Al McMillan introduced Mark Asberg, CEO of the Calgary Public Library. The Calgary Public Library is a strong supporter of the Rotary Employment Partnership that has hired seven exceptional people with developmental disabilities. It recently started a curbside library pickup service that employs six of the employees it hired through the employment partnership. Al concluded his introductory remarks with a shout out to the library’s Human Resource Group for its strong support.
Mr. Asberg described how our new realities shape the Calgary Public Library’s services and outlined what he sees as the future direction for libraries. He began by sharing his belief that libraries are now more relevant than ever, and that our current times underscore their critical importance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and magnified existing social, economic, and digital divides. Remarkably, people now see these divides, particularly the digital divide, more clearly, and libraries can be an equalizing force in society. Libraries are about learning, literacy, connection, reconciliation, inclusion, and empowerment. Libraries ensure everyone can access the tools they need to reach their full potential.
The Calgary Public Library responded quickly to the COVID-19 crisis. The necessary short-term closure was unprecedented, but the library made rapid decisions to ensure continued access to its digital collections to counter the lack of access to its physical collections. Its initial $300,000 investment ensured people did not lose access to critical resources. It worked closely with the city and newcomer agencies to send several hundred of its laptops into the community. Recipient families will be able to use these loaner laptops until the COVID-19 pandemic eases.
The library hotline allows people who have never downloaded an eBook to reach out for assistance in accessing needed resources. The support staff providing this service moved out of the library call centre and continued its work from their homes. People will notice the library’s summer programming will be online and have a teacher focus as the education system confronts its requirements to conduct online learning.
The library has many online resources for students and has worked closely with school boards to ensure that schools are aware of these and that the library does not expend resources on learning materials already available in schools.
Library reopenings are now underway as part of Phase 2 of Alberta’s relaunch strategy; however, the Calgary Public Library increased its offerings throughout the Phase 1 opening. These services included the curbside service Al McMillan mentioned in his introduction.
Fifty thousand Calgarians have found themselves blocked from using the library due to outstanding library fines. Consequently, the library is working to eliminate penalties, thereby removing this barrier to access. While some of the more extensive libraries in select US states have already done this, the Calgary Public Library is the first sizeable Canadian library system to do this. It knows that fines disproportionately impact families with children, and the library does not want to say no to a child taking out a book because of an outstanding penalty. Because it took more than the amount owing on fines to collect them, the library can reinvest that effort in service delivery.
Mr. Asberg concluded his remarks by explaining what people can expect to see when libraries reopen following the COVID-19 lockdown. First, he hopes that people will notice the intensity of the library’s impact in ways they never really considered before. Second, he believes people will appreciate the reach of the Calgary Public Library system with its twenty-one branches. Following the pandemic, he expects these locations to receive approximately seven million visitors in the next year or about 20,000 visitors per day. The third thing he hopes people will notice is the library’s equalizing force on society and its ability to help bridge the digital divide. Mr. Asberg reflected on the library’s importance inhelping people to obtain employment, apply for benefits, and connect people with the technological resources they need to succeed. The final thing that he hopes people appreciate about libraries is that despite their long history, they are still flourishing and are more relevant than ever.