Ontario’s public and First Nations libraries are vital community hubs of literacy, learning and information.  The Ministry of Culture supports innovation in the public library sector through the Library Strategic Development Fund.  In 2007-08, 18 libraries or library organizations are receiving $578,016 through the program.     

The fund strategically invests in projects that enhance the provincial library system as a whole or serve as models for other libraries.  Grants support a wide range of initiatives that contribute to the cultural and economic vitality of our communities, and help Ontarians develop the creativity, knowledge and skills they need to succeed in Ontario’s new innovative economy.

GRANT RECIPIENTS (2007-08)

Big Grassy First Nation Public Library - $45,000
Project: Speak Up for First Nation Public Libraries 
The purpose of the "Speak Up for First Nation Public Libraries" initiative is to develop and deliver a major public awareness campaign.  The project is a major step forward in realizing the Vision for First Nation Public Libraries, set out in Our Way Forward: A Strategic Plan for Ontario First Nation Public Libraries.  Partners for the project include the members of the First Nation Public Library Strategic Plan Implementation Committee, the Ontario Library Association, Ontario Library Service-North and the Southern Ontario Library Service.

East Luther - Grand Valley Public Library - $50,000
Project: Saugeen Library Consortium
A consortium of Southern Ontario libraries will purchase Open Source software instead of proprietary software programs, repositioning themselves to be on the cutting edge of the new interface and current technology.  The consortium partners will provide advice, support and ideas to one another and act as a pilot project.

Hastings Highlands Township Public Library - $38,704
Project: Audio Service Program
The Audio Service Program will promote broader literacy interests for print and literacy challenged individuals by providing access to audio recordings.  Some recordings in the Audio Service Program will be produced locally, including local news and stories, while others will come from the CNIB.  The project is a model of collaboration and partnership among five libraries, Community Care North Hastings and the CNIB.

Kingston-Frontenac County Public Library - $11,626
Project: Got Game? Video games in the library and the community
This library project has two phases. The first phase involves partnering with the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston and the City of Kingston to provide video game programming in the community.  The library will provide the games and hardware necessary to provide the programs in spaces provided by the partner organizations.  The second phase involves building a collection of console video games at the Kingston Frontenac Public Library that will be available for the public to borrow. Space will also be provided within the library for people without their own hardware at home to play games from the library’s collection.

King Township Public Library - $20,325
Project: Digitization of the life of the Rolling and Barnard Families: two African Canadian families who settled in King Township
The purpose of this project is to create and share with the community, local schools, archives and museums, a dedicated webpage that will include audio, photographs, and digitized text to promote and preserve the rich history of King Township.  The project will significantly enhance the public's ability to access the diverse history of King Township through the digitization of the life of the Rolling and Barnard families, two African Canadian families who settled in King Township, a predominately white community, in the 1830s.  The library is partnering with the local archives and museum.

London Public Library - $29,000
Project: Serving Socially Vulnerable Populations in London, Ontario
The London Public Library will design new and enhanced policies, services and processes to better serve the needs of the socially vulnerable.  Ultimately, the library will develop a comprehensive strategy and service model for serving and meeting the needs of socially vulnerable populations within London.  The new model will enrich services and strengthen London neighbourhoods, families and individuals.  The library will be working in partnership with a number of social service organizations and the City of London.

Naotkamegwanning First Nation Public Library - $8,000
Project: Storytelling and Healing for Our Children
This project seeks to magnetize and enhance the library’s capacity by providing emotional health and Native culture resource collections that will improve First Nation students' knowledge, pride in their cultural background, and self-esteem.  The library will partner with Youth and Elder organizations to provide a strong sense of cultural background to the students and community members. 

Ontario Library Service – North - $38,229
Project: Leadership Conference
The OLS-North will develop a multi-day leadership training program geared to the unique needs of Northern Ontario's non-professional public librarians.  The program will foster the development of leaders within the public library community in Northern Ontario, and help senior non-professional library staff become leaders in the communities they serve.The Ontario Library Service North will involve both private and public sector partners in the program.

Ottawa Public Library - $21,750
Project: OPL Newcomer Information Project
The OPL Newcomer Information Project will help to implement one of the directions of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board's Strategic Plan (2008-2011) to provide responsive service to newcomers.  In response to the changing face of Ottawa, and to help build a climate of positive integration, the Ottawa Public Library Board has identified outreach and support for newcomers as one of its top priorities for the next four years.  Major partners include the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library Association, the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization and Ottawa Police Services.

Peterborough Public Library - $48,517
Project: Peterborough Digital Cultural Clearinghouse
In partnership with TEKdesk, a non-profit computer support service for Ontario public libraries, based at the Peterborough Public Library, the library will develop a real-time, user friendly events calendar system for the arts and culture community in the greater Peterborough area.  The goal of the project is to design a complete cultural calendar and mapping solution for Peterborough that can be replicated in libraries across the province to promote the role of culture in communities.

Pickering Public Library - $42,750
Project: Making Pickering Stronger
The purpose of this project is to support the learning and development needs of managers of small to medium-sized businesses in the City of Pickering.  The project will involve a series of free core management programs delivered by instructors from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT).  Improved management skills will lead to innovation, efficiencies and economic stability within the community.

The Corporation of the County of Prince Edward Public Library - $33,600
Project: Presenting the Past
The library will partner with local archives on a program to digitize in word searchable format unique archival holdings with relevance to the history and social development of Prince Edward County.  The library intends to integrate the holdings of the archives into the on-line catalogue of the library, making material more readily accessible to researchers both local and remote.

Southern Ontario Library Service - $49,998
Project: Establish the Advancing Public Library Leadership (APLL) Institute

The purpose of the project is to establish the APLL Institute as an affordable, credible, authoritative training venue for emerging public library leaders in Ontario.  The APLL Institute will address the need for public library leaders with the capacity to build relationships that ensure public libraries are endorsed locally as a valued municipal service, that are well connected to and integrated with other community services.  Partners for the project include the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition and the Centre for Cultural Management of the University of Waterloo.

St. Marys Public Library - $42,000
Project: St. Marys Image Digitization Initiative (SMIDI)
The St. Marys Public Library plans to digitize and make available on its website local history materials from the town’s collection. The SMIDI will put special emphasis on materials relating to the lives of significant people who were born, lived or impacted on the Town of St. Marys.  The library has many partners on the SMIDI project, including community heritage and historical organizations, local museums and archives.

Vaughan Public Libraries - $6,617
Project: Villages to City: An Oral History of Vaughan
Vaughan Public Libraries intends to combine its successful Reading Buddies program, with the need to preserve the community’s heritage and the desire of seniors to participate in an oral history program.  In this new project, school volunteers would be trained in how to conduct an oral history interview, and then paired with seniors willing to be interviewed for the project on digital recording devices.  The Society for the Preservation of Historical Thornhill will partner with Vaughan Public Libraries on the project.

Region of Waterloo Library - $50,000
Project: Community Development 2.0: applying the principles of Web 2.0 to public libraries and their community partners
The project will demonstrate how understanding and applying the principles of Web 2.0 can transform libraries and their community partners, and enable them to contribute more to the cultural and economic vitality of the province. The project will build the capacity of staff to use Web 2.0 tools and principles to better serve clients and community.  The library is partnering with the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries on the project.

Welland Public Library - $15,150
Project: Portable Community Computer Training Lab/Computer Learning
Welland Public Library will purchase laptop computers and develop a series of Information/Computer Literacy programs that can be transported to citizens throughout the community.  The library plans to take the Portable Community Computer Training Lab to seniors centres, recreation centres, schools, rural areas and everywhere else the service is wanted.  The library intends to involve both public and private sector organizations from the community in the project. 

Whitchurch-Stouffville Public Library - $26,750
Project: Digital Alliance Project
The Digital Alliance Project will bring together, preserve, and make widely accessible over the Internet collections of significant materials that relate to the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, its long and rich history and culture, and its prominent people and families.  The project will make available many valuable materials that are fragile, and are not properly conserved, well organized or accessible.  Initial partners in the project include the Whitchurch Stouffville Public Library, the Whitchurch Stouffville Museum and the Sun-Tribune. 

PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMUNITY PEER EVALUATORS

The 2007-08 Library Strategic Development Fund applications were reviewed by a peer evaluation team composed of library representatives from previous grant recipients, Ontario Library Service-North and the Southern Ontario Library Service.  The peer evaluation team members were:

• Rebecca Hunt, CEO, Temiskaming Shores Public Library
• April James, CEO, Lambton County Public Library
• Mette Kruger, First Nation Skills Development Advisor, Ontario Library Service North
• Claire-Marie Paquette-Finlay, Library Consultant, Southern Ontario Library Service
• Kerri M. Robinson, CEO, and Alicia Subnaik-Kilgour, Children and Youth Services Supervisor, Collingwood Public Library
• Jeannette Shields, CEO, Bonfield Public Library
• Paul Walker, CEO, North Bay Public Library