Who's in charge?

You've probably seen this scene before, many times: A disgruntled customer walks up to a service counter and shouts, "I want to speak to the person in charge!"

But in a public library, who is in charge?

For all practical purposes, the library manager--the CEO--is in charge of the day-to-day operations, but the CEO also answers to a higher authority.

The key piece of legislation here is the Ontario Public Libraries Act.  The Act states that each municipality must provide its citizens with public library service. If is it a small municipality and feels it cannot afford to support a library of its own, it must contract with a neighbouring municipality, so that its constituents will have library access.  This used to be a fairly common practice in small rural communities, but since the round of municipal amalgamations in 2001, it has become less common and perhaps less necessary.

Library governance is vested in a group of library trustees. The trustees, who form the Library Board, are volunteers who are appointed by municipal council for a four-year term of office concurrent with the term of Council.  Trustees have to apply to be on the Board, just like any other job, and Council sifts through the resumes submitted and chooses the applicants they think will best serve the community in this capacity. Council also appoints one or more of its own members to sit on the Board, but the councillors cannot form a majority.

The Board is responsible for the big picture.  They decide on policy, create the budget, set operational goals, and plan for future library service.  They also hire and evaluate the performance of the library's CEO.  The Act requires that every library in Ontario have a CEO, though the title sounds a little pompous, and some libraries prefer to substitute the term "chief librarian" or "library director."  The CEO is responsible for taking the Library Board's big picture and translating this into practical day-to-day actions. For example, if the Board determines that its goal is to offer more services to senior citizens, then it is the CEO's responsibility to decide how that will be accomplished--what programs will be offered, what library materials purchased--and all within the confines of an agreed budget and current levels of staffing.

We are blessed with a very active and involved Library Board here in Collingwood.  They have very impressive credentials. If a community gets the volunteers it deserves, then we are a very fortunate community indeed.  You can find out more about our Board and our library policies on our website. The Board meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month, and Board meetings are open to the public. Minutes of past Board meetings are also public documents and can be found on our website. Our Board is starting to work on a four-year strategic plan for the library, so you will probably be hearing more from them in the coming months as they seek public input on the future of library service in Collingwood

So who is in charge? Ultimately, you are, since it was you who elected your Mayor and Council, and it was they who appointed your library board of trustees. If you are keenly interested in public libraries, consider putting your name forward as a trustee during the next municipal election.