Zoom Meetup Recording & Notes
July 20, 2022
(0:05) Welcome and Introduction
(2:15) One Book One Community - Judy Moore
Judy Moore provided an overview of their approach to the One Book One Community program, a collaboration between TNRL, Thompson Rivers University, and Cariboo Public Library. The title was Five Little Indians, by Michelle Good. The program was very well supported by local first nations communities. Book groups were meeting via Zoom, and there was also an in- person component to the program. TNRL is happy to share the materials that they produced, and will follow-up with an email.
(7:43) Municipal Elections
Leigh Anne launched a poll with 5 questions related to the municipal election and shared the following results:
75% of libraries have elected officials on their boards.
~ 60% of libraries have policies regarding the use of library resources or spaces during the election.
~ 50% of libraries engage with candidates in some way during the election cycle
A number of topics related to elections were discussed including policies related to candidates’ use of library space; events hosted by libraries for all candidates; whether elected officials on library boards continue to meet before and during the election cycle; and coordinated efforts with BCLTA for orientation of incoming trustees/ directors .
(27:50) Budgeting
Wendy Wright brought a question to the group regarding the impact of municipal libraries being designated as a City department during annual budget/funding cycles..
(46:36) Partners Update
Leigh Anne provided a BC Public Libraries Partner update.
The Partners presented to the Select Standing Committee again this year. There were lots of thoughtful questions and appreciative comments about the diversity of collections. There was interest for the models for ebooks and the Partners are discussing how they can work with other organizations to raise awareness about the unfair licencing models for ebooks and how that impacts communities, libraries and funders
The Partners will be hosting a UBCM event on September 14th. The entire ABCPLD Board will be attending UBCM. The partners are setting up a meeting with the Minister for the UBCM event and have invited the Minister to present opening remarks.
Regarding the Strategic Initiatives Fund, a number of libraries have expressed interest in contributing and to date about $60,000 in pledges have been raised. Leigh Anne shared that ABCPLD will be acting as the bank for this fund. Toby asked members about how they approached their boards regarding contributing to this fund and whether other Partner organizations are contributing. The Partners are contributing their professional time in kind. Susan shared that she spoke with her board chair first. There was a question regarding sharing information about which ABCPLD member libraries have committed to funding and how much. Leigh Anne spoke about sharing a list of the libraries that have committed and will send information to members with a list of libraries that have committed and where we are at with the fund total.
The next regular Zoom meeting will be held on September 21, 2022 from 2pm to 3pm.
july 6, 2022
Watch the Recording | PLB PowerPoint Presentation
(0:07) Welcome and Introduction
Attendees and guests (Mari Martin and Aidan Fortier from the Public Libraries Branch, and a number of Federation Directors) were welcomed. It was explained that this special meeting will focus on the results of the 2021 Infrastructure & Facilities Survey Report. Members were reminded that the regular Zoom meeting will be held on July 20th from 2pm to 3pm.
(1:50) Presentation by Mari Martin and Aidan Fortier
By way of context, the 2021 Infrastructure and Facilities Survey was launched because the Branch discovered during the pandemic that they did not have a good understanding of library spaces and facilities, such as which libraries are stand alone, how many are housed in recreation centres, what types of accessibility access do libraries have, how do libraries compare. The goal was to establish province-wide benchmarks to help inform future decision-making and provide data to back up advocacy efforts.
This voluntary survey ran from Nov 2021 to June 2022, with 70 out of 71 libraries participating.
(12:33) Results of Survey – Facilities Management
Over half of library branches have facilities management taken care of by municipal governments
80% of library branches have a financial plan in place for facilities management with municipal and regional libraries more likely than PLAs to have a plan in place. Over 90% of libraries in the Lower Mainland and Island Coastal Regions have a financial plan in place compared to about 50% of Northern and Interior Region libraries.
(15:55) Results of Survey – Condition of Library Branch Facilities
Average age of facilities is 37 years (from time of construction) and ranges from 2 years to 124 years in age. PLA branches are about 10 years older on average than other library types.
Average time since the last renovation is about 10 years and ranges from 0 years to 65 years.
The average condition of libraries was rated as 3.5/5 (adequate state of repair but upgrades/renovations needed).
Approximately 50% of the branches are standalone buildings and the number of standalone buildings were significantly lower in the Island and Coastal Region (29%).
(20:04) Results of Survey – Access and Amenities
84% of branches reported that they are accessible for people with disabilities affecting mobility. This percentage was lower for PLA branches (66%), given they are older facilities and have less municipal government support.
The most common barriers were narrow aisles and lack of ramp or elevators to access upper floors.
Average number of washrooms per branch was 2.6 and accessible bathrooms was 1.8.
Average number of community rooms per branch was 1.2.
Average number of EV chargers per branch was 0.34.
(23:22) Results of Survey – Heating and Air Circulation
These results are especially important in terms of considering the impacts of Covid and extreme weather events.
60% of branches do not have windows that can open.
90% of branches have air conditioning, with this number significantly lower for PLA branches (64%).
Over half of libraries are heated by natural gas, a quarter of libraries are heated by electrical.
(26:02) Results of Survey – Connectivity
The vast majority of libraries have their internet delivered by fibre and approximately one third by a combination of cable and DSL.
Average internet speed is about 350 Mbps with higher speed in Lower Mainland branches . The average actual internet speed is 160 Mbps. Lower Mainland branches have some of the highest cost for internet service but have lower actual internet speed at 83 Mbps due to volume of population accessing internet services.
(29:32) Key Takeaways & Discussion
There is considerable variation within regional/integrated/multi-branch systems.
A significant majority of branches are accessible and air conditioned making them well equipped to manage extreme weather events.
PLA’s tend to be a little older, less accessible and less air conditioned and have less support from municipalities for facilities management and financial planning.
Actual internet speeds are about half of what libraries are paying for.
(31:32) Questions and Discussion
The floor was opened up and the following suggestions were made:
Provide median in addition to average for some results
In which libraries are public phones available? Discussion regarding adding a question about public phones to the next survey especially given the serious equity nature of this issue. Directors shared instances of Telus removing public phones without any notice.
Incorporate library HVAC systems in the next survey.
Look at provisions libraries have in place for power outages.
Include questions about seismic safety in relation to emergency preparedness
Mari asked if members would want to have questions to address the cost of running HVAC systems, upgrades to HVAC and maintaining these systems. Suggestion to survey members about what are their levels of commercial air filtration systems in their facilities. It was suggested to ask a question about when HVAC systems were last assessed.
(52:05) Launch of Next Survey
Emergency Preparedness and Planning Survey will be launched in the Fall of 2022 to capture a point of time snapshot of where libraries are at with their emergency planning and preparedness, both internally and in partnership with their local governments. The purpose of gathering this data is to offer benchmarks and evidence to drive decision making regarding emergency planning efforts.
Aidan requested feedback on the survey format (Excel vs Counting Opinions) and asked what additional questions libraries would want to be addressed in the upcoming survey.
If any libraries are interested in reviewing/validating the questions before the launch of the survey please contact the PLB.
Any questions or comments about the data can be emailed to Aidan or Mari.