OLS Releases the Valuing Northern Libraries Toolkit
23 August 2018
The Valuing Ontario Libraries Toolkit (VOLT) was initiated in 2016 to address the unique conditions of small, rural, remote and First Nation libraries. It was a collaborative effort among OLS, Dryden, Kenora, Powassan and District, Rainy River, Temiskaming Shores, and Wikwemikong First Nation public libraries, and NORDIK Institute.
The Valuing Ontario Libraries Toolkit (VOLT) is designed to help Ontario public libraries measure and demonstrate their value and impact within the community.
The purpose is ultimately to help you share these contributions with your community’s councils, decision makers, and stakeholders; reflecting the unique realities of the areas you serve. In doing so, you may use it to advocate for more (or sustained) investment in, or commitment to, the work of the public library in your community.
The toolkit is a step-by-step guide for taking information that you already regularly collect and organizing it into a Library Value Report (comprised of the SROI value calculations, optional community profile, and customizable information sheets) that can be used to share the public library’s impact with a wider audience.
The New Framework:
Based on a review of recent research developments and these two layers of stakeholder input, the framework presented here represents public libraries as cultural and social infrastructure that create individual, organizational, and community benefit in seven key domains: Education, Culture, Inclusion and Wellbeing, Entertainment and Leisure, Economic Development, Civic Engagement, and Space. Each of these domains has a unique role in the SROI value calculations spreadsheet.
