Community Engagement and Collaboration:

At Vancouver Public Library

Vancouver

City population 620,000

Metropolitan region population 2.5 million

Vancouver Public Library

22 branches with2.3 million items in the collection

$40.6 million annual operating budget

2009 Collection Use Metrics

Physical Collection Use

Circulation: 9.9 million items

Of which: Print was 6.4 million items

Audiovisual was 3 million items

Holds placed: 1.2 million or approximately 12%of total borrowing

Items borrowed for use by a child: 30% of total

Non-English language items borrowed: 15.35% of total

5 Year Borrowing Trends

2005 2009 % Change

Print Fiction 4,289,000 4,092,000 (-4.6%)

Print Non-Fiction 3,050,000 2,850,000 (-6.6%)

DVD 858,000 2,086,000 (+143.1%)

VHS 902,000 158,000 (-82.5%)

CD Music 215,000 371,000 (+72.6%)

Virtual Services

Database logins: 400,000

Website visitors:4.2 million

Public internet workstations: 379

Public Internet sessions: 1.3 million

Wireless access provided at all branches

Changing Context of the Public Library

Collections influx

The increasing importance of library as public space

The need for proactive and appropriate engagement with marginalized communities

Success through collaboration

The Public Library as Public Space

The iconic Central LibraryA new neighbourhood branch

Inclusive welcoming space

Library as Gallery and Performance Space

Library as Gallery and Performance Space

Library as Gallery and Performance Space

Library as Gallery and Performance Space

Library as Proactive Content Provider

Library as Proactive Content Provider

Vancouver Learning CityConnecting the Community through Learning

Vancouver Public Library

Vancouver Learning

City

Community Organizations

The City and Senior Governments

Working Together

Conclusions

paul.whitney@vpl.ca