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Danielle McDonald, CEO,
and Donna Clark, Division Manager, Branch Operations, provided a verbal
presentation regarding an update to the Library’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan (Held
on file with the Chief Executive Office.) They discussed OPL’s response
to legislative changes announced during the summer, provided an update on
progress since the last update to the Board in June, and outlined the next
steps for additional service resumption this fall. They also provided an
update of performance measures to illustrate OPLs recent activity.
In
response to a question from Trustee Brockington on employee vacancy numbers
compared to pre-COVID times, Anna Basile, Division Manager, Corporate Services,
said that historically, OPL would have a regular vacancy rate of
approximately 40 positions (2016-2019), but that at this time, during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the vacancy rate is closer to 75-80, an increase of
approximately 100%.
Further to a question
from Trustee Brockington with respect to targeted outreach for prospective future
employees, Ms. Basile replied that staff connect very closely with the
various schools, colleges, and universities in Ottawa, across the province,
and the country. She explained that typically, most of OPL’s employees come
from a Library Technician, Early Childhood Education, or Master of Library
and Information Studies background. For positions that do not require that
level of education, staff work with different local community groups, such as
the Youth Services Bureau. Staff also work closely with City of Ottawa counterparts
in Employment Social Services. Ms. Basile also mentioned that at the time of
this meeting, the library is undergoing an update to the online recruitment tool,
in conjunction with the City of Ottawa. As a result, all competitions are on
hold and there is a delay in the recruitment process. She remarked that while
the majority of hiring at OPL is done in the fall, we will continue to see a
delay for a few more weeks.
Trustee Brockington asked
whether staff envision that competitions will resume next month. Ms. Basile
confirmed in the affirmative. She said the public can expect to see bundled
competitions, which is a process that OPL implemented over the past year to
expedite recruitment.
In response to a question
from Chair Luloff on whether staff are connecting with equity-seeking groups
for employment at the OPL, Ms. Basile confirmed in the affirmative, confirming
that is part of OPL’s standard process. She added that staff connect with the
community when there are open competitions, and work to ensure that our
community partners understand the educational and language requirements for
the competitions.
Considering the impact of
the pandemic and branch closures, Trustee King asked what digital steps staff
took with respect to increasing library card membership, and what the online registration
process looked like. Ms. McDonald replied that staff are reporting an
increase in library card memberships, up 9% from 2020, which can be
attributed to increased hours of operation, including Sundays. Catherine
Seaman, Division Manager, Customer Experience, indicated that during the
provincially mandated closure of branches in 2020, although staff could not create
new memberships in-person, staff were able to implement temporary measures for
online registration, since many people wanted to use OPL’s e-resources during
the pandemic. The temporary cards worked for a portion of the year before
being transitioned to regular memberships. Staff procured a full membership registration
tool called Verify by Paron Point, which was launched in June 2021. Catherine
said that staff are currently reporting that approximately 30% off new
memberships are being created online, while 70% are being created in-person.
Chair Luloff
congratulated staff for enhancing OPL’s digital services and indicated that positive
feedback from cardholders has been received.
There being no further questions,
the presentation was RECEIVED as presented.
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