Board Orientation
Welcome to the Northern Lights Library Board. We are grateful for your willingness to serve as your municipality’s representative on the board. You join 61 other communities, including one reserve and two Métis Settlements, at this table, and together, we work to ensure library services in our region are amongst the best in the province and the nation. We operate through municipal and board levy payments and provincial grants. The operating budget for the system is approximately 2.5 million dollars. That is a significant investment, but the return is exceptional. We provide approximately 29 million dollars’ worth of library material circulation annually, as well as professional consulting, centralized programming, technology, and internet services, amongst other things. Our Service Catalog enumerates the many services we provide your community.
You should report regularly to your council on the development of the library system. While you bring the perspective and the desires of your municipality to the Board, your responsibility is to the health and best interests of the library system. We hope you love libraries. We are certain you will as you serve over the coming years.
The Board meets four times annually. Honoraria are not provided for attendance at these meetings, but we reimburse for mileage and provide food where the meetings are in person. Our headquarters are in Elk Point. We anticipate two in-person meetings a year (May & August). An online option is available for in-person meetings. We do our best to help those attending online have a meaningful experience, but remember you’ll be at the mercy of technology. The other two meetings will be conducted entirely online (Zoom). Meetings have historically been on the last Friday of the months of February, May, August, and November.
You may choose to run for election on our Executive Committee or other Board committees. Service on these committees includes an honorarium.
For further details, see our policy statement on board honoraria and expenses. Terms of Reference for each Board committee may be found under the “Terms of Reference” tab on this page. All our policies may be found on our NLLS policies site. Policies under the tab “Board” may be of particular interest to you.
You will receive a weekly report, or newsletter, from our Executive Director in your email. These reports are one page and bullet-pointed. In them, you’ll find links to meeting minutes, agendas (which include Zoom meeting links), and everything you should need to stay up-to-date and informed. Keep an eye out for those reports in your email.
Provided here are several links to information you should review.
- GOVERNANCE
- Libraries Act
- Libraries Regulation
- Plan of Service 2024-2026
- Plan of Service Implementation Plan 2024
- Public Library Services Branch (PLSB) Website
- NLLS OVERVIEW
- ALBERTA LIBRARY TRUSTEES ASSOCIATION – ALTA
- THE ALBERTA LIBRARY – TAL
- THE REGIONAL AUTOMATION CONSORTIUM – TRAC