2015 Provincial Library Grants Report

Each year since 2011 FVRL has been required to submit a Provincial Library Grants Report as part of the overall accountability framework for public libraries and federations who receive public funds.The informationin these grant reportsis used in part to demonstrate the value of public funds in relation to the priorities of the provincial government. These reports also showthe measurable positive impacts that public libraries have upon communities across BC.

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT FRASER VALLEY REGIONAL LIBRARY

Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL), with 25 libraries and a central administrative centre, serves over 700,000 residents spread over 13,000 square kilometers that are governed by 15 municipalities and regional districts. In each of our communities, the local library is a trusted partner and is recognized as a vital community destination and resource for literacy, recreation, and informed decision making.

The communities and local governments we serve grapple with the same long list of hugechallengesthat impact our province and our nation: globalization, socio-economic change, sustainability, big data and smart technology, lifelong learning, aging demographics, and financing the future.

Spread across our region are people groups that are reflective of past and continued immigration to British Columbia,as well as industries that are both new and old – agriculture, forestry, and fishing to tourism, entertainment, and technology. The communities are dense and urban, as well as scattered and rural. Neighbourhoods are posh and upscale as well as humble and neglected.Roads are occupied by pedestrians and cyclists, mini-cars and buses, SUVs and pick-up trucks, delivery vehicles and semi-trailers. A snapshot of Fraser Valley Regional Library is a picture of the splendor and complexityof British Columbia society today.

FVRL’S STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS FOR 2015

  1. Customers: Plan for and provide services and facilities to enhance the customer experience.
  2. Staff: Create an agile, resilient organization by building capability with FVRL staff.
  3. Technology: Plan for and provide innovative technologies to evolve library operations and services.
  4. Communication: Encourage customers to use and increase their engagement with library services.
  5. Collaboration: Work collaboratively with local government, community and other partners.

FVRL’S VISION AND VALUES

Foundational to everything Fraser Valley Regional Library undertakes areour vision and values, which also align with the provincial government’s priorities for BC’s public libraries.

FVRL Vision:To be an innovative organization that is recognized as a vital community destination and resource for literacy, recreation, informed decision-making, and social interaction.

FVRL Values

  1. We value development that invests in the enjoyment, lifelong learning, literacy, and the vibrant health of communities.
  2. We value open access to library services and materials that remove barriers associated with education, technology, culture, economics, and physical disadvantage.
  3. We value and celebrate diversity as integral to an inclusive, vibrant community.
  4. We value our responsive, courteous, and friendly staff as the foundation of FVRL’s service and success.
  5. We seek collaboration and partnerships to maximize our potential to serve our customers and communities.
  6. We value innovation as it gives us freedom to grow and take risks to find creative solutions and better serve our public in a fiscally responsible manner.

Government Priorities

Fraser Valley Regional Library’s report provides examples of how our libraries have fulfilled the following three government priorities:

  1. A focus on equitable access to library services for all British Columbians, including efforts to extend library service, both physical and digital, to under-represented populations (ex. Aboriginal, print disabled, and immigrants).
  2. Increased supports for education transformation. Libraries, as key partners in providing supports to students and parents outside of the classroom, should continue organizing and collaborating on community-based, personalize learning opportunities for all learners which allows them to realize their full potential in reaching personal goals.
  3. Support for the BC Jobs Plan by improving outcomes for job seekers in BC. Specifically, libraries should focus on tools, programs and essential literacy supports that help your community explore new skills and employment options, leading them to be successfully “first in line” for job opportunities for today and tomorrow.
  4. A focus on collaboration between libraries and other partners. For example, the development of shared service models and resources which extend or improve seamless access.

Goals, Programs/Services, Partnerships, OUTCOMES

The following examples demonstrate the truly valuable outcomes and great success Fraser Valley Regional Library has achieved throughout our 25 libraries in meeting the provincial government priorities during 2015.

PRIORITY: EQUITABLE ACCESS

A.FVRL WELCOMES NEWCOMERS TO THE MAPLE RIDGE COMMUNITY

Maple Ridge Public Library, Maple Ridge

1.HOW FVRL SUPPORTS PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

  1. FVRL Strategic Direction:Customers—Plan for and provide services and facilities to enhance the customer experience.
  2. FVRL Value: We value and celebrate diversity as integral to an inclusive, vibrant community.
  3. FVRL Value: We value open access to library services and materials that remove barriers associated with education, technology, culture, economics, and physical disadvantage.
  4. FVRL Value: We value our responsive, courteous, and friendly staff as the foundation of FVRL's service and success.
  5. FVRL Value: We seek collaboration and partnerships to maximize our potential to serve our customers and communities.

2.FVRL GOALS THAT SUPPORT EQUITABLE ACCESS

  1. To heighten awareness of library programs and services among newcomers and related community service providers.
  2. To increase newcomer use of the library.
  3. To strengthen relationships with relevant community partners in order to better understand the needs of newcomers and to serve them more effectively through collaboration.
  4. To provide more meaningful and practical service to newcomers through a better informed and trained staff.

Goal Achievement: Successful to date, and ongoing.

3.FVRL PROGRAMS/ SERVICES THAT ALIGN WITH THE PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

Maple Ridge Public Library is a key collaborator in the Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) initiative, whose goal is to “oversee the development of a local settlement strategy and targeted action plan to produce a more welcoming and inclusive community.” In LIPs discussions on barriers to serving immigrants, the lack of a central physical location for presenting relevant services and information to newcomers surfaced as a critical concern. The group identified the library as the best location to bring together resources and services for immigrants, citing its central physical position, trained staff, ample opening hours and appropriate space for consultation, workshops and distribution of relevant materials.

The newcomer hub function aligned with existing FVRL initiatives, and the library has taken on a deeper role over the year:

  1. hosting community programs,
  2. continuing to operate tours,
  3. introducing improvements like Arabic-ready keyboards,
  4. incorporating new materials into its collections,
  5. reaching out to recent refugees and their sponsors, and
  6. discovering how community partners can best work with, and within, the library to serve newcomers.

In the upcoming months, the library will:

  1. make room for additional newcomer resources,
  2. oversee the creation of point-of-arrival community newcomer literature, and
  3. establish both front-facing and private space to allow settlement workers to meet centrally with clients.

4.KEY FVRL PARTNERSHIPS THAT SUPPORT THE PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

Local Immigration Partnership (LIPs), Maple Ridge Family Education and Support Centre, Immigrant Services Society of BC(ISS), Work BC, SUCCESS, Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Parks & Leisure Services, School District #42.

5.FVRL OUTCOMES

  1. Crucially, staff members have developed a better understanding of the concerns of newcomers and of resources pertinent to them through in-house training and discussion, Skilled Immigrant and NewToBC workshops and new immigrant-focused collaborations with Local Immigration Partnershipand other community groups. As a result, they are better able to serve newcomers.
  1. There has been an observable increase in interest and referral from partners like Maple Ridge Family Education and Support Centre, Immigrant Services Society of BC, Welcome Wagon, and Work BC. ISS brings newcomer tours to the library to learn about services, programming, and resources. We know anecdotally that newcomer use of our services has increased, and the LIPs group is looking for ways to specifically track visits to the library for newcomer-related information or activities.
  2. The library has solidified relationships with key partners and formed many beneficial community connections through work with the Local Immigration Partnership.

B.FVRL SUPPORT FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Chilliwack Library, Chilliwack

1.HOW FVRL SUPPORTS PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

a.FVRL Value: We value open access to library services and materials that remove barriers associated with education, technology, culture, economics, and physical disadvantage.

b.FVRL Value: We value development that invests in the enjoyment, lifelong learning, literacy, and the vibrant health of communities.

c.FVRL Strategic Direction: Plan and provide services and facilities to enhance the customer experience.

d.FVRL Strategic Directions: Work collaboratively with local government, community, and other partners.

2.FVRL GOALS THAT SUPPORT EQUITABLE ACCESS

a.Support under-represented groups such as the visually impaired

b.Work closely with community partners to reach audiences that we may have otherwise not been able to attract and may not have the network connections to explore this audience further

c.To increase the awareness of resources for the visually impaired to those who are not visually impaired

Goal Achievement: Successful, and ongoing.

3.FVRL PROGRAMS/SERVICESTHAT ALIGN WITH THE PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

Sardis Library—which serves approximately 40 000 residents on the south side of Chilliwack—has partnered with the local Lions Club to offer a Braille/print collection. This collection was sponsored by the Lions Club and consists of titles that are a combination of Braille and print for a variety of age groups and genres.

This collection is housed in Sardis but is available for the entire FVRL system to utilize. The value of this collection is approximately $1700. The Lions Club will continue to contribute to allow this collection to grow and keep the titles fresh.

4.KEY FVRL PARTNERSHIPSTHAT SUPPORT THE PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

Sardis Library and the Chilliwack Lions Club

5.FVRL OUTCOMES

This Braille/print collection allows parents to work with their children who may be visually impaired to improve their literacy skills while improving their literacy through Braille.

C.FVRL OFFERS LIBRARY FOR YOU FOR THOSE UNABLE TO COME TO LIBRARY

1.HOW FVRL SUPPORTS PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

a. FVRL Value: We value open access to library services and materials that remove barriers associated with education, technology, culture, economics, and physical disadvantage.

b. FVRL Strategic Direction: Encourage customers to use and increase their engagement with library services.

c. FVRL Strategic Direction: Plan for and provide services and facilities to enhance the customer experience.

2.FVRL GOALS THAT SUPPORT EQUITABLE ACCESS

a.Increase library use by under-represented groups such as the visually impaired.
b.Increase the awareness of library resources for the visually impaired.
c.Connect with people who are unable to get to the library due to illness, age or disability.
d.Connect with staff at care facilities who can use library resources to better serve their clients.

Goal Achievement: Successful, and ongoing.

3.FVRL PROGRAMS/SERVICES THAT ALIGN WITH THE PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

FVRL’s Outreach Services Department offers Library For You, a service which delivers library materials to individuals who cannot get to the library due to illness, age or disability. Loans of audiobook players are also available.

Library For You also delivers materials to care home facilities to create mini libraries within each facility and build community among residents. These collections are regularly rotated to ensure individuals living in the facility have a fresh selection of materials to choose from. Staff who works at these facilities is welcome to request recreation collections of themed library materialsto help them interact with their residents and provide meaningful programs. Materials are selected by trained library staff to ensure they meet the needs of the residents and facilities.

FVRL Outreach Services staff also provided “pop-up tech desks” to demonstrate FVRL electronic resources to care homes in the Fraser Valley. During these events, staff connected with residents and taught them how to use online library resources, such as e-books.

4.KEY FVRL PARTNERSHIPS THAT SUPPORT THE PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

Outreach Services staff partnered with the Maple Ridge Lions Club to be a part of the annual Vision & Hearing Resources Open House. This event allowed library staff to connect with people who may need Library For You services and reconnect them back to their public library.

5.FVRL OUTCOMES

1.Increased awareness about Library For You services and options for people who cannot get to the library due to illness, age or disability.

2.Delivery of library materials to those who cannot get to the library due to illness, age or disability.

PRIORITY: INCREASED SUPPORTS FOR EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION

A.SUPPORTING THE BC SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Maple Ridge Public Library, Maple Ridge

1.HOW FVRL SUPPORTS PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

  1. FVRL Strategic Direction: Plan and provide services and facilities to enhance the customer experience.
  2. FVRL Value: We value development that invests in the enjoyment, lifelong learning, literacy, and the vibrant health of communities.
  1. FVRL Value: We seek collaboration and partnerships to maximize our potential to serve our customers and communities.
  2. FVRL Value: We value our responsive, courteous, and friendly staff as the foundation of FVRL's service and success.

2.FVRLGOALS THAT SUPPORT EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION

  1. To offer staff expertise that is highly relevant to local teachers as they transition to the redesigned BC school curriculum, both in terms of locating resources and in building research skills in teachers and students.
  2. To provide materials that will facilitate the teaching of new curriculum topics in the classroom.
  3. To promote the library, its services, its online and print collections and its staff knowledge to teachers and students as a homework resource.
  4. To heighten awareness among all of School District #42 to a point where the library is seen as the district’s most significant and valuable ally in education.

Goal Achievement: Good progress to date, and ongoing achievement.

3.FVRLPROGRAMS/ SERVICES THAT ALIGN WITH THE PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

With the introduction of the redesigned BC Curriculum, Maple Ridge Public Library is breathing new initiative into an already substantial schedule of library programs, services and collaborations that enrich the teaching and learning experiences of School District #42 teachers and students.

District helping teachers are polling the School District #42 teacher population to determine crucial areas of the curriculum that require material support. This information will help the library to develop subject-based “curriculum kits,” that will include books, staff-recommended websites, databases and other resources designed to support the teaching of respective curriculum areas. These bookable kits will address a range of grades and will be available to School District #42 teachers throughout the school year.

Library staff members are preparing for an increased level of service to teachers and students, and the library is presenting at School District #42 literacy meetings and curriculum days to inform teachers about curriculum kits and existing library resources like our large floating collection, storytelling kits, databases and other online assets like eBooks, audiobooks, and Tumblebook Library.

At the same time, they are encouraging teachers to draw on staff expertise to refresh their own research abilities or to teach research skills to their students. In addition to one-on-one help at the desk or half-hour sessions by appointment, library staff is prepared to run research skills workshops for entire classes or for groups of teachers.

4.KEY FVRLPARTNERSHIPS

School District #42

5.FVRLOUTCOMES

  1. Strengthened library/School District #42 relationships and greater awareness of the various ways the library can be of use to teachers and students.
  2. Greater staff capacity to assist teachers and students.
  3. Steady circulation of curriculum kits.
  4. Increased circulation of existing curriculum-relevant materials by teachers and students.
  5. Increased use of databases and other online resources by teachers and students.
  6. Heightened demand by teachers and students for help with research skill development.

While the full impact of outcomes from this initiative will become evident when curriculum kits start to circulate in the fall, there has already been a significant increase in interest, awareness and library use by teachers and substantial improvement in library staff’s ability to support the new BC curriculum.

B.GET CARDED SCHOOL OUTREACH PROGRAM

Library Live and On Tour, serving all FVRL communities, based at the FVRL Administrative Centre, Abbotsford

1.HOW FVRL SUPPORTS PROVINCIAL PRIORITY

a. FVRL Value: We seek collaboration and partnerships to maximize our potential to serve our customers and communities.

b. FVRL Value: We value open access to library services and materials that remove barriers associated with education, technology, culture, economics, and physical disadvantage.

c. FVRL Strategic Direction: Encourage customers to use and increase their engagement with library services

d. FVRL Strategic Direction: Work collaboratively with local government, community, and other partners.

2.FVRLGOALS THAT SUPPORT EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION IN BC