Edmonton Public Library
1999 Annual Report

Chair's Message
As our society faces great changes, so too does the public library. In 1999, trustees of the Edmonton Public Library Board worked with the Library's Executive Team and all the staff to develop Vision for 2005, the Alberta Centennial Year: Strategic Directions for the Edmonton Public Library 1999 -2005, a road map to guide the Library in the new millennium.
Technological change affects all aspects of society, including the Library. The need for wide access to the knowledge and cultures of the world is ever increasing and tremendous changes are taking place locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally. And yet the role of the Library as the centre for independent learning remains the same, even though the methods of delivering the information and knowledge may change.
The Edmonton Public Library received tremendous support from the community while we strove to broaden library access to the world of knowledge for all Edmontonians. The "Foundations of Learning" capital fundraising campaign was successful in reaching its target of raising $1. 6 million from the community that allowed us to develop three new branches - Lessard (1996), Penny McKee in Abbottsfield (1997) and the third branch to open in Riverbend in 2000.
The Edmonton Public Library played a key role in building networks - in regional, provincial, and national library communities, as an anchor member of the Arts District, and as a partner in promoting literacy, business, arts, cultural, and community information.
I was honoured to have served as chair of the Edmonton Public Library Board for the past two years. It was a pleasure to work with so many innovative and dedicated people on the Library's staff. It was a joy to represent the Library in many functions and events and to have met so many people from different walks of life whose lives were touched by our Library.

Don Carmichael, Chair

Edmonton Public Library Board of Trustees, 1999

Director's Message
The Edmonton Public Library has a proud tradition of innovation. We were the first in Canada and North America to operate a mobile library in 1942, and led the way in 1979 by being the first library in Canada to have a fully integrated computerized circulation system and catalogue. In the following pages of this report, you will read more about the accomplishments of the Library and Library staff.
In this Information Age, knowledge grows exponentially. Library workers are more important than ever, acting as bridges between information seekers and the vast universe of information available. One of the goals of the Edmonton Public Library is to work with community partners to develop networks that will lever both the traditional services and the new electronic resources. In this way, we can expand Edmontonians' effective access to information and knowledge in their personal, business, and public lives. The strategic direction plan we have developed for the new millennium, in conjunction with the Board and staff, reflects an emphasis on customer service. We want to ensure that customers have access to effective, functioning, and user-friendly hardware and software to get the information they need, when they need it.
I feel increasingly privileged to work with such dedicated staff to achieve the mission of the Library, and I would also like to thank the trustees of the Library Board and members of City Council for their support in helping the Library provide an essential public service to Edmontonians.

Linda C. Cook

Director of Libraries

1999 Annual Report

Highlights
Mission for the New Century

The Library updated its mission statement: "Edmonton Public Library connects the people of Edmonton to the knowledge and cultures of the world", and produced the Strategic Directions report, which gave the Library a road map to take advantage of new technologies in providing excellent customer service, while remaining flexible and capable of change.

The Library's new mission statement poster is displayed in public areas of all 15 library locations.

Sod Turned for New Riverbend Branch

The Library received tremendous support from the community and met the fundraising target to build a new branch in Riverbend. A sod turning ceremony was held on August 26th in Riverbend Square and was attended by the Hon. Dave Hancock, Minister of Justice and Attorney General and MLA for Edmonton Whitemud, Councillors Bryan Anderson, Larry Langley, Brian Mason, Jim Taylor, and other dignitaries. The new branch will open in spring, 2000.

Face Lift for Milner Library

Under the guidance of the City's Asset Management and Public Works, the Library started a capital improvement project to waterproof the 32-year-old Stanley A. Milner Library, with an addition of 11,000 square feet in the North Plaza. The expansion and renovations will provide customers with better access to collections and services and streamline workflow for staff.

The revamped and expanded Children's Library, is scheduled to open in spring, 2000.

Interior renovations for Information Services and building of the Heritage Room to house the Library's Canadiana Collection, will start in spring, 2000.

The addition of an elevator and ramps in the basement and main floor will give better wheelchair and stroller accessibility to customers.

Partnerships

Four public library boards in the Metro Edmonton area - Edmonton, Fort Saskatchewan, St. Albert, and Strathcona County (Sherwood Park), initiated a pilot, funded by Alberta Community Development and managed by the Edmonton Public Library, to provide daily delivery of materials in the Metro area. Reciprocal cardholders enjoy the convenience of borrowing and returning materials from any of these libraries.

Edmonton FreeNet, in co-operation with the Library, rolled out graphic access stations at all library locations in August, providing customers with capabilities of e-mail, chat rooms, Internet browsing, and creation of web pages.

The Library worked with partners, including Athabasca University, City of Edmonton, Edmonton Public and Catholic Schools, Edmonton Community Adult Learning Association, Grant MacEwan College, NorQuest College, and University of Alberta, to present "Read On Edmonton", a week-long campaign (October 3rd to 8th) to promote the value of reading and learning.

The Library was a sponsoring partner of the Small Business Week in Edmonton (October 24th - 30th), with Western Diversification Canada, Alberta Economic Development, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, the Business Link, the Business Development Bank of Canada, Alberta Venture, ADTEL, a telecommunications company, and BDO Dunwoody LLP, a management/ accounting firm.

On November 30th, the Milner Library's Boardroom was the site for a videoconference on e-commerce involving six other sites: Washington, DC, Cornwall, North Bay, Kitchener, Oakville, and Windsor. Facilitated by Alberta Community Development, the conference covered topics such as impact on municipal services, community, payment, legal and privacy issues, providing invaluable insight to the Library for introduction of new electronic services.

Library on the Internet

325,721 visits were made to the Library's web site in 1999, an increase of close to 60 per cent compared to 1998.

The number of computers available for public use increased to 73, in part through funding and support from the federal government's Community Access Program, the Alberta Public Library Electronic Network, and Edmonton FreeNet. These partnerships allowed the Library to make open Internet access available at all 15 locations. Guidelines for acceptable use of the Internet in the Library were developed and provided to users.

The Library started a pilot project to provide E-Reference (reference by e-mail), available to customers 24 hours a day. The Library's service is one of only 14 sites in the world being listed in Yahoo's "reference by e-mail" category. This service is available to customers in 2000 at the Library's web site, www.epl.ca

Kids Love the Library

Summer Reading Club '99, Discover the World at Your Library, was attended by 11,319 children, who collectively read over 3.5 million minutes (close to 60,000 hours) during the summer.

4,503 grade four students participated in 155 tours conducted by all 15 library locations in the Card for Every Kid campaign, resulting in 2,157 children signing up as library members for the first time. Close to 1,600 students had return visits to the Library during the 1998/ 99 school year.

13,646 Edmonton students from grades four to twelve, representing 24 per cent of the total participants in two Canadian provinces and five American states -Alberta, British Columbia, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington -participated in the Pacific Northwest Library Association's Young Reader's Choice Award program. The students read and voted for their favourite books in this program that promoted life-long reading for enjoyment.

Edmontonians Love their Library

3,982,636 visits were made to the Library's 15 locations.

7,449,403 items were borrowed.

926,493 questions were answered.

131,743 people attended 3,814 public programs at all 15 library locations.

133,031 new books and 18,360 AV materials were added to the collections, including 6,291 donated items.

Awards and Recognition

Smart Search, an in-depth business information service, won the Creative Public Library Service Award, presented at the Alberta Library Conference. The award citation noted the Library service's contribution in "helping to make Edmonton a Smart City".

Library trustee Dennis Denis, chair of the capital fundraising campaign, "Foundations of Learning", was presented with the Outstanding Trustee Award by the Alberta Library Trustees. The campaign successfully raised $1.6 million from the community to build three new libraries - Lessard (1996), Penny McKee - Abbottsfield (1997) and Riverbend (2000).

The Library design team received the Mayor's Award for Accessible Architecture for the Lessard Branch.

Lachlan Bickley, Manager of Electronic Technology Development and Services, was one of 10 Canadians selected to attend an international Duke of Edinburgh Award conference in Ireland. This meeting enabled young people around the world to exchange ideas, share experiences, and participate in training to prepare them for leadership in the next century.

Commitment to Quality Customer Service

Learning and development of staff is a major component in the Library's Strategic Directions Report, providing staff with necessary skills to offer excellent customer service. Close to 40 internal courses ranging from new applications in electronic technology, to communications and team building were offered. There were 136 staff members who participated in external seminars.

A new workshop on proactive management skills was offered to management staff, based on the Library's corporate values and management style statements.

Donations and Grants to Library

Friends of the Edmonton Public Library presented a cheque for $50,000 to help with the building fund for the Heritage Room, designed to house the Canadiana collections in the Stanley A. Milner Library.

The Chinese Freemasons, Edmonton Chapter, co-hosted a special event in a Chinese restaurant featuring a "karaoke" fundraiser and presented a cheque for $5,672.96 to the Library to help build the Riverbend Branch.

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Free Masons, Valley of Edmonton Chapter, presented a cheque for $7,000 to the Library's Penny McKee Branch in Abbottsfield to enrich its children's collections.

The Library received a total of $325,000 from the Alberta Government's Community Facility Enhancement Program for assistance in building the Riverbend Branch and renovating the Stanley A. Milner Library.

$250,000 was granted by the Edmonton Community Lottery Board for renovations of the Milner Library.

Volunteers are Library Advocates

With the help of 250 volunteers, the Library raised $35,000 from the Fringe Paperback Booksale in August and the Annual Booksale in October.

Over 500 children in Riverbend participated in read-a-thons, distributed fund raising brochures, organized bottle drives, bake sales, penny carnivals and other events to raise funds for their branch. The Library raised $14,700 from the read-a-thons.

Library in the News

Woodcroft Branch was the featured location for ITV's First News live broadcast on March 1st, with the Library given an opportunity to promote its collections, services, programs, and fundraising campaign to thousands of viewers.

University of Alberta Libraries and the Edmonton Public Library held a joint media event to launch The Alberta Library Card, giving members access to each other's book collections as well as access to 8 million items in collections of over 200 libraries across Alberta. Response from the public was overwhelming, resulting in over 540 TAL card applications processed within the first week of the launch.

Advertising Library Membership Benefits

The Library organized multimedia advertising campaigns to promote the benefits of library membership, titled "Join the Library and Invest in Your Mind", in the Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, Edmonton Examiner, Alberta Parent, Commerce News, A Channel, CFRN-TV, ITV, as well as various community, arts, and tradeshow publications.

A joint promotion was organized in May and June to coincide with the spring advertising campaign. Library members benefited from discounts offered by the co-sponsors, Shaw Cable and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT).

FOIP in the Library

On October 1st, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) came into effect for all public libraries in Alberta. The Edmonton Public Library meets all the requirements of FOIP and has informed its customers of its application through printed literature, forms, and customer service staff.


1999 Board of Trustees
Prof. Don Carmichael, Chair
Ms. Rose-Marie Cassis, Vice-Chair
Mr. Tajesh (TJ) Adhihetty
Prof. Marco L. Adria
Mr. Edrick Andrews
Mr. Cal Bricker (to January, 1999)
Mr. Dennis Denis
Mr. Jason Ding
Ms. Dawn Fargey (from April, 1999)
Councillor Brian Mason
Ms. Michele L. Toma (from April, 1999)
Mr. J. Michael Warmington (to April, 1999)

New Trustees in 2000
Ms. Alison F. M. Faid
Mrs. Ann Dea

Stanley A. Milner, A. O. E., B. SC., LL. D.

Stanley A. Milner's years of work on behalf of the Edmonton Public Library were celebrated when the downtown library was named in his honour on June 12, 1996. In naming the building, the Library's Board of Trustees stated that they were acknowledging Mr. Milner's years of dedicated service to promote libraries and life-long learning in our community.
Mr. Milner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chieftain International, Inc., was the chair of the Edmonton Public Library Board of Trustees from 1963 to 1968 and a City Councillor from 1961 to 1963. It was during his term as chair of the Library Board that he spearheaded the construction of the main library as the City's project to celebrate Canada's centennial in 1967. The centennial library project was never named and the Library Board deemed it fitting to name the downtown library in honour Mr. Milner, who dedicated five years to ensure its successful completion.
Mr. Milner's dedication to the public library has continued over the years. More recently, he served as Honorary Chair of the Edmonton Public Library's first capital fundraising campaign, "Foundations of Learning". Launched in 1995 and completed in 1999, the campaign successfully raised $1. 6 million to build three new libraries in Edmonton - Lessard (1996), Penny McKee in Abbottsfield (1997), and Riverbend (2000). In 1999, Mr. Milner signed on for further service on behalf of the Library when he agreed to chair a campaign to be launched in 2000 to raise funds for major interior renovations to the library named in his honour.
Among Mr. Milner's many achievements have been: Board Chair Emeritus of the University of Alberta, an inductee in 1997 into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame and a member of the World Presidents Organization. He was awarded the Alberta Order of Excellence in 1995.

Statement of Revenue and Expense

For the year ended December 31, 1999 with comparative figures for 1998

		1999		1998
Revenue:
Grants:
City of Edmonton		$16,280,000		$15,304,000
Province of Alberta		2,483,713		2,483,713
Annual registration fees		664,777		672,173
Fines and charges		648,102		655,364
Interest		96,218		112,429
Copiers		64,016		71,801
Book Sale		45,000		50,610
Other		59,603		68,484
		$20,341,429		$19,418,574
Expenses:
Salaries:		$12,771,544		$12,100,241
Books and library materials		2,887,000		2,750,930
Supplies		1,783,294		1,698,680
Maintenance of properties		1,498,743		1,515,399
Property rentals		1,314,623		1,223,507
		$20,255,204		$19,288,757
Excess of revenue over expense		$86,225		$129,817

Collections and Services

		1999		1998
Visits to Library		3,982,636		4,033,742
Items Borrowed		7,449,403		7,506,374
Adult		4,843,887		4,925,500
Juvenile		2,605,516		2,580,874
In-House Collections Use		2,148,750		2,425,750
Questions Answered		926,493		1,006,386
Programs Presented		3,814		4,002
Program Attendance		131,743		131,009
Collections Bought		239,664		232,594
Magazine Subscriptions		1,300		1,300
Total Collection		1,522,740		1,456,191
Population of Edmonton		648,284		636,096*
Number of Libraries		15		15

* Estimate by Planning and Development, May 1998

EDMONTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
7 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2V4