This document discusses what librarians wish publishers knew about public libraries in Canada. It provides statistics on the large number and reach of libraries, with over 3,400 branches serving 90% of Canadians. Libraries have millions of annual in-person and online visits. They spend over $100 million on materials each year, with the majority going to books. Libraries provide extensive programming for children, teens and adults to promote literacy. Librarians expressed a desire for more communication with publishers regarding new titles, formats and metadata to help patrons discover new materials.
P4C x ELT = P4ELT: Its Theoretical Background (Kanazawa, 2024 March).pdf
What Librarians Wish Publishers Knew
1. What Librarians Wish
Publishers Knew
Moe Hosseini-Ara – Markham Public Library
Christina de Castell – Vancouver Public Library
Michael Ciccone – Hamilton Public Library
2. How many are there
• Over 3,400 branches (service points) across
Canada
• Serving an estimated 90% of the total Canadian
population
3. Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC)
• Represents libraries serving populations of
100,000+
• 41 member libraries from all across Canada
• 522 branches (service points)
• Serving more than 55% of the total Canadian
population
• Representing more than 80% of Canada’s public
library activity
4. Who uses us
• Almost 8 million library card holders/active
users
• 104 million in-person visits annually
• 121 million e-visits (website/catalogue)
• 4 million attendees at library programs
• 2.5 million at children’s programs
6. How much we spend
Funded through Municipal and Provincial
governments
• $108 million on total materials (80% of total in Canada)
• $53 million on books
• $17 million on children’s material
• $19 million on fiction
• $3 million on e-books
7. How we spend it
• $3.7+ million direct from Canadian publishers
• $45 million from wholesalers
• $6.6 million from US
9. For children: 60+ story times this week
• Little babies, big
babies, toddlers &
preschoolers
• Storytime for families
• Man in the Moon for
male caregivers
• reading tails, pyjama
storytime, singalong
10. If my daughter responds well to a
picture book and wants it renewed
three times, we buy...
11. For teens: this week
• Teen Craft Craze
• Eileen Cook reads from The Almost Truth
• Teen & Tween Book Clubs (3 meetings)
• Teen Manga
Advisory Group
• Young Writers
Connect
12. For adults: this week
• Children’s eBooks, Apps & Early Literacy
• Sunset ESL Conversation Circle
• Inhabiting Women’s Space: Perspectives from
Poetry, Memoir, Biography & History
• Getting started in children’s books
• Plus computer training, book clubs
• For seniors: fall prevention,
medication awareness
13. “It helps me to discover what books I
would like to buy…and intro me to new
authors that I would not have bought
otherwise.”
14. Programs & Services
• Author readings
• Book lists (personalized)
• Readalikes
• Word on the Street
• Displays on Canadian
culture, hockey, National Aboriginal Day, National
Poetry Month, coming of age stories, anti-bullying
• eBook tech support and computer training
15. Book clubs
400+ book club kits of 10 books and a guide
Hosted clubs
• BYOB: Bring your own baby
• Gen-Y
• Art & Fiction with the art gallery
• One Book One Vancouver
18. “Using the library allows me to try out
books by certain authors. If the books
are good, I tend to buy more of the
genre or I purchase other books by
that same author”
20. offered bought
ABC Art Books Canada 15 13
Arsenal Pulp Press (BC) 8 8
BC BookWorld 171 148
Coach House 9 4
Douglas & McIntyre (BC) 12 12
ECW 26 21
Fitzhenry & Whiteside 4 3
Goose Lane 12 10
Harbour Publishing 25 23
Lone Pine (Cdn Edition) 19 12
Canadian collections buying
We buy 87% of what we see
22. We’d like you to know
• we use print catalogues (at VPL)
• we like email alerts of new titles
• we’d like more Canadian finance, tax,
business, true crime & more stories about
Canadian immigrant experience, test
preparation
•covers really matter for kids,
teens, ebooks
25. •2 Million Visits
•35 Million Pages Viewed
•555,000 Unique Visitors
Even More Important:
•Average Visit: 6 minutes +
•18.5 Pages/Visit
•Bounce Rate: 2.6%
HPL Catalogue by the numbers:
26. MARC & ONIX
• MARC: started 1960s; 1973 standard
• copy cataloguing
• OCLC, LC have explored ONIX
We’d like to see: reading levels, author’s
home town, regional information…more
consistency in general
For families: Stories for older children to share with younger siblings.Man in the Moon: for dads, uncles, stepdads, foster dads and grandads. Language play for very young children and the men who love them.
Getting started in childrens’ books:Becky Citra - author of 17 books for young children. Her bookAfter the Fire (Orca, 2010) won the Red Cedar Award and Never to Be Told (Orca, 2006) was a Silver Birch Honor Book.PJ Sarah Collins - her books include Sam and Nate andWhat Happened to Serenity? She was the inaugural recipient of the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy at the 2012 Canadian Childrens Book Centre Awards.Karen Hlbbard - has illustrated three picture books with Planete rebelled. Karen has exhibited across Canada and internationally.Catherine Knutsson - her debut novel is Shadows Cast by Stars.Rebecca Kool - her passion is creating bi-lingual story experiences for children. Fly Catcher Boy is her first bilingual book, written in English with Japanese words and expressions.Tanya Lloyd Kyi - author of more than a dozen fiction and non-fiction books for children and young adults. Her forthcoming novel is Anywhere But Here.Ellen Schwartz (moderator) - award-winning author of 16 books for children. Her latest novel, The Case of the Missing Deed was a finalist for the John Spray Mystery Award.Inhabiting women’s space: (Kate Braid, Marilyn Bowering, Sandra Djwa, Kathy Mezei)
16 of the new Granville Island Market cookbook – Arsenal13 of V6A writings from the DTES – Arsenal8 of Marc Strange mystery1-2 of art books