The Devil’s night was in the details at the monthly meeting of the Guelph Public Library Board of Directors on Monday evening, and many of the details were behind the closed doors of the in-camera portion of that meeting. What was discussed in their closed session involved a report about the library as a safe space and the future self-evaluation of the board. For everything else, there’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Library Board Spends Most of It’s Meeting In-Camera”
It’s Devils Night, and this year the Devil’s business seems to involve the monthly board of directors meeting of the Guelph Public Library. Nothing particularly evil, or diabolical, is on the agenda though, just the usual business of running the local library system including budgets, the state of services and usage, plus the ongoing developments of the new library project. Plus, what issues are top of mind for library advocacy? Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Public Library Board for October 30, 2023”
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’s one week till the Big Book Sale, the annual event that the Friends of the Guelph Public Library was created to administer over 15 years ago. It was a fundraising project launched to show that Guelph had an appetite for a new main library building, and after years of banking all the funds raised, the endgame is finally in sight nearly 20 years later. So what happens when the Friends have achieved their goal? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #388 – Book Sale: The Next Chapter”
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”
This year, Guelph Public Library CEO Steve Kraft is celebrating 40 years as a dedicated employee of the Guelph Library, rising through the proverbial ranks – or is that stacks – from the counter in the children’s library to the chief executive’s office. As Kraft’s library career in Guelph turns 40, the system he runs is turning 150, and as the Guelph Public Library marks its sesquicentennial in 2023 it’s in the middle of very big transitional period. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #387 – Trade Kraft”
The City of Guelph, and it’s various partners and agencies, put out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…? Continue reading “CITY PAGES: A.I. Money for U of G, New Have Your Say, Lots of Construction”
After 20 years of fits and starts, approvals and renegings, several different proposals and at least three business cases, the ground was finally broken for the new main library project, which is at the heart of the Baker District Redevelopment. On the recently cleared ground of what was once the Baker Street parking lot, councillors, City senior leadership, and library board and staff members stuck their ceremonial shovels in the ground to start the project. For real. Continue reading “Pigs Fly! Ground is Finally Broken on New Main Library (and the Rest of the Baker Project)”
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”
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