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Appointed to the Library Board? What you need to know as a municipal councillor.

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The Four Year Board Cycle

Upcoming Events

10 Things to Know

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Four Year Board Cycle

The Governance HUB is organized around a 4-year life cycle for public library boards, aligned with Ontario’s 4-year board and council terms. Below you will see the theme and some sample topics for each of the 4 years.

By no means prescriptive, the 4-year cycle is designed to offer boards suggestions for developing a work plan. A balanced work plan should consider the board’s education needs as well as the scheduling of tasks to meet the intended goals of the board.

You can access the resources by clicking on any one of the Year Boxes below.

Resources to assist with board orientation are part of Year 1 and include suggestions for successfully orienting new board members.

Upcoming Events

Board Assembly Meetings

Serving municipalities of under 2,500 residents
  • Tuesday, November 7
Serving municipalities over 75,000 residents
  • Wednesday, November 8
Serving municipalities between 2,500 and 4,999 residents
  • Thursday, November 9
Serving municipalities between 5,000 and 9,999 residents
  • Tuesday, November 14
Serving municipalities between 10,000 and 19,999 residents
  • Wednesday, November 15
Serving municipalities between 40,000 and 74,999 residents
  • Wednesday, November 15
Serving municipalities between 20,000 and 39,999 residents
  • Thursday, November 16
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10 Things to Know About Being a Library Board Member

These 10 statements constitute an overview of the most important aspects of library board governance in the province of Ontario. Each of the statements represents an important governance concept or an environmental factor that is crucial for board members to understand.  Collectively, the statements are important because they contribute to effective library boards and successful libraries.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the rules for holding a library board meeting by virtual/remote participation?

Ontario Library Service staff have prepared the following document that outlines things to consider when holding a public library board meeting electronically.

What is the GovernanceHUB?
What is the Four-Year Board Cycle?
I am a new board member. Where do I start?
What is the role of the Library Board?
What are library board policies? And what is my role in developing policies?
What is governance? What is the difference with operations or management?
What is the library board’s authority?
There are so many acronyms in the library sector. Is there a list of them?
What is the relationship between the library board and the municipality?
How does the library board assess its performance?
What is the Public Libraries Act?

About Us

The Governance Hub is an online portal for Ontario's public library board members. The Governance Hub is your first place to look for information and resources related to your duties as a public library board member. The Governance Hub is managed by the Ontario Library Service, with input from the Ontario Library Boards' Association and the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries.

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The Ontario Library Service was established in 2021 and is mandated to deliver programs and services on behalf of the Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport by:

  • Increase cooperation and coordination among Public Library boards and other information providers in order to promote the provision of library services to the public
  • Assist Public Library boards and First Nations public libraries by providing them with services and programs that meet their needs including consulting, training and development services.
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The Ontario Library Association (OLA) is the oldest continually-operating non-profit library association in Canada, with over 5,000 members comprised of library staff and supporters from the public, school, academic, and special libraries.

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The Ontario Library Boards' Association (OLBA) is a division of OLA that represents public library board members (trustees) on issues relating to their areas of responsibility.  The work of the OLBA is primarily to build a professional development (training) program that is responsive to common issues of common concern

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The Federation of Ontario Public Libraries (FOPL) represents 246 public library systems in Ontario, including 45 First Nations public libraries, in communities throughout the Province