The Guelph Public Library Board took the summer off and slid right into the serious business of budgeting Monday night. As you will see below, the library became the first board and shared service to pass their 2024 budget, and that means city council will be handed a request for a 8.77 per cent increase for next year. What does that mean and why the big bump? You will find out be scanning the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Library Board Approves Big Boost to the Budget for 2024”
As usual, the month wraps up with a meeting of the Guelph Public Library Board. Since the board last met in mid-June ground was broken on the new main library building on Baker Street so it will be interested to get that update this month after a summer off. Also, we will look ahead to the more immediate concerns of next year’s library budget, both operating and capital, and we will also get the usual reports. Here’s what is coming up for September’s meeting. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Public Library Board for September 25, 2023”
It took 16 years to get here. On Monday, a little over a week in advance of the 15th annual Big Book Sale, the Friends of the Guelph Public Library issued a large novelty cheque to Guelph Public Library staff members. While the massive cheque wasn’t legal tender, the amount was real. After 14 book sales, $1 million has been donated to the cause of building a new main library. Continue reading “Library Friends Finally Get to Give Big Cheque to Library”
If it was hard for the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors to get through their meeting on Monday night, it would have surely been because they were almost 12 hours away from the groundbreaking for the new library building (and the rest of the Baker District Redevelopment). The business was done just the same though as the board looked at the mid-year report, reviewed the 2022 financials, and more. Continue reading “RECAP: Library Board Takes Care of Business Before Groundbreaking”
This month’s meeting of the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors is the beneficiary of perfect timing. It had to be moved to accommodate the schedule of some members, and as fate would have it, the new meeting date is just over 12 hours before the groundbreaking on the Baker Street Redevelopment, which includes the new library building. That business, plus so much more, will be discussed at this last meeting before summer break. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Public Library Board for June 19, 2023”
The business of managing the City of Guelph goes beyond the confines of the council chambers, so starting this year Guelph Politico has expanded its meeting coverage to nine local boards and shared services committees. It’s five months now, and a lot of different business has been done in those first five months, so we’re going to stop and use this podcast to do a high-level overview. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #376 – The Year at Committees So Far…”
The last committee meeting of the month is the board of directors of the Guelph Public Library, and given the warm summer weather outside, it should come as no surprise that the agenda was kind of light. There’s not much in the way of news about that new library project, but there was discussion about why that new library building is important, especially if you’ve ever been on a waitlist for a library program or activity. Continue reading “RECAP: Library Board Hears that Programs’ Demand Exceeds Capacity”
It’s the last committee meeting of the month, the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors. It looks to be a fairly light meeting in terms of agenda items, but to borrow a popular phrase that was probably once on a poster in the the library, “knowledge is power.” So this coming Monday, we will get more powerful with an update about the business of managing the local library system. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Public Library Board for May 29, 2023”
This month, the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors focused on staffing matters. The annual HR report was among the presentations, and it does seem like the people working for our local library system are happy with their jobs. Speaking of those jobs, they will be changing in the years to come as staff prepares to move into some new accommodations on Baker Street, and there was some progress reported there too. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Library Board Tackles HR Concerns and Their Friends”
Every month the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors meets to talk about the latest issues facing all the various branches and programs in the library system. From covering a very diverse and active library community to the politics and pressures of building a brand new main library building on Baker Street, there’s always a lot to talk about at the board, and this is what’s coming up this month. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Public Library Board for April 24, 2023”
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