Library board planning and training resources

The areas of best practice include:

• personnel
• hours of opening
• collection management
• information services
• resource sharing including interlibrary loan
• accessibility
• Indigenous service
• technology
• facilities
• school-housed public libraries

Feedback regarding Best Practices for Alberta Public Libraries is welcome. Contact us to send feedback.

Public Library Services Branch offers online board orientations. During a board orientation, library services staff will present information about the structure of library service and board responsibilities in a 2 hour meeting.

Topics covered include:

• the structure of library service in Alberta, including a brief history of library service in Alberta and the roles of the province, the library system, the municipality and the board in library service delivery
• the role of the board as whole, including essential information from the Libraries Act and Libraries Regulation, and information about the board’s plan of service, policies, bylaws, and budget
• the roles and responsibilities of individual board members

Contact us to request a board orientation.

Library Board Basics workshops presented by the Public Library Services Branch are great for new or experienced board members. All important issues are covered, including the Libraries Act and Libraries Regulation.

The Alberta Library Trustees' Association (ALTA) is the collective voice for library board members across Alberta and promotes effective library service and leadership through training, resources, communication and advocacy.

Board development focuses on improving the governance of non-profit organizations through curriculum-based training for groups on topics like: 

• board roles and responsibilities
• policy development
• effective use of committees

Board development offers multi-board training in the form of open workshops, which are sponsored by any organization on behalf of the larger community anywhere in Alberta.

The workshops are for individual board volunteers and non-profit staff from any non-profit organization as well as anyone generally interested in governance.

Board development also provides a number of helpful resources and workbooks.

Library boards are responsible for planning and they can choose the approach that works best for their situations.

We highly recommend a process called Strategic Planning for Results, which is:

• designed specifically for public libraries, by leading library professionals
• focused on the community and community needs
• straightforward and easy to follow, with detailed instructions

It includes a simple and easy community needs assessment that meets legal requirements, and it defines library service responses that fill community needs.

• Service Planning for Alberta Libraries: A Guide and Workbook – This workbook summarizes the book Strategic Planning for Results and includes document templates and forms.
• Strategic Planning for Results: A One Page Description
• Tasks and steps in the Planning for Results process

Strategic planning workshop resources

• Slideshow: Strategic Planning for Results in Your Library
• Slideshow notes – These notes explain the slideshow for the trainer delivering the workshop.
• Handout: Planning for the Future – Print this handout for all workshop attendees.

• Responding to the Community: A sample library board meeting agenda for after the first (or only) community meeting. It helps a library board respond to the community group's recommendations.
• Goal writing templates: This Goals template from Lac La Biche and this Goal Worksheet from Strategic Planning for Results will help you write goals based on your selected service responses.
• Objective writing templates: This Objectives template from Lac La Biche and this Objective Worksheet from Strategic Planning for Results will help you write objectives that put your goals into action.
• Picking Library Services that Respond to Community Needs – Worksheet: Use this form in your public meetings to have participants pick service responses that respond to community needs.
• Communication Plan: This worksheet will help you write a communication plan at the beginning of the process.
• Community Vision: Use this worksheet in your public meetings to help the group formulate a vision for the ideal future community.
• Select Planning Committee Members: This worksheet will help your board choose the people it wants to invite to determine community needs and library service responses.
• Library SWOT Analysis: This worksheet will help community planning committee members to identify the community's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
   

Keep user records confidential, except when required by law. You must also follow the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

• Sample Confidentiality of User Records Policy

Board members and staff should be oriented when they begin their positions, and attend regular training to keep skills current and keep up-to-date on library trends.

This policy must include direction on reimbursement for attendance at library meetings, conferences, workshops and courses, and for memberships in library associations.

• Sample Board Orientation and Continuing Education Policy
• Sample Staff Orientation and Continuing Education Policy

Library boards have full management and control of their libraries. They have a legal responsibility to manage their finances. Your policy must include directions on reimbursement of expenses and a list of signing officers.

• Sample Finance Policy

Your personnel policies must include:

• job descriptions for employees and volunteers
• directions on performance appraisals for employees and volunteers
• qualifications for staff positions
• working hours
• conditions of employment
• a grievance procedure

If you hire staff, your board is an employer and has all the associated legal responsibilities. You must follow employment laws and regulations including the Employment Standards Code and Regulation, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the federal Human Rights Act.

• Sample Personnel Policy
• Sample job descriptions for library manager and library volunteer

This policy must include directions on the selection, acquisition, purchase and disposition of library resources of all kinds (books, magazines, DVDs, and so on). This policy must also include a section on gifts and donations.

• Sample collection development policy

Sharing resources with other libraries greatly increases the amount of materials your library users can access. This policy must include a statement on participation in the provincial Public Library Network and the conditions that apply to library resources and information acquired from other libraries.

• Sample Resource Sharing Policy