TORONTO (March 28, 2013) – The Toronto Public Library Board met last
night at Toronto Reference Library. A summary of key topics discussed follows.
Youth Board Members
One
of the ways Toronto Public Library strives to ensure that it offers a welcoming
and relevant environment for youth is by involving young people in the
planning, delivery and evaluation of its services.
The
Board regularly discusses matters that would benefit from a young person’s perspective,
including policy considerations relating to open hours, internet access, terms
and conditions for users and youth programming.
To
that end, the Board carried a motion to request staff to
investigate the feasibility of appointing two youth Board members to attend and
participate in Board meetings as non-voting members.
Library
staff will report back to the Board in September 2013.
Increasing Public
Access to Board Meetings
The
Board also carried a motion to request staff to
report to the Board in September 2013 on the feasibility of providing live
webcasts of Board meetings and providing access to broadcasts of previous
meetings on the library’s website in the interest of widening public access to
the meetings.
Staff
were also asked to explore the feasibility of occasionally holding Board
meetings at various library branches, including each of the four quadrants of
the city.
Accessibility for Persons with Disability
The Board approved the revised Access for
Persons with Disability Policy,
which was updated to incorporate
new requirements that came into effect for public libraries on January 1, 2013.
The Library has met its legislative
requirements for 2013 and is committed to meeting or exceeding the requirements
of the Accessibilty for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act.
As part of this process, Toronto
Public Library conducted public consultations to understand residents’ needs
and to increase outreach and awareness of services and accommodation for
persons with disabilities. The Library is responding to suggestions made
through the consultation, including the addition of closed captioning on videos
on its website and working to increase the range and amount of available
e-content, including e-books and e-audio.
Toronto Public Library Foundation
Gordon Hinch and Heather Rumball,
President, Toronto Public Library Foundation, made a presentation about the
Pauline Hinch Endowment Fund. This award recognizes and encourages the endeavours
of staff members seeking to qualify as a librarian by providing a full or
partial scholarship. The Board passed a motion to support the fund, as well as
the Foundation fundraising efforts in general.
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Media contact:
Ana-Maria Critchley, 416-393-7212, media@torontopubliclibrary.ca
Toronto Public Library is the world's busiest
urban public library system. Every year, 19 million people visit our branches
in neighbourhoods across the city and borrow 32 million items. To learn more
about Toronto Public Library, visit our website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or
call Answerline at 416-393-7131. To get the most current updates on what's
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