FOPL Members:

Your annual invoice to renew your Federation of Ontario Public Libraries / Fédération des Bibliothèques de L’Ontario were mailed this past weekend and are arriving today and this week!

It promises to be an exciting year for our community.  Never has there been a more important time for us to collaborate on a province-wide basis.

As you’re aware the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport, as part of the many recommendations from Ontario’s First Culture Strategy, will be conducting a Public Library Funding Review in 2017.

FOPL is ready!  We have prepared, using your investments in FOPL, over the past few years by having our statistics in order on a province-wide basis, building and starting a public library marketing and tagline plan, and having the data from our public opinion surveys current.

This review promises to be an exciting opportunity.  We need your library as a member so that we can communicate with One Voice from our sector.

We are building a strong collaboration throughout our community including OLA, OPLA, OLBA,  CULC, AMPLO, CELUPL, and ARUPLO in consultation with SOLS and OLS-North.

In the coming weeks you’ll receive a discussion paper of the items we believe are worthy of review with respect to the provincial support and funding of our province’s public libraries.  It has been endorsed by the full coalition of organizations and associations that support and represent our interests.

You will also be invited to attend consultation(s) led by the Ministry and one, in particular at The OLA Super Conference on the afternoon of February 1st, 2017 when we can share stories and perspectives on the value and impact of public libraries in support of Ontario residents.

The FOPL AGM is on Feb. 2, 2017 at 4 p.m.  You need to be a member to vote and be heard.  We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at both events.

Thank you for your support.

 

[Attached is a better MemberRenewalLetter2017Final due to a failed mail merge with the old doc.  Apologies)

Stephen Abram

Executive Director, FOPL

sabram@fopl.ca