WPL's very BIG archive of reports, studies and presentations relating to library expansion

This is where you can catch up on your library expansion reading!

WPL has completed many, many reports, studies and presentations relating to the need for library expansion and the district branch library model.

Happy reading!

Branch Libraries Assessment Study (February 2005)

This report outlines the future facility requirements for the Waterloo Public Library. Click here to read the full report.

WPL Branch Library - Planning and Design Study (October 2005)

This study describes the context and background for the future west side district branch library. Click here to read the full report.

The Need for an Expanded Library Service in Waterloo (September 2006)

This article is re-printed from the Fall 2006 issue of "Off the Shelf", WPL's newsletter.

In 1973, the Albert McCormick Branch Library was built on Parkside Drive in Waterloo. McCormick is a 3,000 square foot neighbourhood branch that was constructed as a satellite to the Main Library on Albert Street.

The McCormick Branch was the last new library construction in the City of Waterloo. In the year that the branch was built – 1973 – the population of Waterloo was 41,537. In 2006, the Main Library and McCormick Branch serve a population of over 112,000.

The city of Waterloo has grown, particularly on the west and east sides, but library facility development has not kept pace. Waterloo currently has roughly half the library space than it should have to serve the community. The shortfall becomes more serious with each passing year due to continued population growth and expanding demand for library service.

“The library is a well-loved, well-used civic institution,” says Chief Librarian Cathy Matyas. “Each year residents of Waterloo borrow over one million books, CDs, DVDs and other items from the library. We’ve experienced double-digit increases in use every year since 2003. We’ve already exceeded our 2016 benchmark for use.”

Matyas also notes that over half of the residents of Waterloo are library cardholders, and that WPL has the highest number of library cardholders and the highest use of collections per capita of any of the four library systems in Waterloo Region.

“Given the high use of the library and the growth of the community, the deficiency in library space is a significant problem.”

In recent years, the library has focussed on developing partnerships to extend its reach into the community, to share resources and to reduce duplication by working with like-minded organizations. WPL currently works with over 30 different community partners to delivery collections, services and programs to citizens of Waterloo.

WPL has also focused on building technology-based services, not tied to specific facilities, to take full advantage of the Internet and new telecommunications initiatives, many of which have grown up in Waterloo Region. The library’s virtual eBranch is one example of this.

But space constraints continue to challenge the library, and branch space is urgently needed. WPL currently provides 38,800 square feet of library space between the Main Library and McCormick Branch, but according to provincial standards should today have 64,200 square feet of space and be working towards 74,000 square feet by the end of the library’s 2016 planning window.

Matyas notes that an addition was made to the Main Library in 1988, and that space reorganizations at both the Main Library and McCormick Branch were undertaken over the past two years in an attempt to make library service as efficient as possible until expanded library facilities are built. But the Main Library and small McCormick Branch still fall far short of adequately supporting the needs of a community of over 100,000.

“On average, 1,300 Waterloo residents visit the library each day. We issue 600 new memberships each month. Over 8,000 residents attended our programs last year. The library needs to grow physically to meet that kind of use.”

The WPL Board has been working on library expansion plans for over a decade. Over a dozen studies and reports have been completed, documenting the need for an expanded library service.

“In 2005, the Library Board presented its blueprint for the future of library service in our community,” says Matyas. “The Board proposed constructing two district-sized branch libraries, the first to be constructed on the west side of the city by 2007 and the second to be constructed on the east side of the city by 2010. The construction of those branches will be a major step forward in remedying the space deficiencies.”

Planning for the first branch is underway, and the Library Board hopes that 2007 will see the construction of a new library for the west side of the city.

WPL Service Delivery Model

The WPL Board has confirmed a service delivery model, which has guided the facility planning and branch library expansion recommendations. Here's what the service delivery model looks like:

WATERLOO PUBLIC LIBRARY - SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL
Approved - November 2003

I. ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES

Limited, strategic focus on four key roles:
· Early literacy
· Popular collections, services and programs
· Digital services
· Community development

Renewed commitment to building on core strengths of promoting reading, lifelong learning and public service

Reduced duplication with other public and private sector service providers (including universities and other libraries) through increased collaboration and partnerships


II. PRINCIPLES OF WPL’s ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

Build strong collections in print and non-print formats
Retain the best of the traditional services, and offer them in new and cost-effective ways
Develop information technology to enable service delivery
Coordinate with other municipal front-line services and community partners to develop new services and reduce duplication
Enhanced capacity for fundraising
Be flexibile and adaptable, in order to respond to changing community needs

III. SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL

Tiered structure of service delivery, and coordination with other community services (universities, other public libraries)

a) Library branch services
Tier one: Main Library (1 location)
Tier two: Community Libraries (2 to 3 locations)
Tier three: Neighbourhood Library (McCormick)

b) Non-library specific branch services
Tier four: City-wide services, including technology- and community-based services


c) Other libraries, universities, etc.
Tier five: Partnerships and collaboration


Service Delivery Model: Main Library (Tier 1)
The Waterloo Main Library should function as a resource for the entire community, and a branch for the Uptown neighbourhoods. Main Library collections, services and programs should support the traditional forms of literacy (reading, writing and numeracy) and also the new forms of literacy (visual literacy, computer literacy and information literacy).

Collections, services and programs:
extensive collections in all formats, but with a greater emphasis on recreational and leisure resources (and less of an emphasis on the reference function) than a “typical” Main Library serving a mid-sized community;
traditional reference function delivered through access to digital resources and reciprocal arrangements with universities and neighbouring library systems
limited special collections, such as the Ellis Little Local History collection and government publications
emphasis on information programming for young adults, seniors and adults, and technology teaching and training to support lifelong learning for all ages
emphasis on children’s collections, services and programming to support early literacy
emphasis on providing quality space (individual, group and community) that brings people together, supports the health of the Uptown, and generates revenue
focus on self-serve options, such as self-checkout
extensive participation in community development through outreach and committee involvement by library staff

The Main Library also provides system-wide services, such as administration, systems support, inter-library loan, acquisitions, cataloguing and processing.

Catchment population of 103,000 (current) and 122,000 (2016) representing the entire city
Should be 60,000 to 70,000 square feet
Should be open seven days a week, and 70 hours per week


Service Delivery Model: Community Libraries (Tier 2)
The community libraries in Waterloo should function as “the local living room where people find warmth, familiarity and welcoming faces, and most of all, a sense of community”. They should provide a growing city with convenient access points to library service, without providing the more comprehensive services provided by the larger Main Library or community partners (such as universities or neighbouring library systems). Ideally, community libraries would be developed as joint facilities with retail partners, schools or community centres.

Collections, services and programs:
Extensive recreational and leisure collections, and core reference collections
All major formats represented in collections (print, large print, DVD, CD, books-on-tape, etc.)
Emphasis on technology and workstations as the access point to larger collections, both locally and globally
Few or no special collections
Emphasis on children’s collections, services and programming to support early literacy
Emphasis on providing quality community meeting space, and to generate revenue

Catchment population of 30,000, and a service radius of approximately 2 kms.
Should be approximately 14,000 square feet
Should be open seven days a week, and 70 hours per week


Service Delivery Model: Neighbourhood Library (McCormick) (Tier 3)
The McCormick Branch functions as a neighbourhood library, and its limited collections, services and programs respond to local neighbourhood needs.

Collections, services and programs:
Collections emphasize popular and recreational formats, on a neighbourhood scale
Strong focus on children’s collections to support early literacy
Small core reference collection
Limited programming, except for system-wide initiatives (for example, summer reading club) and a limited repertoire of children’s programs
Availability of some technology and workstations as the access point to larger collections, both locally and globally
Little or no public meeting space

Serves community at a neighbourhood level; many McCormick users will also use the Main Library as a branch
Catchment population of 20,000 to 30,000
3,000 square feet
Should be open six days a week, 65 hours per week

Service Delivery Model: City-wide Services (Tier 4)
WPL’s city-wide services complement, support and extend the services in the other tiers.

There are two main types of city-wide services: those that are technology-based, and those that are community-based.

Technology-based services present the library as an “e-branch”, and include 24-hour-access from home, school or work to library resources via computer or the telephone; Internet access and web-based resources; e-mail reference; e-learning; e-books, etc.

Community-based services include WPL’s visiting library service for adults who are housebound or in long-term care institutions such as nursing homes; outreach programs for children-at-risk in homes or daycares; and deposit collections.


Service Delivery Model: Partnerships and Collaboration (Tier 5)
Waterloo Region provides a unique opportunity for the development and delivery of public library services, through the proximity of municipal library systems and three excellent post-secondary institutions (Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, and Conestoga College).

This environment provides the opportunity for the Waterloo Public Library to focus its resources on developing collections, services and programs to respond in meaningful ways to its four key roles (early literacy, popular service provider, digital service provider and community development), and to deliver other, more traditional library services through partnerships and consortia agreements.

This tier of library service should include: participation in the Ontario Digital Library initiative; reciprocal borrowing agreements with Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Cambridge and other library partners; access agreements with the universities and Conestoga College; collection coordination between the public and university libraries in Waterloo Region; and streamlined interlibrary loan arrangements.