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The 2005 Mississauga Library Annual Report is critiqued in this blog. The link below will connect you to the report. At times the 2005 report is compared to the 2004 report to show how the quality of the report declined from one year to the next.


2005 Mississauga Library Annual Report

2004 Mississauga Library Annual Report

Dr. Ellison's Notes "Preparing and Critiquing Annual Reports"

Director's Message

Don Mills, Director of the Mississauga Library System, discussed the results of their first user survey in his message. He acknowledged praise from the users and he also acknowledged and addressed some user concerns and misconceptions. His message is encouraging to users because he explains that the library is trying to meet their diverse needs with only $3.50 per capita.

Pictures

The pictures in this annual report are a poor representation of the Mississauga Library System. There is only one candid shot of a child reading. There are portraits of the Library Director and the Library Board Chair. While it is nice to be able to put a face to the name, they could have used more candid pictures of users to show the diverse community that is served by the Mississauga Library System. Within the annual report are advertisements, I assume these are used to defray the publication costs.

Image from: http://www.meadowridge.bc.ca/images/managecontent/697-4490987e5d0b7.jpg

Comparison to Other Libraries

The Mississauga Library System Annual Report does not compare itself to other libraries. It would be inappropriate for The Mississauga Library System to compare themselves to The Toronto Library System because of the disparity in population and size of library systems. Toronto population in 2001 was 2,481,494 and the Mississauga population in 2001 was 612,925. It would be difficult to compare a Canadian library system to an American library system, because Canada is a bi-lingual country and their laws make it mandatory to have books available in French and English. While many libraries in the United States offer books in Spanish and English (the most prevalent languages) it is not mandated by law; it is done to serve the needs of the users.

Census statistics:

Toronto

Mississauga

Library Report

Throughout the Annual Report there are articles and statistics about what the Mississauga Library Systems has and is doing. “2005 at a Glance” shows statistics of visits to the library, materials in library collection, customers served, program attendance, outreach programs, volunteer hours, visits to library website and visits to library databases. These statistics give an indication of how successful the library has been throughout the year.

Most of the articles highlight successes for the Mississauga Library System during the 2005. The Annual Report in 2004 showcased more success stories with their article "Library Leadership Team - Successes Report 2004." In the 2004 report, 5 library managers wrote success stories about the libraries. Unfortunately, the 2005 report does have an article that specifically addresses the success stories of 2005. This is another missed opportunity for the library to market itself.

Image from: http://www.southalabama.edu/ems/ems/faculty/lyndalpo.htm

Benefits

“Libraries Changing Lives” lists of benefits for the community. Listing accomplishments does not allow them to elaborate on the benefits of these projects, services, etc. Sometimes it is not obvious to the reader what the benefit of the bullet statement. The library has not taken advantage of their opportunity to promote themselves and their accomplishments.

Community Services

The Annual Report lists several community service events throughout the publication. In the article, “Libraries Changing Lives,” they list several community events from the past year.

On page 2, there is a calendar of events highlighting the upcoming events. This is not an all-inclusive list since many libraries host events geared toward their patrons and each library hosts a March Break program which is not mentioned in this newsletter. It would be appropriate to include the library website to encourage readers to learn about events at their local branch.

“How the Library Changed Your Life,” tells the story about how Friends of the Mississauga Library have teamed up with Mississauga New Beginnings to reach out to the Chinese community.

Image from: http://www.norcalblogs.com/bullfight/archives/2006/04/community_suppo.html

Accomplishments

The most notable accomplishment (highlighted on the first page) by The Mississauga Library System was winning the inaugural Archival and Preservation Achievement Award. This award was given by the Ontario Library Association and recognizes "individuals and institutions who have made significant achievements on a personal or institutional level in the field of preservation and/or conservation for library and/or archival materials.
Other accomplishments are summarized in the Financial Report to Stakeholders. Highlighted in this section are the opening of 2 new branches, increase in materials (including print and non-print materials), statistics about service to patrons (reference questions answered, materials borrowed, attendance at story programs). The eight sentences used to show the accomplishments for 2005 is a missed opportunity for the Mississauga Library System to market itself to the library community.

Image from: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/sports/olympic_games/gold_medal/1152040_gold_medal.php?id=1152040

True Needs of the Library

The Library Board conducted a community forum to identify the needs of the library. This report lists the needs for the upcoming year.
Needs for 2006 (based on community forum)

Inclusive Community Contact including:

• programs for older adults
• partnerships with the community
• learning opportunities
• efforts to reach children

Up-to-date Technology
Collaborative Programs for the Family
Author Visits
Showcasing Local Talent

Most of these appear to be true needs of the library community, however showcasing local talent would need more explanation as to how this is a need of the library community. Local talent like singing and dancing have many outlets for showcasing their talent. However if showcasing talent relates to promoting local authors and poets, than this would also appear to fulfill community needs and raise awareness of local talent.

Image from: http://www3.mississauga.ca/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=dial

Vision, Mission, Goals and Objectives

The 2005 Mississauga Library Annual Report includes their vision, their mission statement, and their values. The goals of the library are briefly discussed in several articles throughout the report. Noticeably missing from this report are their objectives. How does The Mississauga Library plan on fulfilling their vision and meeting their goals if they have not identified the means to reach their goals? If their objectives were written for the library community to see, it is possible that patrons would work to help meet these objectives. How is the library going to meet their mission if they don't have a plan in place to meet their goals? The annual report leaves many questions unanswered about the Mississauga Library Systems strategic plan.

Image from: http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/cs-env-mission_impossible_240x160x72.jpg

Goals for 2006

Once the needs are assessed, goals can be set. "Recent planning efforts of the Library have focuses on these two key goals- in fact, outreach is the priority for 2006, and it has been declared "Year of e-Literacy." The vision of the library addresses financial goals as well, revenue generation and the establishment of sponsorships and partnerships.
The Annual Report does not address the objectives the Library will use to meet these goals. In order to be successful in reaching these goals, the Library must address the methods that they will use to reach these goals.
The Library has established a vision to reach its long term goals.

Vision
The Mississauga Library System will strive to develop its services and resources for 700,000 residents in 2006 to meet the needs of the City's ultimate population in 2021 in a way designed to allow the library user to do it themselves ("user do"), to connect with the wider resources of the wired world ("e-library"), and to develop alternative funding (revenue generation) and support mechanisms (sponsorships and partnerships) in order to reduce tax based support for a major and outstanding public library.

Image from: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Goals-Posters_i838556_.htm

Needs for 2006

In November 2005, the Mississauga Library Board held a forum to identify the needs of the library in the future. They addressed their top priority as "inclusive community contact" and their second priority as "up to date technology." They needs are justified because they have been raised by library stakeholders, not just library staff.
The report also states that the library planning team had identified these needs as top priorities and have planned to make outreach a priority and has declared 2006 as "Year of e-Literacy."
"The Library Board will be developing a 3-year plan to address the identified needs of the community." The report also gives patrons an outlet to list their needs, but directing them to the Library's website.

Image from: http://loyalisttraining.com/index.php/corporate/needs-assessment-overview

Unaccomplished Goals

The message from the Library Board President, Mario Pascucci, in the 2004 Annual Report recounts the results from their 2004 telephone survey. From these results they assessed the needs of the library. "Key needs of the library- 3 new branches, 5 major renovations, more technology, and more materials in every format to meet the changing needs across the City." Mr. Pascucci also stated that, "The Library's impressive and essential computer system will be replaced this year offering expanding technology for the future."
The 2005 report fails to address the goals established from the previous year and does not mention the goals that were not accomplished. The community is left in the dark about what goals still need to be accomplished and an explanation as to why the goals were not accomplished.

Image from: www.greenapple.com/~wrybred/

Major Gifts

The donors and sponsors are recognized as "Library Champions" for their contributions to The Mississauga Library System in 2005.

Volunteers

The financial section of the report boasts, “The library had over 30,000 volunteer hours in 2005, the equivalent of over 15 paid staff.” The report lists 11 volunteers by name. It appears that many volunteers were not recognized in this report because those 11 volunteers would have completed approximately 52 hours a week to equal 30,000 volunteer hours. Meanwhile, the annual report from 2004 lists all the volunteers by name and the branch at which they volunteered. The report could have used less verbiage about the benefits of volunteers and used that space to recognize the others that have volunteered at the library during the year.

Photo from: www.wmu.com/getinvolved/ministry/volunteer

Financial Section

The Financial Report to Stakeholders is near the end of the report. There are no comparisons (to another library or to previous years’ statistics) in this report. This report shows that salaries make up just over 86% of the budget. The report shows raw numbers, but the library community can easily determine the percentage. “The Library’s budget for 2005 included $17 million for staff costs (about 400 positions).” By dividing 17 million by 400 positions, the average salary would be $42,500. Those in non-MLS positions would earn less money, so it appears that the librarians in the Mississauga Library System are well paid. It is sad to see that such a small amount of the budget ($2.5 million), approximately 13% is used for library materials.

Another shocking statistic is that half of $2,000,000 revenue was from fines. It makes me question how the library would raise capital if patrons were to return their materials on time.