I am pleased to share with you Ottawa Public Library’s 2018 Annual Report. The report was made public today and is set to be received by the OPL Board on April 9.
2018 OPL Highlights:
- The Urban Libraries Council (ULC) recognized OPL as one of 10 Top Innovators in 2018 for its Express eBooks platform and won in the category of “Collections that demonstrate the value and impact of public library service”
- OPL saw an 8% increase in the number of active card holders in 2018, compared to 2017. This is the highest annual growth the Library has seen in the last 5 years.
- The OPL-LAC joint facility project made great strides in 2018, including the funding approval by the Government of Canada for the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) portion of the facility, and the selection of Diamond Schmitt Architects and KWC Architects to design the new facility.
- OPL hosted a full day of family fun at Ben Franklin Place and the Nepean Centrepointe branch, entitled Tales and Tunes. The event attracted approximately 4,000 attendees, and the special musical guest was Canadian legend, Fred Penner.
- 2018 marked a special year of joint programming with high profile and established organizations in Ottawa, including Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and the Ottawa International Writers Festival.
- The 2018 Library Month Campaign focused on giving away and hiding Golden Tickets in all OPL branches, as well as in communities across Ottawa. Every Golden Ticket was redeemable for a striking, high-quality, locally-handmade OPL book bag.
