Merger of Public Libraries Manitoba Perspective

Legislation Public Libraries Act Part III, Section 29 (1,6, 5) Merger of Municipal Libraries (creation of a regional library system) Merger of Municipal and Regional Libraries Merger of Regional Libraries

Library Board Responsibilities Resolutions to recommend a merger to the municipal council(s) Conveyance Letter from the Library Board to the municipality (Recommendation – Library Board sitting on a steering committee) Notifies vendors and ILS providers of changes to the system Closes out bank accounts

Library Board Responsibilities Final audit and annual narrative reports of the dissolving library system is submitted to PLSB for the ending year Submit library records to municipality for custody Work with Canadian Revenue Agency for termination procedures of a Registered Charity

Municipal Responsibilities By-Law 2 readings –send for approval to the Minister SCH By-Law 3rd reading - appoint municipal representatives to the negotiating committee to arrange a regional library agreement Signs regional library agreement with other municipalities or existing regional library board. Appoint representatives from council and citizen representatives to the new library board. Accepts custody of minutes and records from their dissolving library

Provincial Responsibilities Minister approves the by-law at 2nd reading, which is returned to municipality PLSB receives by-law at 3rd reading for file PLSB receives signed regional library agreement PLSB updates grant application to reflect new/revised library system PLSB works with provincially-managed digital resources to transition new branches into the system.

Steering Committee Responsibilities Reviews documents for the merger from all parties Financial Capital schedules and leases Governance Human Resources Policies

Steering Committee Responsibilities Jointly develops speaking points and publicity to share with staff and public Ensure confidentiality of the process Reports progress of reviewing of documents and the meeting minutes to municipalities and library boards

Library Experiences of Mergers Parkland Regional Library System Rossburn Eriksdale Ste. Rose South Central Regional Library System Manitou

Thank you Denise Weir Regional Library Consultant Public Library Services Branch Sport, Culture, and Heritage Brandon, MB

2017 was an eventful year with an unexpected but very welcome merger agreement between MRL and SCRL. Fall 2016 meeting – casual & informal

Beginnings - January–April – initial contact and getting things sorted out – R.M. of Pembina Council & then the MRL Board.

Moving Forward - May-June – steering committee consisted of original Council members who first contacted us, 2 members of the MRL Board, SCRL Board Chair, Vice-Chair & R.M. of Thompson Citizen rep (rural library similar in size to Manitou). Reviewed MRL documents and shared SCRL budget – spoke about potential costs to merge & benefits to be gained by both parties.

Beginnings - January–April – initial contact and getting things sorted out – R.M. of Pembina Council & then the MRL Board

Agreements – August-September – before we reached the date of signing the merger agreement I was working through a list of things that needed to be done in preparation – email, website, information sharing, not stepping on toes… Many of our online resources are renewed in the fall – new population numbers – increase in our current population was already going to increase some of our costs.

Administration – October – Rebranding of SCRL to include 5 branches - winding down of MRL Board. Current MRL Board Chair was nominated to be citizen rep for the R.M. of Pembina on the SCRL Board. Supported MRL in the announcement of the merger with SCRL.

Fun Stuff – October-November – Time to gets ‘hands-on’ – spending time in the Manitou Library – getting to know their staff – sharing ideas. All-staff in-service – SCRL staff and MRL staff got to meet for the first time – shared ideas and best practices. Supporting Manitou in their PR and Open House.

Getting Ready for Jan 1st – Policy & procedure manual review – staff job descriptions, wages & benefits Manitou Branch hours confirmed- 2018 budget approved in November – staff hiring & training.

SCRL Interests – R. M. of Pembina residents – approximately 50 @ $55 SCRL Interests – R.M. of Pembina residents – approximately 50 @ $55.00 = $2750.00 – Gained R.M. pop of 2347, Provincial $8.50 per capita grant & increase in Collection Development points (5 Branches & 7 Municipalities). SITKA (BC Libraries Cooperative) instrumental in smooth transition.

Items to address early - Early notification of pending renewals – don’t want product to expire – Include copy of signed merger agreement with any request for update to invoicing – saves time later – make a list of all per capita based invoices Review current insurance policies & include new Branch (content insurance) Budget -

Some issues – Budget – had to be prepared both ways – didn’t want to assume anything. Caution with expectations about what policies and procedures MRL were expected to follow – some needed to be followed (showing of patron cards) & some needed to be advertised to Manitou patrons as something that will be coming in 2018 (fines & lost fees).

Issues (con’t) – SCRL cataloguing – best practices according to AACR2 rules – Dewey numbers needed to compatible with SCRl collection. Locations for some items were evaluated differently. Added new staff position in Office – SCRL Board questioned whether it was necessary - regardless of whether MRL joined us we were falling behind in cataloguing Shared resources and systems mean we need to follow policies and procedures as closely as possible to avoid disruption to the other Branches.

Positives to Merging – Good fit – no real extra expenses due to merger – weeded collections had 2nd life – review of current practices to see if they are relevant

Positives to Merging - more staff to share ideas – experienced staff to assist Manitou staff – everyone brings different strengths to SCRL Interbranch loans increase due to addition of Manitou Collection – courier route redrawn to add 5 location pick-up

Summary – Good fit – we truly represent South Central Manitoba – residents are happy & SCRL Board is fully supportive of the changes that have taken place. Win-win all around!