At the October 17 meeting of the Okanagan Regional Library’s Board of Trustees, board members:
- Approved 2013 budget expenditures in the amount of $16,617,824, an increase of $538,103. Property taxes in municipalities and rural areas within the four regional districts of Central Okanagan, North Okanagan, Columbia Shuswap, and Okanagan-Similkameen will fund approximately 85 per cent of the cost. The library currently serves just over 370,000 residents.
- The new budget includes growing costs for buildings and staff, and an additional $130,000 for the library’s collections, as the library is now providing both digital and print copies of magazines, books, and audio books through its website, www.orl.bc.ca
- Revenue from a lost federal grant for internet access in library branches had to be replaced.
- One new internet technician position will be added in 2013, and $10,000 was added to the training budget, as technology training for staff at all levels is becoming very important.
- Reserve funds will be used for a number of projects in 2013, including replacing the library’s telephone system, and replacing the library’s circulation and cataloguing software. Funding from the board’s Strategic Planning Reserve fund included additional outreach hours for small branches in the library system. Most branch staff are tied to the physical branch, but research for the library board’s strategic plan showed that residents of rural communities wanted their library branches to have stronger connections with their local community, so some community time is being added.
In other business, the board also approved up to $25,000 for a consultant to work with staff on the redesign of Kelowna Branch, to make the branch more comfortable for library users. As the decision to replace an aging carpet had already been made, the board felt it would save money to have a good plan to move book stacks and branch collections around at the same time as the carpeting was replaced.
For more information contact:
Lesley Dieno Executive Director Okanagan Regional Library Tel: 250-860-4033 Ext. 1111 ldieno@orl.bc.ca