We have been informed by the Ministry that provincial funding for e-resources will no longer be available to public libraries effective January 1, 2016. All current Tier 1 vendor agreements will end on December 31st, 2015. In a meeting with senior Ministry staff, including Kevin Finnerty, the ADM at MTCS, he made it very clear that the overall government focus over the next couple of years is eliminating the deficit. Tough decisions had to be made, and the Minister and staff did their best to protect public libraries and the OLSs.
While the Ministry will no longer fund e-resources through a dedicated grant, they have expanded the eligibility criteria for expenses in the OLCF-ITS grant to include e-resources. In the Ministry’s latest announcement regarding the 2015-16 Ontario Libraries Capacity Fund (OLCF)-ITS Grant, please note the following:
Additional information:
– All purchases must be cost-effective, whether sourced locally, through association or consortia purchasingarrangements or Ontario Library Service agency purchasing consortia and discounts.
Therefore, rest assured that SOLS will continue to negotiate for cost effective provincial agreements with digital content providers on behalf of public libraries across the province. We have already met with an e-resources focus group to gather ideas, and will be sending out a survey to all public libraries shortly. It will be critical for all libraries to respond promptly and to think about the kind of content you want to provide to your patrons over the next few years.
Thank you all for your attention and understanding. Please make sure you forward this information to staff working with e-resources in your library.
Barbara
Barbara Franchetto, B.A., M.L.S.
Chief Executive Officer
Southern Ontario Library Service
111 Peter St.,
Suite 902
Toronto, ON
M5V 2H1