annual report 2015
MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER At the outset of 2015, FVRL confronted immense change: a new chief executive officer had just taken the helm, the entire senior management team was in transition and seven of 15 board members were new. We faced numerous retirements of long-time staff, reorganization in our Finance Department and reengineering in our Client Services area.
Mayor John Van Laerhoven Board Chair
By the end of 2015, much good had been accomplished. FVRL has a strong foundation. We instilled confidence in FVRL among all our member local governments. We rebuilt our financial system, our senior management structure and our Client Services business model. We became stronger, leaner and healthier than we had been in many years. We are creating a new culture of openness, transparency and collaboration. Now we are seen as a leader by our member local governments and our communities, as well as in our library profession. At the beginning of 2015, we accomplished an unprecedented fiscal overhaul. FVRL’s Finance staff completely redesigned both our budget and budget process, thereby generating even greater confidence with our member municipalities. Compelled by the public’s ever-increasing expectations and the rapidly changing marketplace, FVRL’s Client Services staff developed a new customer-focused integrated service model designed to meet emerging community needs, improve
efficiencies, free up desperately needed resources and ensure staff are qualified and able to meet the changing demands. Also, a Library Security Steering Committee was established to address societal/community issues and safety concerns affecting FVRL, with the goal of creating a consistent system-wide approach to library security so that our customers feel comfortable and our library staff feels supported. Our chief executive officer made valuable new connections across the spectrum of his peers, as well as with North America’s library leaders and influencers, and FVRL was favourably profiled as he fulfilled various speaking engagements to library and government leaders. He also hosted a three-hour workshop titled Increasing Certainty in Uncertain Times for FVRL member local government councils and administrators, providing an information-packed program about technology trends and the library’s value to local governments in managing change. The year 2015 was foundational for some FVRL member local governments in understanding the value our libraries bring to their communities. After comprehensive research comparing FVRL with other Canadian libraries, members concluded once again that FVRL is performing well and underscored that FVRL operates frugally while still offering tremendous value to the communities we serve. FVRL established itself once more as an organization and registered charity that is well respected and truly worthy of its funding, as well as the enthusiastic endorsement of its members. Our foundation is solid and strong, the opportunities ahead are boundless, and, with continued wise planning and hard work in the coming year, we will accomplish great things for the communities and people we serve.
Scott Hargrove Chief Executive Officer
our mission
our vision
our values
to connect people to the world of information and ideas
to be an innovative organization that is recognized as a vital community destination and resource for literacy, recreation, and informed decision-making
community development universal access respect for diversity respect for staff collaboration and partnerships innovation and risk-taking
In September 2015 FVRL launched 1000 Stories Before Kindergarten, a new program to get parents and young children reading together. The program is based on research that shows reading with young children helps them build vocabulary and achieve greater success once they start school. The 1000 Stories program provides each child with a special reading log to track reading progress through the first years of life. Children receive stickers and prizes as they advance toward the goal of 1,000 stories.
Food For Fines FVRL’s second annual Food for Fines campaign was a success thanks to the generous support of our customers. The concept was simple: from December 16, 2015 to January 17, 2016, customers could bring non-perishable food items to any FVRL location and have their fines reduced. 2,346 customers participated in the campaign, and over 13,000 non-perishable items were collected for food banks throughout the FVRL service area.
2015 highlights
1000 Stories Before Kindergarten
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2015 highlights
Summer Reading Club
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Summer Reading Club (SRC) is the largest program FVRL offers. In 2015 the theme was Build It. That summer 20,341 people joined FVRL’s reading clubs, and 21,369 attended SRC programs. Customers of all ages look forward to SRC. It’s a chance to read new books, enter contests, win prizes and be rewarded for weekly library visits. Summer Reading Club reaches all FVRL’s customer demographics: children from birth to four years old can join Read to Me SRC, while school-aged children participate in the kids’ SRC. Teens and adults have their own reading clubs, too. The program features several professional performers that both entertain and educate participants.
Dr. Shimi Kang: Dolphin Parenting www.bcsrc.ca Sponsored by the British Columbia Library Association and your local public library with the generous assistance of Libraries Branch, Ministry of Education, and the RBC Foundation. kidssrc.bclibrary.ca • Illustrations by Shayne Letain © 2015 • Design by Roger Handling.
The BC SRC welcomes the participation of all children and their families, and seeks to provide an accessible and fully inclusive program.
In May 2015, FVRL presented its second large-scale author event on an educational/ parenting topic. We were pleased to present Vancouver author Dr. Shimi Kang for speaking events in Delta and Abbotsford. Dr. Kang is an award-winning, Harvardtrained doctor, researcher and media expert. She is the author of The Dolphin Way: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy and Motivated Kids Without Turning Into a Tiger. In her talk, Dr. Kang presented the “Dolphin Way” as a powerful new approach to child rearing. By using collaboration and role modelling, she argued, parents can instill children with a life-long love of learning and teach them the skills needed to thrive in the 21st century. Due to the popularity of this topic, a third date was added, this time in Langley. More than 300 people attended the three events, and audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Reading Link Challenge (RLC) is a province-wide program for students in Grades 4 and 5. It encourages reading as a fun and recreational activity and allows students of all reading abilities to compete in the “sport” of reading. Children develop teamwork and reading retention skills, while solidifying their enjoyment of reading. In 2014/2015, 13 BC library systems participated in the 13th annual Reading Link Challenge. RLC grew in terms of library systems participating, partnering schools and teams enrolled. 4,032 children participated, with a total of 685 teams from 155 schools. This was an approximate increase of 6 per cent in participants, 7 per cent in teams and 9 per cent in schools.
RLC Author Gina McMurchy-Barber Every year FVRL chooses one Reading Link Challenge author to visit students throughout the FVRL service area. In spring 2015 we were delighted to host BC author Gina McMurchy-Barber, whose book Reading the Bones was an official RLC selection. The novel masterfully combines the teen fiction genre with well-researched information about archeology and Coast Salish culture. Gina spoke to 1,542 children and teachers at 15 presentations in 14 FVRL communities. Teachers and students commented on how much they enjoy these visits as a tie-in to the RLC books and a hallmark of the program.
2015 highlights
Reading Link Challenge
2015 highlights
One-Desk Integrated System In 2015 FVRL’s Client Services Department continued the process of integrating our information and checkout services. In some libraries, this meant consolidating staff to a single service point. We updated job descriptions and conducted staff training sessions. The result was a customer services staff who could better respond to our customers’ needs. Now, when a customer needs something at the library, every staff person is the right person to help!
Library Live and On Tour FVRL continues its community development activities with Library Live and On Tour. This innovative, stereotype-shattering literacy initiative delivers FVRL to people who may not know about libraries or have some obstacle to visiting them. The centrepiece is LiLi, a colourful Nissan Cube, complete with a gadget bar that includes laptop computers, eReaders, tablets, Daisy MP3 book players and playaway books. In 2015 Tour Operator Dave Denault drove LiLi throughout our Fraser Valley communities. Besides visiting many underserved populations, LiLi also brought an FVRL presence to high school Get Carded events, farmers markets, Earth Day celebrations and many other happenings throughout the FVRL service area.
FVRL AT A GLANCE, 2015 CIRCULATION
SERVICE AREA+ CARDHOLDERS
PROGRAMS
7,821
DOWNLOADS
PROGRAMS OFFERED
202,010
PROGRAM ATTENDANCE
706,117
SERVICE AREA POPULATION
6,462,744 PHYSICAL ITEMS LOANED
1,029,681
ITEMS RENEWED ONLINE
1,433,003 HOLDS
REFERENCE+ RESOURCES
246,203
295,986
259,542
76,626
34%
3,495,994
60,937
28,860
295,835
EBOOKS DOWNLOADED
AUDIOBOOKS DOWNLOADED
DIGITAL MAGAZINES DOWNLOADED
ACTIVE CARDHOLDERS
ACTIVE CARDHOLDERS AS PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION SERVED
NEW CARDS ISSUED
REFERENCE QUESTIONS
WEBSITE AND CATALOGUE VISITS
PUBLIC ACCESS WORKSTATION SESSIONS
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Statement of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2015 (See FVRL website for a complete copy of the 2015 audited Financial Statements) 2015 Budget
REVENUES
REVENUES Local Government Members
23,307,033
23,307,036
22,687,202
1,385,720
1,426,418
1,428,888
Donations
148,367
148,367
Fees, Fines and Interest
640,124 25,481,244
Provincial Grant
151,457
Donations
0.58%
602,526
630,754
Fees, Fines and Interest
2.36%
25,484,347
24,898,301
Salary and Benefits
69.46%
4,014,312
Library Materials
16.50%
1,146,426
1,386,603
Information Systems
4.63%
783,170
669,231
716,158
Office Expenses*
2.70%
1,718,934
1,662,107
1,714,321
Other
6.71%
25,871,619
24,761,313
25,400,584
(390,375)
723,034
(502,283)
17,569,190
Library Materials
4,020,647
4,086,445
Information Systems
1,327,365
ANNUAL SURPLUS (DEFICIT)
100.00% EXPENSES
17,197,104
Other
91.46% 5.60%
18,021,503
Office Expenses*
Local Government Members Provincial Grant
EXPENSES Salary and Benefits
2015 Actual
2015 Actual 2014 Actual
100.00% * Buildings, Equipment and Office Supplies
BOARD AND STAFF FVRL Board Our board members are elected officials of our member municipalities. We are funded by our member municipalities and through a Government of BC operating grant.
Senior Staff
John Van Laerhoven (Chair) Corisa Bell (First Vice-Chair) Gayle Martin (Second Vice-Chair)
Mayor, District of Kent Councillor, City of Maple Ridge Councillor, City of Langley
Nancy Gomerich Director of Finance
Petrina Arnason Les Barkman Bill Dickey Bill Dingwall Laura Dupont Maria Harris Heather King Megan Knight Chuck Stam Jenny Stevens Sonja Reyerse Wilf Vicktor
Councillor, Township of Langley Councillor, City of Abbotsford Director, Fraser Valley Regional District Councillor, City of Pitt Meadows Councillor, City of Port Coquitlam Director, Metro Vancouver Councillor, Corporation of Delta Councillor, City of White Rock Councillor, City of Chilliwack Councillor, District of Mission Councillor, Village of Harrison Hot Springs Mayor, District of Hope
Scott Hargrove Chief Executive Officer
Cathy Wurtz Director of Organizational Development Heather Scoular Director of Customer Experience Jeff Narver Director of Infrastructure and Resources
Fraser Valley Regional Library Administrative Centre
34589 DeLair Road, Abbotsford, British Columbia, v2s 5y1 Telephone: 604-859-7141 Toll free (within bc): 1-888-668-4141