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Policy Development Information and Support Available

Policy Development Information and Support Available

The library board is responsible for the comprehensive and efficient delivery of library services to the community. One way the board does this is by creating policies and bylaws that outline best practices for the day-to-day operations of the board and the library.

According to the Government of Alberta website your policies must comply with all applicable legislation, including the Libraries Act and Libraries Regulation. There are 10 policies identified in Section 7 of the Libraries Regulation that your library board must have in place. Each policy is described with a downloadable template on the Government of Alberta website here.  Your board may create other policies to suit your local needs. You can find many examples of library policies in the Q drive: Q:\Administration\Policies

It is best practice for the library board to regularly review and update policies every 2 to 3 years. There is no requirement for an x number of readings to pass a policy. However, if your board revises one of the 10 policies required by the Libraries Regulation, send revisions to Public Library Services Branch at libpolicies@gov.ab.ca.

If your library board would like support with policy development, you can reach out to your consultant librarian or libraryservices@prl.ab.ca. Parkland can provide policy examples and answer any questions you may have about the process.