British Columbia

Public Library Services Branch
Ministry of Community,
Aboriginal and Women's Services
Annual Report
Provincial and Territorial Library Directors Council (PTLDC) 2005

PTLDC Annual Reports Index

Mandate

The mission of the Public Library Services Branch is to support public libraries in improving and promoting public library service and to advise the government respecting public library policy and legislation for the benefit of all British Columbians. There are 70 public library boards in British Columbia.

The Branch:

• provides financial and other support programs for public libraries;
• administers library legislation and provides advice to library boards and staff;
• assists libraries in implementing new technologies;
• facilitates cooperation and resource sharing among all types of libraries;
• works on behalf of public libraries with government and the private sector; and
• provides leadership at a national and provincial level on issues that affect public libraries.

Legislation

The provincial government has jurisdictional responsibility for public libraries. The Library Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 264, authorizes the establishment and operation of public libraries and their management by library boards. The Library Act provides for four types of public libraries: municipal libraries, regional library districts, public library associations and integrated public library systems.

Under the Act, public library collections must be accessible on site without charge and every library board must allow residents and electors of the area served by the library board to borrow library materials free of charge.

Structure

The Branch, one of six branches/divisions in the Local Government Department of the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services, has offices in Victoria and Vancouver, with seven staff positions in Victoria and four in Vancouver.

British Columbia's public library system, comprised of 70 library boards, has 235 service outlets and employs over 2,023 full and part-time staff, of which nearly 450 are professional librarians. Circulation of library materials for home use is over 50 million items annually and library collections now exceed 13 million volumes.

Finances/Grants

Annual Operating Grants
All public libraries established by authority of the Library Act are eligible for provincial per capita operating grants. Support is conditional on compliance with the terms of the Act. Funding may be withheld or reduced if the amount allocated exceeds local support. Annual operating grants must be used to purchase library materials or to defray general operating expenses. Per capita operating grants totalled $9.33 million in FY2004/05 for an overall increase of about $400,000 from last year.

Per capita grant rates range from $2.00 to $4.10 per capita, with higher rates paid to libraries serving smaller communities and regional libraries serving rural areas. Per capita grants are calculated based on the most recent annual population estimates published by BC Stats and the most recent available Federal census data.

Other Grants and Contributions
Other grants and contributions of approximately $1 million in total include

• $413,000 subsidy of reciprocal borrowing among 17 library boards serving over 2.4 million residents in the Lower Mainland;
• $300,000 to public libraries for interlibrary lending;
• $168,000 co-funding, in partnership with the British Columbia Library Association and the Electronic Library Network, of OutLook Online, an electronic "union" catalogue that contains records for materials found in all British Columbia public and academic libraries;
• $30,000 writers-in-libraries and $10,000 secondment training grants; and
• $70,000 operating and other special grants to provincial library organizations.

Activities - Network And Automation

• During the summer, ISO interlibrary loan was implemented allowing BC libraries to place and manage interlibrary loan requests to two major BC universities and the Library and Archives Canada and CISTI using the OutLook Online AGent portal.
• During the fall and spring, staff delivered several distance-training sessions to public library staff throughout BC on BC legislation using the QP LegalEze database and EbscoHost.
• PLSB has two small or one large mobile Gates lab available to libraries. In the past year, libraries have borrowed both the one lab with six computers and one server as well as, all the computers to make one large lab with 12 computers.

Activities - Other Developments

Strategic Plan
In November 2004, a strategic plan for public libraries was announced.

Libraries Without Walls: The World Within Your Reach is a vision for public libraries in British Columbia. $12 million of added funding, starting April 1, 2005, over three years for public libraries, which will bring broadband Internet into every branch, provide a 24-hour virtual reference desk and set up a one-card system to give every British Columbian access to books from any library in the province. This plan is the result of 18 months of intense consultation with the library and municipal communities. It outlines clear directions for service development over the next three years and it reflects a commitment to strengthening library services across all of British Columbia. The report is available at www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pls/

Some of the initiatives in the strategic plan build on existing programs and others are new. The four key areas are:

1. Facilitate Equitable Access to Information

• Extend Broadband Access
• Establish an Information Gateway
• Implement a One Card Library System
• Provide Electronic Access to Basic Information
• Extend Internet-Based Reference Services
• Train Library Staff to Use Electronic Resources
• Market and Promote Library Services

2. Collaboration and Partnerships

• Encourage Library Federations
• Enhance Public Libraries' Ability to Provide Government Information
• Support Partnerships between Multi-type Libraries
• Explore Partnerships with Private Sector and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
• Explore Partnerships with Other Jurisdictions
• Include Library Priorities in Negotiations

3. Governance Reform

• Review Legislation
• Create Meaningful Performance Measurement Indicators

4. Targeted Grant Program

• Technology Grants
• Equity Grants

Annual Statistics
In late 2004, PLSB commissioned a contractor to review and evaluate the public library annual statistics being collected and to determine if their usefulness could be improved. ABCPLD Sub-committee on Statistics served in an advisory capacity on this project. The annual statistical are available at this address: www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pls/

The study, Public Libraries Annual Statistics Review: Report with Recommendations by Ron Clancy, Library Consulting Services was completed in March 2005. Thirty-seven (37) recommendations were identified as part of this report and includes an executive summary. The branch, in consultation with the ABCPLD Sub-committee on Statistics, will develop an implementation strategy related to the recommendations during 2005.

Issues

• Implementing the strategic plan initiatives are the priority issue.

Links of Interest

BC Public Library Services Branch website at
www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pls/

British Columbia Library Association
www.bcla.bc.ca/

British Columbia Trustees Associaton
www.bclta.org/index.html

By Maureen Woods, Director
Public Library Services Branch
June 13, 2005

PTLDC Annual Reports Index