Colin Skinner

VIA EMAIL

The Ministry of Education is pleased to inform you that the ______- has received a total of ______in provincial support for 2013. The Ministry will deposit those funds electronically into the account at the financial institution that your library has designated. A notice will be mailed to you once payment has been made.

This letter details the 2013 provincial funding for your library, the province’s priorities for that funding, and the reporting we will require to ensure public confidence in our spending. But first:

Our Thanks

Good libraries are an anchor for the community - helping teach our children and secure our economy. They help us understand who we are, where we are going and how we can get there. Libraries empower individuals and develop communities.

It’s clear that the strength of our public library system is largely due to the commitment and passion that library trustees, professionals and staff bring to their work each day. Please convey my sincere thanks and best wishes to your board and staff for their continued success in maintaining your public library as a vital service for everyone in your community, and as an integral part of the larger library community network.We are honoured to share this critical work with such capable partners.

We are also proud that, working together, the province and public libraries have achieved so much. Together we have seen great successes and progress in the improvement and expansion of library services. As we continue to grow and adapt the way we work, we look forward to continuing to work closely with libraries to provide the highest quality library service for all British Columbians. .../2

Ministry of Libraries and Mailing Address: Location: Education Literacy P.O. Box 9831 Stn. Prov. Govt. 620 Superior St 2nd Floor Victoria, B.C. V8W 9T1 Victoria, B.C. V8V 1V2 Tel: 250.356.1791 Toll Free (BC only) 1.800.663.7051 Fax: 250.953.3225 Website: http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pls/ Colin Skinner Page 2

Provincial Funding for Libraries

The province is providing $14 million in financial and other support for library services in British Columbia, with grants to public libraries, federations, and associations; and financial support for province-wide library infrastructure such as BC OneCard and Sitka. Additionally, the Ministry of Education’s Library and Literacy Branch (LLB) offers services, programs, consultation, professional development and communication support.

Provincial funding for individual public libraries is distributed as four grants: the Operating grant, Resource Sharing grant, BC OneCard grant and Library Literacy grant.

I am enclosing details for each of the following grant payments made to your library for the 2013 calendar year:

 Operating grant based on 2011 service populations and rates (the most recent figures available);  Resource Sharing grant based on a piece rate for materials lent through interlibrary loan during 2012;  BC OneCard grant based on either a tiered rate or a piece rate (whichever is greater) for materials lent and returned in calendar year 2012; and  Library Literacy grant based on tiered rates concerned with overall funding equity.

For general descriptions of these grant programs, please refer to the BC Library Commons: http://commons.bclibraries.ca/knowledge-base-topic/funding-2

In addition to the direct library grants, the Province’s valuable infrastructure investments include:  InterLINK, Kootenay, North Coast, North Central, North East, and IslandLink library federations to enhance local and regional delivery of library services;  BC Libraries Cooperative to facilitate collaborative initiatives and shared operational infrastructure and resources;  Sitka provincial integrated library system;  Web Content Management Solution;  BC Summer Reading Club;  Auto-Graphics license for Outlook Online (co-funded and administered with BC ELN);  Collection resources for the print-disabled; and  Support for BCLA and BCLTA.

Additionally, Libraries and Literacy helps to build the health of the community through communication and professional development opportunities such as the Commons virtual learning platform, the Community Librarian Training Program, topical webinars for library staff, and professional consultancy outreach. Colin Skinner Page 3 .../3 Colin Skinner Page 4

Provincial Priorities for Library Funding

Simply stated, provincial funding for libraries supports seamless, high-quality library services for all British Columbians. The success of provincial library initiatives depends on a strong relationship with our library sector partners.

Targeted grant funding for library sector supports initiatives, such as those above, which take advantage of economies of scale, leverage mutual interests, and enhance the stability of libraries by improving organizational infrastructure and encouraging the broad sharing of resources.

Operating grant funding is given directly to public libraries to support the overall extension and improvement of public library service in B.C., as well as specific government strategic goals and priorities. In 2013, the BC Government priorities for library funding are:  Equitable access to library services for all British Columbians, including efforts to extend library service outside the local area; to unsupported communities or populations; or to under-represented groups of users within the local area (e.g. Aboriginal users);  Supports for education transformation, particularly in the area of reading for early learners;  Library collaboration and cooperation, including working together in the development of collaborative services and shared resources among libraries and through library federations and other partner organizations (e.g. schools, arts, culture, literacy, heritage and community groups);  Accountability and transparency in dealings with the public, supporting open data and open governance through strong planning, effective measurement and clear reporting of outcomes for library programs and services; and  Community engagement and collaboration (for example, actively supporting community priorities and initiatives, building collaborative community partnerships and modeling decision transparency).

Accountability and Reporting In 2011, Libraries and Literacy introduced the Provincial Library Grants Report, a qualitative reporting template that spans and links all four grant categories. In the 2013 Report, we will require libraries to report on how they used provincial funding in support of the provincial priorities listed above.

To simplify reporting, the focus of the Report will be on how your total provincial grant funding was used, jointly, to support the priorities. Provincial funding for libraries should be considered in context with grants to your library federation and used in mutually supportive ways to ensure that our collective priorities are met. We will not require a detailed breakdown of how individual grant amounts were allocated, but will want details on what programs were supported by provincial funding, how those programs support provincial and local priorities, and whether those efforts achieved success.

The Provincial Library Grants Report, along with the SOFI and Annual Survey, is part of a more complete accountability framework for public libraries. This framework assists LLB in ensuring public confidence in library programs and spending, and may help individual libraries in internal assessments of your programs and services. Colin Skinner Page 5 .../4

Continued provincial funding for your library is contingent on the completion of three reports:

1. 2013 Provincial Library Grants Report (due March 1, 2014), 2. 2013 Statement of Financial Information (SOFI) (due May 15, 2014), and 3. 2013 Annual Survey of Public Libraries (also due May 15, 2014).

Instructions for completing and submitting these reports will be sent to you and your Library Director later this year. The BC government is committed to open public access to information and is bound by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The province may release any or all information submitted for these reports to the public and libraries are asked to consider that fact in their responses.

If, in the opinion of the Ministry, ______fails to comply with the terms and stipulations outlined in this letter, the Ministry may require that your library return to the Province any part of the funding paid.

Moving Forward

This is a time of significant change for libraries and Libraries and Literacy continues to strive to improve our programs and services and especially to be responsive to the needs of our clients. As we continue to grow and adapt, we look forward to continuing to working closely with libraries to provide the highest quality library service for all British Columbians.

We are grateful for the input we have received to date and encourage any and all feedback that you may have in the future.

If you have any questions about this letter please don’t hesitate to call or email.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline van Dyk Director, Libraries and Literacy Ministry of Education