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.

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

5. 0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
90s80s70s60s50s40s30s20s10s0s
Who uses us – Age Breakdown

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

8. Book discovery and literacy
programs for a lifetime

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”

19. Library Collections

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

21. eBook Growth
0
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
eBook-eAudio Circ Per Day Per Month 2010-2012
Vancouver
Hamilton

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

23. Online Discovery

24. Bibliocommons

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

27. UGC
UGC
ONIX
VAS
MARC
ONIX
VAS
UGC
PAID
CONTENT
LCSH
UGC
UGC

28. “I read reviews from library customers
to decide if the book is worthwhile to
buy”

29. eBooks
1 Million Visits

30. Buy Button

31. Questions
?