Parkland Regional Library is Alberta's first regional library. Since 1959, it has provided a broad range of services to libraries in Central Alberta and now includes 50 public and 36 school libraries.
The regional library's primary function includes book buying for its member libraries, for which it receives a discounted price.
It also handles cataloguing, inter-library loans and runs the inter-library software that keeps track of the 920,000 items now available to over 200,000 residents.
It also manages library networks, handles software licensing, provides consulting and training for library staff and also handles the purchasing of computers.
As the needs of the library user evolve, libraries are challenged to keep up with technology and to keep up with the changing material formats within limited budgets, said Parkland Regional Library director Ron Sheppard.
Libraries are also challenged to train staff for complex duties which didn't exist years ago and also by declining volunteerism.
Despite what most people think, library use is going up, Sheppard said. In good economic times, libraries struggle to keep up with demands to provide new services, but in bad times there is more demand because people are using the library for services they once paid for but now can't afford, he added.
But a regional library system helps local libraries provide services they might not necessarily be able to afford on their own.
“Whether it's buying books, DVDs, whether it's computers or whether it's software licensing or software purchasing, there are huge, tremendous savings with us doing the purchasing rather than each individual library trying to purchase its own stuff,” Sheppard said.
Parkland Regional Library includes members in communities across Central Alberta including Didsbury, Olds, Sundre and Innisfail. The service area ranges from Provost in the east to Nordegg in the west and from Hay Lakes in the north to Carstairs in the south.
At the end of February, the Parkland Regional Library board approved five strategic goals for the next three years.
It will provide library service training, advocate and market on behalf of member libraries, improve technology, maximize access to library resources and ensure the regional library organization maintains efficient services and programs, according to its strategic plan for 2013-2015.
The plan was established with consultation of the board, member municipal library boards, member municipal library staff, school representatives and regional library staff. The regional library also consulted previous annual satisfaction surveys and considered initiatives outlined in the Alberta government's Alberta Public Libraries Technology Report and Recommendations and Framework for the Future: Positioning Alberta Libraries for the 21st Century.
For completion in 2013, the aim is to develop a sustainability plan to ensure the regional library will provide computers for libraries, Supernet customer edge devices and maintain current software licensing initiatives. It will examine the viability of school library service contracts, develop more online training and develop staff workshops that are less intensive to prepare for. It also aims to complete a review of technical services including cataloguing practices.
The plan for 2014 includes hiring a full-time communications co-ordinator, creating a marketing campaign that highlights local library services, increasing the amount of library materials in member libraries and developing a long-term training strategy for member library staff.
The plan for 2015 is to reorganize the headquarters building, to review its inter-library loan process, to ensure outlet libraries are sustainable, to develop an e-content strategy for online resources, to review the functionality of the integrated library system, to examine the potential need and sustainability for a centralized Voice-over Internet Protocol telephone/unified communications system for the region and to investigate the need for a central copier/printer service provider.
Laurie Hodges Humble is the library manager at Innisfail Public Library. She said libraries are evolving.
She thinks people often assume that everyone has a computer at home with access to high-speed Internet, but the reality is people often use the library for technology they don't have at home.
The most important need, she said, is communicating to people what libraries do offer.
“I think the main challenge going forward is to let the public know we are abreast of technology. It's marketing and it's communication,” she said.
Graham Nicholson said he uses the Innisfail Public Library on a regular basis. Often it's to read, but last week he was at the library to type out some letters on a computer. When asked what he thinks the library needs, he said he wished the local library were open earlier during the day.
“I wish it were open at 9:30 every day,” he said.
Parkland Regional Library's strategic plan is to be updated and reviewed annually.
