Ontario Public Library

Guidelines

Seventh Edition

November 2017

The Accreditation Audit Process

Use of the Ontario Public Library Guidelines is voluntary. They may be used either for internal purposes only, for example, a library's administration or board may use the guidelines, in whole or in part, with a view to considering some or all aspects of the library's services or methods for change or upgrading.

The guidelines could as part of a process that may lead to the library being accredited under the Ontario Public Library Guidelines Monitoring and Accreditation Council framework. This document describes the accreditation process.

Preparing for an audit

  1. In preparing for an audit, please ensure that you are working with the latest version of the Ontario Public Library Guidelines. The current version is the 7th edition and it is posted on a separate website maintained by staff at Ontario Library Service-North at-
  1. Complete a preliminary assessment - A library administration or board that wishes to undertake this process in whole or in part can begin with a preliminary assessment, comparing their library operation with the requirements of the Guidelines. This first step may be accomplished in a number of ways. For example, it can be carried out by the library's own staff and/or trustees, or with assistance of external resource persons, such as a representative of the Ontario Library Service. At the end of the preliminary assessment, it is helpful to prepare a report summarizingwhere the library has met the Guidelines and where it has not.
  1. Develop a plan - Using the report, the library staff, board or committee can develop a plan of how and when it intends to meet any Guidelines that it currently does not. The library may wish to call upon the assistance of support organizations such as the Ontario Library Service at this stage. The development plan can be integrated with a library's on-going planning process, if additional work is need, or that it might be ready to proceed with the accreditation audit process, as described in the next section.

The Audit Process

A library which considers that it has met the requirements of the Guidelines may elect to arrange for a peer audit. Any public library in Ontario may request an audit.

  1. To begin the process, a library should complete the formcalled “Request for Audit” which is posted on the Ontario Public Library Guidelines website at The OPLG Audit Request Form will ask for the following pieces of information:
  • Library Name
  • Library CEO
  • Address
  • Email Address/Telephone
  • Library Service Agency (Ontario Library Service – North or Southern Ontario Library Service)
  • Audit Request (Accreditation or Re-Accreditation)
  • Type of Library (Single branch or multi-branch)
  • Audit Language (English or French)
  • Requested Audit Date
  1. On receiving a request for an audit and receipt of the fee, a peer audit team is appointed. The arrangements for the audit team are made by staff at the Ontario Library Service. Requests from libraries in northern Ontario will be arranged by staff at Ontario Library Service-North (Steven Kraus – ) or at the Southern Ontario Library Service (Peggy Malcolm – ). If you have general questions about the audit process, you may wish to speak to one of these two Council representatives at the Ontario Library Service.
  2. In selecting the audit team, the following factors shall be considered:
  • At least one member of each audit team shall have an MLS/MLIS degree or an equivalent graduate degree from an accredited school of library science. At least one member of each team shall have held the post of Chief Executive Officer or a position with considerable discretionary authority within their organization.
  • Team members shall be practicing staff members of a public or county library or of the Ontario Library Service, within the province of Ontario, or shall have been such within the two years prior to appointment.
  • One of the audit team members shall represent the audited library’s peers, interms of size, geography, etc.
  • Once sufficient libraries have been audited to make this practicable, at leastone of the auditors shall be from an accredited library.
  1. Audits may be carried out in English or French, as requested by the library being audited. It may also be that the audit takes place in French, but uses the English Guidelines text.
  1. The team will negotiate times for the audit, reporting and other such items directlywith the library being audited.
  1. The audit shall be conducted using the version of the Guidelines in effect when the request for the audit was made, and in accordance with the latest version of anyinstructions approved by the Council which are intended to ensure consistency amongaudit teams.
  1. In preparing for the actual audit, it is best if the library staff has organized their materials for the peer audit team to use on the day of the audit. Collect the documents you will need for the peer audit including the following:
  • Board Minute book
  • Policy binder – both governance and operational including human resources
  • Collection/book of plans (e.g. strategic plan, technology plan, collection plan)
  • Copies of promotional materials, programming worksheets/evaluation sheets.

As part of the preparation work, it is also helpful to mark a copy of the OPL Guidelines with the location of specific documents. A sample is shown for the first (sample shown of first 3 guidelines). You do not need to reprint these for the audit team in a separate binder.

Section 1 Organization of the Board / Yes / No / Notes/Comments
1.1 / Governing body -The library has a governing body which is constituted in accordance with the provisions of, and operates in conformity with, current Ontario public library legislation. / Found as BL-01 Statement of Authority (Page 5 – 6 +)
1.2 / Officers -The library board has appointed a chair, secretary, treasurer for the board and employs a CEO who provides CEO duties solely dedicated to the public library for no fewer than 20hrs/week (of a 35hr work week) / Found as BL-03 Composition of the Board (Page 8…)
1.3 / Meetings -The board conducts formally-scheduled, regular meetings at least ten months per year. These are advertised at least within the library and on the web or social media sites to enable meetings open to the public, and open unless parts or all of a meeting are closed in accordance with current Ontario public library legislation. / Trillium Board meets at least 10 times per yr (see minute book)

Audit Reports

After the audit, the audit team will write provide an audit report, as outlined here.

  1. The audit team will provide the library with a general report indicating the results, both overall and inspecific areas. This report will go to the library immediately following the audit (assuming some time to complete the written report) and before the report goes to the Council for consideration.
  1. In the written report, the audit team will provide the library with a statement as to whether the library is to be recommended tothe Council for accreditation or not, as per the following scoring standards for accreditation:
  1. Each question in the Guidelines shall be scored 1 point for successful achievement.
  1. In order to be recommended for accreditation a library must achieve no less than a 90% score of total possible points and must achieve no less than an 90% score in any of the major divisions of the Guidelines. In addition, a library must meet any guidelines the Council designates as mandatory.
  1. Should the library being audited demonstrate to the audit team’s satisfaction that any particular question is not relevant to the library’s local situation because of the presence of a local institution, organization or service, this question may be omitted from the total number of questions and not used in calculating the above percentage.
  1. If the library does not quite meet the required standard, but is substantially in compliance with the guidelines,the report may indicatewhich items require attention and set down a timetable within which these items may be upgraded to the appropriate standard without there being a need for another full peer audit. For example, a library with a total score of 88% (below the required minimum of 90% overall), this library could be given the opportunity to address a sufficient number of outstanding items to meet the required minimum. Similarly, a library which fails to meet one or more guidelines designated as mandatory will be given an opportunity to correct the situation.
  1. If the library is not to be recommended for accreditation, information is provided to the library as towhere the library may get assistance in helping it to meet the Guidelines in future.

After time for a review, the library must confirm with the audit team that they agree with the findings of the team. Once this confirmation is received, then a copy of the report is forwarded to the Ontario Library Service representative on Council. This report to the Guidelines Council will include a recommendation that the library be accredited, or if the library is not to be accredited, an explanation of same. Detailsof the audit report to Council are to remain confidential to the members of the Council.

A note about re-accreditation - To maintain the library’s status as an Accredited Ontario Public Library, the library is required to undertake a peer audit every five years. The new audit will take into consideration changes that have occurred in the library's operation, as well as revisions to the Guidelines. In addition to obtaining the minimum score required for accreditation, the library will be expected to have taken some steps towards addressing any shortcomings raised in the previous audit team report. If the library successfully meets the requirements of the Guidelines, the Council will re-register it as an Accredited Ontario Public Library for an additional five years.

Accreditation Review by Council

  1. Once the Council has an Audit Report which recommends accreditation or reaccreditation,the Council will review the report at their next meeting, and may approve the recommendation.
  1. Where Council approves an audit team’s recommendation, Council will formallyrecognize the library as an Accredited Ontario Public Library.
  1. The Councilwill authorize all awards of accreditation or re-accreditation onthe recommendation of the Council.
  1. An Accredited Ontario Public Library will receive an accreditation certificate and such promotional items as Council may make available (e.g. Window Clings). The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport will be invited to sign the certificate. The certificate will be co-signed by OLS-North.
  1. Accreditation will be valid for five years, after which, to maintain its status as an Accredited Ontario Public Library, a library is required toundertake another peer audit.

Fees associated with the Audit Process

Audits shall be funded by fees levied upon libraries being audited. Ontario Library Service-North provides banking and bookkeeping services for the Council, and will be responsible for collecting the fees, and subsequently, paying the expenses of the audit team.

Upon receipt of the “Request for Audit” form at the OLS-North office, libraries will be sent an invoice for the fee of $200, payable to the OLS-North. This fee is inclusive and no additional charges will be levied for transportation costs, accommodation, meals, honoraria or any other costs. The fee will be used to cover the cost of an audit team of two persons.

Experience has shown one day to be adequate for a library which has properly prepared itself for the audit. Under certain circumstances (e.g. if there are multiple locations to be peer audited), an additional day or days may be required. An additional fee of $75 per day will be charged for any additional days which might be required as a result of the library’s not having properly prepared itself for the audit in accordance, or for multiple locations requiring a considerable amount of travel between locations.

As of January 1st 2014, the Ontario Public Library Guidelines and Accreditation Council has passed a motion that reads:

“Any Public Library requesting, in writing, an extension for an upcoming re-accreditation term will be charged a fee of $50 dollars to be billed to the library upon the time of their scheduled re-accreditation audit”.

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