and training resources to help with compliance on the customer service
standard. While these documents are described within other sections, they
have been collected on one page called “Tools
to help you comply”. At this page, you will find copies of electronic
publications such as:
- Guide to the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service,
Ontario Regulation 429/07,
- Compliance Manual: Accessibility Standards for Customer Service,
Ontario Regulation 429/07,
- Accessibility Standards for Customer Service: Summary of
Requirements
- Training Resource: Accessibility Standards for Customer Service,
Ontario Regulation 429/07
- Serve-Ability: Transforming Ontario's Customer Service
- Frequently asked questions about complying with the customer
service standard
- QQuestions and answers for municipalities
From time to time, SOLS produces publications for use by public library
staff and board members.
In 2009, SOLS published the first part of the
Trillium Public Library: Sample Policies as a tool to help
CEOs, staff and boards with policy development work. This publication,
posted on the SOLS website within the Library Development Guide series as
both a pdf and a
Word file, included sample foundation policies, board by-laws,
governance policies and seven different operational policies.
This month, we have published
part 2 of Trillium Public Library:
Sample Policies which adds an additional ten policies.
Seven of the new policies are operational policies and three cover topics
related to volunteers. These new policies are also available on the
SOLS website in pdf form
and like the first publication the individual policies are also available in
Word format .
These sample policies are not intended to be a replacement for informed
discussion on policies but rather a starting place for identifying the
various issues that need to be addressed when writing a policy.
Assurance of Funding – Ministry Business Plan Submission
SOLS has submitted its 2010/11 business plan to the Ministry of Tourism
and Culture. Business planning is an annual process that involves discussion
with Ministry staff on SOLS’ plans, briefing of the Minister and ultimately
ministerial approval. As always, the plan is based on flatlined grants
which, coupled with inflation, places considerable pressure on SOLS to
maintain core programs. All told, by 2011/12 we will have an operating
deficit of just under $190,000 which is forecast to escalate to $1.16
million 2014/15. To address this anticipated shortfall and stabilize our
core services, we submitted a separate business case for an increase to our
base operating grant of approximately $300,000 beginning in 2011/12. This
business case also addresses pressing library needs in order to provide
equitable access to library services and to electronic resources. SOLS is
seeking an additional increase of $500,000 to address those needs.
Assurance of Funding – MPP Visits
At the June meeting the Board developed a plan for visiting all MPPs in
SOLS’ service area and nine visits were completed over the summer. At the
October meeting, the Board agreed to target visits with MPPs who are members
of the Standing Committee on Estimates or the Standing Committee on Finance
and Economic Affairs and to participate in the Government’s Pre-Budget
Consultations. At this meeting, they also identified Parliamentary
Assistants in key financial ministries, opposition critics and other key
MPPs.
The focus of the visits remains the issue of longstanding flatlined
operating budgets. Flatlining, coupled with inflation, erodes SOLS’ budget
by 3% each year resulting in cuts to services. We have lost ten positions
over the last five years and are already down to core business. Without a
base increase, we will have no option in 2011/12 but to cut core services
again and/or introduce new user fees (such as for delivery). At the
Pre-Budget Consultation and with the pending visits, we are asking for a
base increase using the specific figures identified in 2010/11 business plan
and business case.
Assurance of Funding – Other Target Groups
The Board also considered whether there are other influential people or
groups that it should target with the message about SOLS’ financial
situation. The Board agreed to visit the five members of AMO’s Executive
Committee. Further discussion of possible target groups and strategies is
scheduled for the June Board meeting at which time we should know our budget
for the 2010/11 fiscal year.
Linkage Development – OSUM (Ontario Small Urban Municipalities)
Conference
SOLS will be participating in the trade show at the OSUM conference to be
held in Stratford in May. As with the AMO conference, the purpose of our
participation is to raise the profile of SOLS with municipal decision-makers
and the MPPs who attend the conference. This will be the third year that we
have had a booth at OSUM. As with MPPs and AMO, the focus of our message
this year will be the impact of longstanding flatlined operating budgets and
the need for a base increase in 2011/12 to stabilize our core services.
Linkage Development – Trustee Councils
At the fall Trustee Council meetings, the Board presented SOLS’ financial
situation and provided a one page summary for Council members to use with
their own boards and their local MPPs. At the February meeting, the Board
agreed to continue the messaging on SOLS’ financial situation and provide a
summary targeting other groups, such as municipal councilors, for trustees
to use locally (document follows the summary).
Election at Trustee Council 2
An election will be held at the Trustee Council 2 meeting this spring to
fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Sandy French from Halton Hills.
Election information will be distributed with the TC2 agenda.
Invitation to the Minister of Tourism and Culture to Meet with SOLS
Board
The Board was very pleased to meet with the Minister of Culture at its
February 2009 meeting. With the appointment of a new Minister and in
accordance with our Memorandum of Understanding which says that “The
Minister is responsible for meeting with the Board annually”, we have sent a
welcome letter to Minister Chan and invited him to attend the June 2010
Board meeting.
Operations Plan Update
An
update on SOLS’ services is available in the "About SOLS" section of
the SOLS website.
Next Board Meeting
The next meeting of SOLS’ Board is scheduled for Friday, June 11 and
Saturday, June 12, 2010 at SOLS’ office in Toronto.
Role and Challenges
Ontario public libraries are created by municipal by-law and governed by
boards appointed by municipal council. SOLS is established at the provincial
level by Minister’s Order as a special library service board. Our services
are provided to the 192 library systems in southern Ontario with some
services available province-wide. SOLS’ overriding consideration is that the
people of Ontario will have equitable access to library services.
Supporting Government Priorities
Libraries support the Government’s priorities in several ways. Here are a
few examples.
Education
- Libraries serve young children. The library is where they first
learn to read - which is the basis of their future literacy skills and
educational achievement.
- Libraries serve students. The public library is where they go (in
person or online) after school and on weekends to study and access
resources.
Economy
- Libraries assist job seekers. They use the library to upgrade
skills, search for suitable jobs, prepare resumes and apply for jobs.
- Libraries support businesses, especially small businesses, which
rely on libraries to access information that they can’t afford to buy on
their own.
Vibrant Communities
- Libraries are community hubs. Newcomers, youth at risk, seniors and
others connect to each other and to the resources that they need at the
library.
SOLS’ Services
SOLS assists these libraries by:
- Expanding the materials and resources libraries make available to
their communities. Through our interlibrary loan service, libraries
borrow over 226,000 items annually from other libraries. This figure
grows about 5% every year. Interlibrary loan ensures that Ontarians have
access to information even if their own library does not own it.
- Supporting equitable access to electronic resources. Through grants
from the Ministry of Culture, all Ontarians have free access to
commercial databases through their libraries. SOLS’ services bridge the
gap between the availability of the licenses and the public libraries’
awareness of and ability to use them. SOLS provides training sessions
and is launching a website called Compass to support use and marketing
of the products.
- Helping libraries meet basic standards for library services. We know
that about half of our client libraries are unable to meet basic
standards for library service. These libraries are mostly small
libraries under 30,000 population and First Nations libraries. SOLS
assists individual libraries with policy development, planning, and
training.
- Developing the basic library skills of library staff and supporting
their continuing education. SOLS provides distance education
opportunities to ensure that all Ontarians have access to skilled, well
informed, and up-to-date staff in their communities.
- Delivering initiatives of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture such
as a) the Internet Connectivity grant through which 216 libraries
throughout the province receive high speed connectivity, b) the First
Nations Consulting services which targets the specific needs of First
Nations libraries and c) the $15million investment in public libraries.
- Organizing economies of scale purchases of goods and services for
collections including large print, talking books, ebooks, audiobooks and
databases.
Challenges
Over the last ten years, SOLS has experienced either flatlined budgets or
cuts to our operating grant. As a result of the budget cut in 2005/06, our
operating grant dropped 17% to $2,755,905 where it still is today. The
annual impact of inflation and rising costs for SOLS is currently $60,000.
At $2.5 million, SOLS’ expenditures for salaries and benefits represent 91%
of our operating grant. As a result, any strategy to mitigate the impact of
flatlined grants coupled with inflation, must involve reductions to staff
and reductions in our core services.
Over the last ten years total FTEs (full time equivalents) has dwindled by
28% (from 47.20 to 33.98). Our consulting support for small libraries has
been particularly hard hit – dropping over 52% in five years from 14.5 FTEs
in 2004/05 to 7 FTEs in 2009/10). In addition, SOLS receives a special grant
from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to support First Nation public
libraries. The grant is currently set at $106,501 per year which will cover
the expenses of the program in 2009/10 but will fall short after that.
All told, by 2011/12 we will have an operating deficit of $189,453 which is
forecast to escalate to $1,160,460 by 2014/15. To address this anticipated
shortfall and stabilize our core services, we will need an increase to our
base operating grant of approximately $300,000 beginning in 2011/12.
We would like to go beyond that though. At the same time as we have been
losing positions, small and First Nations libraries are unable to meet basic
standards for library service and face new demands for providing electronic
resources. To assist libraries to meet these challenges and ensure equitable
access to library services for all Ontarians, SOLS proposes to restore
consulting capacity, focusing on needs such as French language services and
IT support, and to expand training opportunities in basic library skills,
supervision, and electronic resources. To do so, we estimate needing five
additional FTEs. Using $100,000 as the annual cost per position (includes
salary, benefits and overhead), we would need a further increase to our base
operating grant of $500,000.
In conclusion, we ask that the Ministry of Tourism and Culture recognize the
difficulty of maintaining services within flatlined operating allocations
over such an extended period and add $300,000 to our base operating grant to
stabilize our core programs. To address pressing library needs, we are
seeking an additional increase of $500,000 for a
total increase in our base operating grant of $800,000.
SOLS maintains a list of all the e-mail addresses for SOLS CEOs. Several
times through the month, you will receive messages from SOLS. This month,
these messages were distributed through the SOLSCEO list:
- On February 4th, Sue
Walls sent a message regarding the changes to SOLS’ delivery service to
take effect on March 29, 2010. More information is included in this
issue of Signal.
- On February 10th,
Barbara Franchetto sent a message regarding the information on
Electronic information which will be needed to complete the 2009 Annual
Survey. More information is included in this issue of Signal.
- On February 10th,
Brenda Lewis sent a reminder message about a webinar on February 12th,
2010 regarding the Ontario Public library’s Master Agreement launch.
This new Academic Select contract signed by Southern Ontario Library
Service on behalf of SOLS and OLS-N will allow all Ontario’s Public
libraries to benefit from advantageous pricing. While the date has
passed, the pricing remains and more information is posted in the
CPA section
of the website.
- On February 12th,
Barbara Franchetto sent a message regarding a new webinar series run by
staff at OLS-North on
Community
Development. More information is posted on the OLS-North website.
- On February 26th,
Brenda Lewis sent a message regarding the new CPA for Assistance
Technology Products. More information on this CPA is included earlier in
this edition of Signal.
- On March 2nd, Barbara
Franchetto sent a forwarded message on behalf of the Ministry of Health
regarding an upcoming mailing to all libraries in Ontario for Colorectal
Cancer Awareness Month. Each library will receive Colon Cancer Check
Brochures, Posters and Bookmarks with information designed to promote
screening for colorectal cancers.
If you did not receive these messages, and would like further
information, please contact the SOLS HelpDesk at 1-800-387-5765, extension
4, or by e-mail to
.
