The following letter was sent by FOPL to Minister Chan today. Although we know you’re planning on doing this, we’d like to remind all CEOs and Library board members that it’s a fine idea to send congratulatory notes to ‘our’ Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport which hosts the libraries branch, the public library operating grant, public library data collection, and so much more. This letter may serve as a start to craft your own.
June 16, 2014
Honorable Michael Chan
Minister
Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport
9th floor, Hearst Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto, ON M7A 2E1
Dear Minister Chan:
RE: Congratulations
Congratulations on winning your seat in the Markham Unionville riding and being part of the new Liberal majority government.
The Federation of Ontario Public Libraries has been impressed with your leadership of the Ontario Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport. We are especially thankful for your support of funding initiatives for public libraries in Ontario. We hope that you remain ‘our’ cabinet minister in the new government.
We are looking forward to the reintroduction of the last proposed provincial budget which contained a 3 year, $10 million Ontario Libraries Capacity Fund. As the budget documents noted:“Recognizing the key role that public libraries play in delivering and supporting important community programs, the government will provide an additional $10 million over the next three years to help achieve IT improvements across the public library sector, improve service delivery, and encourage more research and innovation.”
The Federation of Ontario Public Libraries wants to commend you for this initiative which recognizes the clear difference that public libraries in Ontario make on the social, economic and learning fabric of our province. We believe that the proposed three year innovation fund will have a lasting impact on the capacity of public libraries to continue to thrive and succeed in supporting all Ontarians and have a measurable impact on the success of Ontario and Ontarians.
Congratulations and thank you again for your support with this initiative and of public libraries in our province.
Sincerely,
Stephen Abram, MLS
Executive Director
Cel: 416-669-4855
Cc: Shelagh Paterson, Executive Director, Ontario Library Association
Kevin Finnerty, ADM, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport