FOPL News

Our brand new website and Member Portal is poised to benefit our members and the broader industry for years to come.

Three new members joined the FOPL Board at our AGM on April 24. Welcome to Marianne LaBerge, Chantal Gingras, and Laura Carter! Marianne LaBerge joins us as a Trustee for the Northern Caucus. Marianne is a board member of the Blind River Public Library. She is retired from the Greater Sudbury Police Service where she…

FOPL would like to welcome Ben Liu to the FOPL Board! Ben Liu is the Executive Director of the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, where he leads the School’s financial, operational, and programmatic strategy and oversight. A long-time Toronto resident with over 25 years of experience in public education and capacity building, he serves…

An update from FOPL's Executive Director on recent work.

I am pleased to share an update on FOPL’s recent advocacy activities and initiatives over the past few months. Our work continues to focus on strengthening the profile of Ontario’s public libraries, advancing advocacy priorities, and providing meaningful services to our members. Conference Engagement & Tradeshow Activity AMO Conference (August 2025) FOPL had a strong…

FOPL would like to welcome Moe Hosseini-Ara to the FOPL board! Moe Hosseini-Ara is currently the City Librarian at Toronto Public Library, where he is responsible for leading North America’s largest library system. Moe has worked in libraries for over 30 years in a variety of positions in both a public and academic settings. He…

I am thrilled to share with you the official launch of the FOPL Strategic Plan 2025–2029, a bold roadmap that sets our priorities and direction for the next several years. This plan reflects months of consultation with members, partners, and stakeholders, and is built around a shared vision of a thriving, innovative public library sector…

Conference Engagement & Tradeshow Activity AMO Conference (August 2025) FOPL had a strong presence at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Ottawa this summer. We were joined by the Ontario Library Service ED Mellissa D’Onofrio-Jones and together our booth served as a gathering point of discussion for municipal leaders across Ontario. Many…

Please welcome Sarah Douglas-Murray, FOPL’s new Large Urban Caucus Trustee! Sarah currently serves as the CEO and Chief Librarian of Milton Public Library, where she leads one of Canada’s fastest-growing and most innovative library systems. With over 25 years of municipal leadership experience, she brings deep expertise in strategic planning, facility development, programming, and public…

Hope you’re all keeping warm during this cold snap! We’ve been busy over at FOPL and I have a few updates to share. This week we submitted our Pre-Budget Submission for the 2025-26 budget cycle to the Ministry of Finance (here). The document highlights the need for increased funding and support for public libraries through…

The biggest news of course is the latest cabinet shuffle resulted in major changes for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and (now) Gaming. Early last month the province announced that the Hon. Stan Cho would become the new Minister for Tourism and Culture, retaining his OLG responsibilities from his previous ministry. The sport portfolio was…

Please join us in welcoming Sarah Vaisler as our new Large Urban Caucus CEO Representative! Sarah joined the Ajax Public Library team in March 2020, as the Chief Librarian and Executive Officer. Prior to her position with Ajax, Sarah served as the Deputy Director at Clarington Public Library. With 18 years of experience, Sarah brings…