NEWSROOM
December 2022
FOPL and OLA have have drafted a joint letter to Toronto and Ottawa municipal councils regarding the Strong Mayors Act. The intent of this letter was solely to bring to light to Toronto and Ottawa council members important information about the relationship between the exercise of authorities granted in Strong Mayors and the broader statutory framework governing Ontario’s public libraries. The letter will be sent via email this week. I will attach a copy in next month’s member emails. The...
Grants Available for 2023 – Ontario Trillium Foundation
Grants Available for 2023 The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is pleased to announce the grants available for next year to support the essential work of non-profit organizations and grassroots groups across the province. OTF welcomes applications from eligible organizations that provide direct programs and services to Ontarians and whose projects align with the grants they are applying for. Resilient Communities Fund Grant application period 1: Application will be available on January...
Globe and Mail Opinion Piece
Interesting article from the Globe and Mail on the power of Public Libraries - https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-we-cannot-turn-the-page-on-our-commitment-to-public-libraries/
New Caucus – Former Library Leaders
FOPL has created a new Caucus for representation, Former Library Leaders. Former or retired CEOs are invited to join our membership and share with us the wealth of their knowledge and experience. Annual membership is $75 and a seat on the board of directors will be held for representation. Interested persons can email admin@fopl.ca or dinastevens@fopl.ca for membership or more information.
November 2022
Earlier this month, FOPL and OLA sent a joint letter in response to Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act to the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy. Simply put, the government aims to reduce housing costs by reducing fees and charges. This includes development charges, community benefit charges and parkland dedication fees. The goal of the letter was to highlight the importance of development charges to public library capital needs as the bill proposes to make...
Welcome Matthew Corbett!
I would like to share that Matthew Corbett will be joining our Board of Directors! FOPL held an election for a CEO Representative position on the Board of Directors for the Small Medium Caucus. Matthew is the CEO of Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library and brings years of experience championing public libraries to our board. Welcome Matthew! To learn a little bit more about Matthew and his experience, read below: "Throughout my career, I have built library systems, championed equality,...
CFLA’s Indigenous Matters Committee is searching for new members / Le Comité des affaires autochtones de la Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (FCAB) est à la recherche de nouveaux membres
le francais suit CFLA’s Indigenous Matters Committee is searching for new members. We welcome self nominations from interested individuals who are members of a CFLA/FCAB member association. Members must be a member of at least one CFLA-FCAB member organization and will serve on the committee as subject matter experts and not organization representatives. At largest this committee will have 10 members. Members will be selected with the goal of representing across the Canadian Library...
New OLS Governance Resources for Board Members and Municipal Councillors
New Governance Resources Now Available at LibraryGovernance.ca The Governance Hub is an online portal for Ontario's public library board members. The Governance Hub is your first place to look for information and resources related to your duties as a public library board member. The Governance Hub is managed by the Ontario Library Service, with input from the Ontario Library Boards' Association and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries. 10 Things You Need to Know as a New Library Board...
Panel Discussion: Questions or Conformity: Reading Rights for the Right to Learn
Please see the invitation below from the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship: I wanted to invite you and anyone you may think may be interested to our upcoming panel discussion "Questions or Conformity: Reading Rights for the Right to Learn" on libraries and intellectual freedom in Toronto. The Issue: Over the last couple of years there has been a lot of discussion in the library community in North America as to how the traditional liberal values of librarianship (in particular...
October 2022
The province posted its proposed regulations under the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act for consultation, with comments due by October 13th. FOPL and OLA created a brief joint response to this regularly consultation. Of particular interest is some further clarification around the authority to hire or dismiss heads of municipal divisions. The Act references that statutory positions are excluded. While it does not reference the Public Libraries Act by name, the Act includes broader language...