BCLTA BULLETIN – Sept 02, 2011
After a quiet summer your BCLTA board has a few things going on that they would like to share.
The Fall edition of the BCLTA Open Door will be published and available online in November.
This summer, I realized that the Summer Reading Club is celebrated in many ways. My eight year old daughter is an active participant in the program. Our local library has a celebration where the Mayor attends and talks about the value of libraries, followed by the Mayor, library Trustees and library staff placing the coveted medal on each deserving child. Only today we found out that my daughter's name was picked from the last weekly draw and she could not stop smiling when she claimed her library bag full of goodies, including a poster and choice of book. I dropped by the Dunbar branch of the Vancouver Public Library a few weeks ago, and each time a child completed their program, a bell was rung loudly and the librarian called out for the entire library to hear, and share the good news, that another child had finished the program. How did your library celebrate the Summer Reading Program? Do you have a special story about your library? A question for our Parliamentarian, John Noonan? Send stories and pictures to mandy@bclta.org.
BCLA, BCLTA and ABCPLD are hosting an early morning clinic at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention next month: Rethinking the Public Library, a title in keeping with the 2011 UBCM Convention theme: Rethink, Replace and Rejuvenate: The New 3 Rs. There were 93 clinic proposals submitted to UBCM this year, and we were one of 15 successful applicants! This will be a perfect opportunity to thank BC’s local governments for their support of public libraries and communicate some of the key trends and recent developments in the sector. Our intent is to inform and inspire and we have an excellent line up of speakers to do just that: Catherine Evans, Chair, Vancouver Public Library; Alix Nicoll, Trustee, Whistler Public Library; Edel Toner-Rogala, Chief Librarian, Burnaby Public Library; Shannon Ellis, Library Director, Pemberton Public Library. Wish us luck on September 27! - Errin Morrison (BCLA)
TOP (Trustee Orientation Program) - workshops in the near future are booked for Hudson's Hope on September 18 and Burnaby November 26. Due to PLSB funding geared to TOP training, BCLTA will discount the registration fee of $175 to $75 for all TOP training and provide expense assistance for those attending a TOP workshop until the grant is used up. Register for TOP at HH or Burnaby at http://www.bclta.org/topreg.asp. Travel subsidy forms can be found at http://www.bclta.org/pdfs/TOPExp_reimb.pdf.
This highly-regarded program is an ideal opportunity for your board to come together to review trustee roles and responsibilities, enhance your board’s effectiveness, and generate new ideas and enthusiasm. Sessions are delivered upon request, so call now to arrange a workshop in your community. To arrange a local session, send an email to admin@bclta.org.
TOP online - for those unable to attend a live TOP workshop, we have also produced an online version of some of the key components of our Trustee Orientation Program. Please note that the online version was developed in 2007 and will be updated by December of 2011.
One of the more frequent requests that the BCLTA receives from members is current information on compensation levels and packages for Director of Library Services or Chief Librarian.
This is understandable since the hiring and retention of the Director is one of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Trustees.
Your BCLTA is in the final stages of developing an on-line compensation survey which will be available to all members who complete the survey. We expect to have sufficient data that any library Chair will be able to get sufficient comparable data.
Changes to the BCLTA Constitution and Bylaws as voted on at the AGM in April have been accepted by the Registrar of BC Companies under the Society Act. You can find the revised version at http://www.bclta.org/bylaws.html.