After almost a year without a chief executive officer, the board of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library recently announced the appointment of Laura Tait to that role.
It’s been quite a year for the library. Tait had been named the interim CEO shortly after Cathy Simpson was fired by the board last March after publishing an opinion piece about library censorship and aligning herself with an organization board members decided they could not accept.
That and the legal action that resulted is long behind them, library board co-chair Daryl Novak told The Local recently, and the library has moved forward since with an impressive level of growth and success that led to making Tait’s position permanent. The delay in coming to that decision, he said, was “because we wanted to do a number of other things first.”
Tait had been working at the library in various roles for 15 years at that point, he explained, and was appointed library manager in 2012. “We wanted to do some evaluation of the positions of CEO and library manager,” he said.
The "organization seemed a little on the heavy side, with 12 part-time and full-time staff all reporting to the manager, and the manager reporting to the CEO. We wanted to have a good look at that, and we did.”
They had an outside resource management consultant also look at it, and with Tait’s input as well, board members decided they didn’t need both positions, and perhaps instead should hire a “administrative helper,” Novak said, saving money that could be spent in other areas.
During that time “it also gave us an opportunity to observe how Laura was doing” in the interim CEO position, “and we saw she was doing really well. Good stuff was happening.”
New programs have been created, the library has received “new grants that we’d never had before,” and it was determined not only that Laura was doing a good job in the leadership role “but would continue to do so in the long term.”
The best news of all is that the library “continues to increase its membership, with growth in excess of the population growth. That shows we’re doing something right, and people are happy with what we’re doing,” said Novak.
After almost a year without a chief executive officer, the board of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library recently announced the appointment of Laura Tait to that role.
It’s been quite a year for the library. Tait had been named the interim CEO shortly after Cathy Simpson was fired by the board last March, after publishing an opinion piece about library censorship and aligning herself with an organization board members decided they could not accept.
That and the legal action that resulted is long behind them, library board co-chair Daryl Novak told The Local recently, and the library has moved forward since with an impressive level of growth and success that led to making Tait’s position permanent. The delay in making that decision, he said, was “because we wanted to do a number of other things first.”
Tait had been working at the library in various roles for 15 years at that point, he explained, and was appointed library manager in 2012. “We wanted to do some evaluation of the positions of CEO and library manager,” he said.
The "organization seemed a little on the heavy side, with 12 part-time and full-time staff all reporting to the manager, and the manager reporting to the CEO. We wanted to have a good look at that, and we did.”
They had an outside resource management consultant also look at it, and with Tait’s input as well, board members decided they didn’t need both positions, and perhaps instead should hire a “administrative helper,” Novak said, saving money that could be spent in other areas.
During that time “it also gave us an opportunity to observe how Laura was doing” in the interim CEO position, he said, “and we saw she was doing really well. Good stuff was happening.”
New programs have been created, the library has received “new grants that we’d never had before,” and it was determined not only that Laura was doing well “but would continue to do so in the long term.”
The best news of all is that the library “continues to increase its membership, and the growth is in excess of the population growth. That shows we’re doing something right, and people are happy with what we’re doing,” said Novak.
With Tait at the helm, the library has increased its program participation for all ages by 30 percent, said Novak.
He spoke of one shining example as an indication of the library’s success — local artist Trisha Romance approaching them with a donation to launch a children’s art program. “That was amazing news for us, and the start of an amazing relationship.”
He also mentioned the partnership with the St. Davids firehall as just one of many new outreach initiatives, which has programs being held in that community and others.
Novak recalls the “contentious issue” of 25 years ago when the town was planning to build a new library where it now located, with residents divided over the loss of the former library in the Old Town Court House, a space it had outgrown, and those who wanted something new and modern that would be easier to access and have plenty of room for parking.
The way the library is perceived “has come a long way” since then, he said, as part of a larger community hub, sharing the property with the community centre, a cafe and a day care centre, “without having to go outside.”
Its success is also reflected in its fundraising efforts, with donations that allow for more activities and programs that residents enjoy.
“There is always an ongoing concern about funding, but that’s more about the municipality responding to long-term needs,” he said.
“And when we look at the increases over the last year, we know we can’t keep up that level of growth forever with the amount of money coming it,” he added. “If we can maintain a reasonable amount of growth we’ll be happy, but we know we can’t keep up with the same level of growth as last year.”
While the “issues of a year ago” are thankfully behind them, he said, “they made a lot of people think about the library,” not necessarily with the kind of attention the library wanted, but that created an added awareness of its role in the community.
He also credits “pretty wonderful staff members” for its success, including younger staff “with a lot of good ideas, and the staff’s relationships with each other. At Christmas for the first time ever” — or at least in a long time, he said, — "the board had a get-together to celebrate. People came away from it with a good feeling. Staff know they’re supported by the board, and the board knows it’s getting the information it needs from staff to make good decisions. It’s very much Laura’s stye to bring it all together that way. We’re thrilled with Laura and the relationships with others that she makes.”
As Novak said in a recent news release, Tait’s “dedication to expanding services and strengthening engagement has already made a lasting impact, and we are confident that under her leadership, the library will continue to thrive and evolve to meet the needs of our residents."