1. Merger of Public Libraries Manitoba Perspective

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

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

8. 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

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

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

27. 2017 was an eventful year with an unexpected but very welcome merger agreement between MRL and SCRL.
Fall 2016 meeting – casual & informal

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

29. 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.

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

31. 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 – , 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.

32. 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.

33. 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.

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

35. SCRL Interests – R. M. of Pembina residents – approximately 50 @ $55
SCRL Interests – R.M. of Pembina residents – approximately $55.00 = $ – 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.

36. 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 -

37. 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).

38. 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.

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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!