Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries

Annual Report
Provincial and Territorial Library Directors Council (PTLDC)
2003 - 2004

PTLDC Annual Reports Index

Mandate

The Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries (NLPL) is a provincial library system operated by the Provincial Information and Library Resources Board (Provincial Board). The Provincial Board is mandated to:

1. establish and operate public libraries throughout the province,
2. provide a provincial reference and resource library,
3. operate a centralized technical services division,
4. provide library services to communities without libraries through a books-by-mail service and,
5. coordinate centralized administrative services from its provincial headquarters.

Legislative

Structure

Provincial Board
(NLPL) is run by a Provincial Board comprised of representatives and alternates of the regional library boards and appointees of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. The Provincial Board has not less than 10 and not more than 15 members which include:

(a) a representative from each regional library board, appointed by that board;

(b) the chairperson of the St. John's Library Board, appointed by that board and;

(c) up to six other members, appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

Regional Library Boards
There are four regional library boards in the Province. These boards represent the geographic regions and include: West Newfoundland/ Labrador; Central; Eastern and; St. John=s. The chair of each local library board is a member of a regional board, except St. John=s which is considered a regional board. The regional boards have between 12 and 33 members. These boards advise and assist the Provincial Board.

Local Library Boards
(NLPL) currently operates 96 public libraries across the Province. Each local library is operated by a local library board consisting of 5-9 members with the exception of the three libraries in St. John=s which operate under the St. John=s Board. Each local board is accountable to the regional and provincial boards and advises and assists these boards, in accordance with approved policies and procedures, in the development and maintenance of public library services in their respective communities.

Grants/finances

The majority of funding is provided in the form of an operating grant from the Provincial Government. In additional to this grant, municipalities contribute to the operation of their local libraries through small operating grants or in kind contributions. Other sources of funding include those generated from fund-raising initiatives, fees for services, fines and external grants. Since 2001, after lobbying by the Provincial Board each year, the Provincial Government gave (NLPL) an additional $ 1,000,000 for library materials. This funding was provided on an annual basis and was not part of our base budget. In 2004-2005, the funding was added to the base budget.

Programs and services

(NLPL) provides the following services, some of which are not available in all sites:

• business directories, encyclopedias, dictionaries, telephone directories, university calendars, periodical indexes, newspapers from major Canadian cities, newspapers from London and New York, magazines on a wide variety of topics, vertical files, television schematics and federal government documents including all Statistics Canada print material;
• a collection of fiction, non-fiction, paperbacks, talking books, large print books and a collection of literacy related materials;
• a large collection of Newfoundland books and materials;
• in addition to its own video and DVD collections, the Provincial Board also manages and distributes both National Film Board videos in the province and the Educational Video Collection which supports K-12;
• a collection of audio cassettes and compact discs;
• a variety of other programs including; Home Reader Service, Story times for Preschoolers, the After-school Club, Science in the Library, Public Libraries' Family Literacy, Writer-in-the-Library, author readings, a summer reading program, special holiday and seasonal events;
• research, reference and genealogical services;
• computer and Internet access;
• computer, Internet and other training programs as demand dictates and;
• digital cameras, laptop computers and other equipment available for loan.

Activities

As an organization we experienced another busy and productive year. Other than our circulation statistics we experienced growth in all areas. Our reduction in circulation is indicative of the out migration of the people of the province.

Circulation (3.12 % decrease)
Computer Usage (10.35% increase)
Reference Questions (.8% increase)
Interlibrary Loans Borrowed (5.95% increase)
Interlibrary Loans Loaned (14.68% increase)

Other key activities undertaken during the year included:

• lobbying for and receiving an additional $ 1,000,000 for library materials which was added to our annual base budget;
• completion of a strategic plan and commencement of work on the goals and objectives;
• completion of an operational plan and commencement of work on the goals and objectives;
• establishment of an IT help desk;
• staff Training for various computer programs;
• continuation of the expansion of our automated circulation system;
• installation of new web mail, new website and upgrades of IT system to address security issues;
• development of a Strike Manual for Organization in preparation of impending strike;
• three libraries relocated to newly renovated, larger and modernized locations;
• continuation of our library revitalization program to upgrade selected libraries and;
• implementation of a staff and volunteer recognition program.

Special projects / partnerships

• With funding assistance from the National Literacy Secretariat and support from the Literacy Development Council we began work on a Provincial Literacy Clearing House. This project will see the consolidation, cataloguing and distribution of literacy materials through our provincial public library system.
• We completed two digital collection projects: The Royal St. John=s Regatta and the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.
• We received an Industry Canada best practices award for use of emerging technology to provide training to remote areas through use of the Gates training labs and a wireless radio technology of the Burgeo Broadcasting Corporation.
• We completed the Public Training Pilot Project. During the past two and one half years, in partnership with Industry Canada, CAP, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation we have been providing public computer training from library sites. Over the life of the pilot there were in excess of 1800 classroom hours which resulted in 500 training sessions and more than 2000 people trained. This service has been very popular and while funding has expired we are seeking additional funding sources to continue with this worthwhile project.

New and forthcoming initiatives

• Network Upgrade for Regional Offices - Several of our network file servers and associated operating systems are aging and will require replacement in the next several months. This will have a positive effect on both performance and system security.
• Library Management System - The current Library Management System (Dynix) is well beyond its useful life. It has also been expanded to its limit. If funds permit, the Dynix system will be upgraded in this fiscal year.
• Helpdesk - Building on the success of the past fiscal year, the helpdesk system will continue to be used and expanded for maximum benefit to the (NLPL). A significant challenge for the current fiscal year is maintaining the helpdesk attendant. Funding for this position will be depleted by the end of the summer and acquiring additional funding for this function is now a priority.
• Security and Redundancy - Additional work will be carried out on (NLPL)=s central systems to introduce a higher level of redundancy which will guard against operational disruption due to system failure. Additional security measures will also be implemented to help prevent destruction of systems and data through malicious attacks.
• Literacy Clearing House - This initiative will be completed, our website will be updated to provide appropriate links and materials will be circulated through our interlibrary loans.

Issues

Our major issues include:

1. With funding levels at approximately $ 18 per capita we continue to be one of the lowest funded public library systems in Canada. With this level of funding we are unable to address the 22 requests we currently have on file for new library services. We are also unable to assist with individual library requests for additional hours to meet the needs of their patrons.

2. Many of our libraries are small and in need of revitalization.

3. Public computers and internet access continue to drain our limited budget. Even with funding from CAP, connectivity costs, IT support and equipment upgrades continue to take a toll on our limited budget.

4. Insurance costs have increased 400 percent in the last 3 years. While we did receive additional funding in 04-05 it is still not sufficient to cover the increases in the past 2 years.

5. The loss of the Library Book Rate would be devastating to our provincial library system which relies heavily on the postal service to distribute library materials.

Web links

You can find our site at www.nlpubliclibraries.ca

Shawn Tetford
Executive Director

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