Library board reports to council

By Dan Hilborn
Published June 21, 2006


Residents of B.C. will soon have the opportunity to take a book out of any civic library in the province and then return it to the library closest to their home.

The provincial one-card system is already operating throughout the Lower Mainland and should be in place provincewide by September, said Edel Toner-Rogala, Burnaby's chief librarian, as the Burnaby Public Library presented its annual report to city council on Monday night.

"You'll be able to take out a book while you're visiting family in Kelowna or on a break on Vancouver Island," Toner-Rogala said. "And you won't have to worry about returning the book to the library you borrowed it from."

The new system uses a unique red library card with a 14-digit bar card that gives each city or municipality its own code. Funding to return the books to the lending library is being made available by the provincial government.

The new library card was one of the few recent changes in the library that was not highlighted in Burnaby library board's four- page annual report, published in last weekend's Burnaby NOW.

Sharon Freeman, the outgoing chair of the library board, said the library is now beginning a "comprehensive community needs assessment" that will set the direction for the library for the coming years. In addition, the library is will celebrate its 50th anniversary this fall.

Freeman also encouraged the public to get involved by joining the library board.