Friends of Canadian Libraries
Central Canada Director’s Report

My efforts this past year have been divided among:

Conference Programming

Ontario Library Association

The Ontario Library Association Superconference is always the biggest event of the year for us, and our programming has doubled to at least 4 sessions each year.   Dorothy Macnaughton joined me in 2007 as conference programmer, and was a popular speaker during the 2008 sessions.

Our topics relating to fundraising, advocacy and volunteer management appeal to a cross-section of delegates, including Friends, Library Board Trustees and library management and staff. We will continue to work to make this programming affordable for Friends groups and relevant to their needs.

Regional Workshop

A fall workshop has become an annual event and was held in Port Hope during 2007. This workshop always draws delegates from the Lindsay, Ajax, Peterborough, Oshawa, Madoc, Mississauga area, to name a few. In 2008 it is expected to occur in Madoc.

                International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA)

I look forward to joining Dorothy at the ILFA conference in Quebec City in August. We submitted a proposal for a poster, together with our colleague Sally Reed, Friends of Libraries U.S.A. Dorothy and I also co-authored a paper on Friends of Libraries for the IFLA Conference Proceedings, and have been invited to participate in a round table discussion during the conference.

Support of Friends groups

A number of interesting questions have come in by email and telephone, and they show the variety of information needs that we continue to meet. The Friends in Wakefield are moving beyond their traditional role, and are looking to hire staff and form a Library Board. A call from Renfrew indicates they are looking to form a Friends group, and a procedural question from Orillia was researched and answered.

New Manual - How to form a Friends of the library group

Dorothy and I drafted the outline of a manual to explain the process of forming a Friends group. In some ways it was a matter of pulling together resources we already had, and in other cases it was a matter or writing it from scratch. Over the long weekend in May we took our drafts of chapters and feedback form Board members and polished it off. The end result is a loose-leaf manual that we self-publish. The OLA Store has agreed to be our distributor, and early demand has far exceeded our expectations!

FOCAL Point Newsletter

 

Two issues of the newsletter are published each year, usually one in the late fall and one in March or April. Hopefully with the development of the Communications Committee this will group to be more of a group effort.

Website development and maintenance

The website has a new look, thanks to the talents of OLA’s Brian Pudden. New this year is a Members Only section which contains the current newsletter, Annual General Meeting documents of other featured news and items for members.

Participation in Board business

Awards

During December the news of the FOCAL Brodart Community Service Award was received and I worked to draft criteria that would define the intent of this award. Late in December I researched and submitted to Brodart suggestions for post-secondary Friends of the Library award. I helped to judge the submissions.

Finance/Membership

During the year, as our Treasurer Lois Magahay dealt with issues relating to finance and membership, I supported her in her efforts to keep the membership database current, and to make spending decisions that met the intensions of the board.

Communication

The terms of reference for a new communications committee were circulated in December, and will be tabled at the 2008 Annual General Meeting for approval.

Executive Manual

An executive manual that has been circulating for about a year or more will be tabled at the 2008 Annual General Meeting. It is be used for new Board member orientation, and will be revised on an ongoing basis. It will serve as an archive for current policies and procedures, as well as our job descriptions and governing documents.

Submitted Young Canada Works Grant Proposal

While this proposal was not successful, it did help to define our work priorities, and our need for assistance.  Many projects are not moving forward because of lack of manpower, volunteer or otherwise.