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Catherine Seaman,
Division Manager, Customer Experience introduced Ann Archer, Program Manager,
Content Services who has overall responsibility for the collections,
including managing the annual budget. Ms. Archer provided an overview of the
Content Services Framework, formerly known as the Collections Management
Framework, explained the four guiding principles, reviewed the highlights of
the 2020-2023 Framework, and advised regarding next steps. (Held on file
with the Chief Executive Officer). Ms. Archer said the main purpose of the Content Services
Framework is to guide staff in the spending of the annual materials’ budget;
furthermore, as per the Board’s policy on Delegation of Authority, the Board
must approve frameworks for key services. The main points of the presentation
were as follows:
·
The
following guiding principles continue to inform the Framework: Responsive
Collections, Balanced Selection, Responsible Investment and Continuous
Improvement.
·
The
2020-2023 Framework builds upon the previous Framework, with the following
additions and revisions: E-content and advocacy, Indigenous Collections
statement, World Language collection sustainability, Interlibrary Loan
Service (ILL), and Request for Reconsideration process.
·
Recommendations
regarding next steps.
In response to a question
from Vice-Chair Fisher regarding the additions and revisions to the Content
Services Framework, specifically to E-content, Ms. Archer indicated there is
no change to OPL’s activities as related to E-content; however, E-content was
not included in the previous iteration of the Framework. Of note on the
E-content front, the Library continues to face ongoing challenges with
Macmillan Publishers.
Trustee Brockington asked
what is expected at this time with respect to E-content challenges. Ms.
Archer said the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) Task Force continues
to represent OPL and other public libraries’ positions in its advocacy work
and advance the file. Staff also continue to monitor the work of the Urban
Libraries Council (ULC) with respect to Macmillan embargo. This situation
shows the work still to be done. Lastly, OPL and other libraries continue to
hope there will be federal legislation on this issue in the future.
Further to Trustee
Brockington’s query, he asked Trustee Tierney to add any information
regarding efforts by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). Trustee
Tierney
indicated that FCM is requesting the Ministry of Heritage to review the Copyright Act on a regular basis as
their involvement will impact and reaffirm its support on equitable eBook access.
In response to a question
from Trustee Brockington regarding the decision-making ability to add
multilingual world language content to branches, and whether the Library is
using census data to ensure the managers are up on the statistics to meet the
needs and threshold demand in the community, Ms. McDonald indicated there is
a thorough process with respect to collection development, with the leadership
of the Branch managers and the Content Services Department. Ms. Archer said
the Library does use census tracts to inform collection development,
concentrating on groups; i.e. if the need for certain language collections is
at a smaller branch, the content may sent to the next nearest larger branch.
Trustee Higdon asked what
the Library’s policy is on trade publications. Ms. Archer clarified that with
regard to periodicals, the Library decides to purchase these materials on a
title-by-title basis. If the publication is free, the decision to purchase is
based on demand and interest.
With respect to the
Library’s formal process regarding demand for trade publications, Ms. Archer
indicated that with respect to periodicals and magazines, branches have the
ability to decide which they wish to receive. In general, however, the
management and sourcing of materials is centralized by Content Services,
based on input from branch managers and employees.
In response to a question
from Trustee Meehan regarding census data used to determine popularity of
languages, Ms. Archer said the data is used, however, it depends on the
demand. If the usage is not high, the collection may not be sustainable.
Further to questions from
Trustee Meehan on what percentage of the budget is for world languages
content and whether the process of acquiring this material is labour
intensive, Ms. Archer said World Languages content is less than two percent
of the materials budget. With respect to the labour required to acquire
materials, Ms. Archer said it is quite a challenge, and staff receive
assistance from vendors to ensure quality of material can be purchased for
the community.
In response to a question
from Trustee Meehan about whether donations from the community are
encouraged, Ms. Archer said donations require significant staff time to
process. The material needs to be catalogued properly, staff needs to narrow
down what we collect, and, most importantly, we need to have an employee who
speaks the language to evaluate the material.
Vice-Chair Fisher asked
what role does Interlibrary Loan (ILL) have in enhancing collections. Ms.
Archer indicated that ILL enhances our collections, and requests for ILL help
provide insight into what types of material the community is interested in.
In response to a question
from Chair Luloff on acquiring ILL material, Ms. Archer said as long as the
material is in print, it can be accessed. ILL is an important service and
Content Services is in close association with the ILL team in its department.
There being no further
discussion, the report was CARRIED as presented.
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