Doc 1 2008 Draft Governance Audit of the OPL Board without…

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A C T I O N

Subject: 2008 Draft Governance Audit of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board

Prepared by: Jan Harder
Chair, Ottawa Public Library Board

Prepared for: Ottawa Public Library Board
Meeting of: August 19, 2008
Date of preparation: August 12, 2008


RECOMMENDATION

That responses be developed to the recommendations within the Governance Audit of the
Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board 2008 Report.

References

• Ottawa Public Library Minutes, February 11, 2008
• Letter from Auditor General, February 13, 2008
• Library Board Governance Committee Minutes, February 29, 2008
• Doc. 2 from the March 17, 2008 OPL Board meeting: Governance Committee Report
• Ottawa Publicd Minutes, March 17, 2008

Background

th1. At its meeting of February 11 , the Library Board agreed to participate in a Governance Audit. At
the Board’s request, the City of Ottawa Auditor General, Alain Lalonde agreed to expand the
scope of the project to include an audit of not only governance practices, but also budget
development processes.
th2. On March 17 , the Library Board approved the Audit Questionnaire to be used in preparation for
the audit.
3. The Auditor General’s Office conducted interviews with current and former Board members and
key Library and City Staff in developing the audit.

Appendix

1. Governance Audit of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board 2008 Report




Doc. 1 2008 Draft Governance Audit August 19, 2008 Page 1 of 39





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Office of the Auditor General/Bureau du vérificateur général
GOVERNANCE AUDIT OF THE OTTAWA PUBLIC LIBRARY (OPL)
BOARD
…
2008 Report



Governance Audit of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................... i
1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 1
2 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................. 2
3 AUDIT OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH ..................................................................... 3
4 OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................... 7
4.1 Roles, Responsibilities and Duties of Board Members ...................................... 7
4.2 Board Membership, Composition, and Selection............................................... 16
4.3 Board Evaluation Process ........................................................................................ 19
4.4 Board Meetings and Information .......................................................................... 20
4.5 Strategic Planning and Performance Measurement........................................... 21

5 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................. 27
6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................ 27

2008 Governance Audit of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
Board Governance has been defined broadly as the means of interface with an
organization’s stakeholders, the source of strategic decisions that shape the organization
and its work, and the ultimate accountability for the work and actions of the
organization. There is, however, no one-size-fits all model or approach to governance;
not in the private sector or in the public sector. What can be applied to all Boards,
regardless of size or industry, are the basic concepts of good governance.
The City of Ottawa’s Auditor General introduced the importance of and the need for
governance audits in the 2005 audit work plan. The City’s Boards are responsible for
overseeing multi-million dollar budgets on behalf of Council and the public, and are
accountable for effective organizational performance and for efficient expenditure of
municipal tax dollars. The review of governance structures and practices should be
seen as a proactive approach to good governance, not as a reaction to suspected
weaknesses at any of the City’s Boards.
Background
The Ottawa Public Library system consists of 33 branches: a Main branch, district
branches and different levels of community-based branches. Library services are also
offered within city boundaries to communities without a local branch by mobile
services. The OPL is the largest bilingual, French-English, library in North America.
This is reflected in its collection, programs and services.
The library system also consists of a number of centralized services: Access, Outreach &
Volunteer; Adult and Readers’ Advisory; Children and Teen; Circulation; Collection
Development; Community Partnerships and Programming; Information Services;
Technical Services and Virtual Library Services.
The Ottawa Public Library serves over 790,000 people in a geographic area of 2,760 sq.
km, 90% of which is rural.
The Ottawa Public Library (OPL) is governed by a Board, as required under the Public
Libraries Act (1990). Other legislation that have governing authority over the OPL Board
include:
• The Municipal Act
• The Municipal Affairs Act
• Government Efficiency Act
• Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
The OPL Board is made up of 14 Members appointed by Council, including 6 City
Councillors and 8 members of the public. The role of the Library Board is to provide

2008 Page i Governance Audit of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board

oversight and ensure that the library remains accessible, accountable and relevant to the
needs of the citizens of Ottawa.
The Ottawa Public Library Board is also accountable to the provincial Minister of
Culture and a must submit an annual report to the Ministry.

Objectives and Scope
The objective of this audit was to examine the current governance structures and
practices to ensure that the Board is equipped to provide effective direction, support,
and oversight to the Ottawa Public Library (OPL). The current governance structures
and practices were assessed against best practices, not against the practices of other
Public Library Boards.
This audit was conducted within the context of the Public Libraries Act and the
Municipal Act, which set out the role and authority of Public Library Boards in Ontario.
It was not within the scope of this audit to:
• review the appropriateness of the provincial and legislative framework
• review the Carver governance model that the Board has adopted
• audit OPL operations.
The intent of this report is to provide the Ottawa Public Library Board with concrete
examples of Board governance best practices to ensure long-term success of the Ottawa
Public Library.
Key Findings
The Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board has satisfied many of the criteria used in this
audit and is, overall, operating in an environment where good governance practices
have been established.
The OPL Board has demonstrated several key strengths. One of the key strengths of the
Board is the strong, professional leadership of the current Board Chair who has
established a strong, professional working relationship with the Chief Librarian and has
represented the OPL and library services in general as President of the Canadian
Library Trustees' Association, as a Member on the Executive Council of the Canadian
Library Association, and as an organizing committee member for the 2009 Ontario
Library Association Super Conference.
Other strengths of the Board include a comprehensive strategic plan that serves as a
guiding document for the OPL, as well as high attendance and participation at Board
meetings and Committee meetings.
The audit found that the following areas needed to be strengthened:

2008 Page ii Governance Audit of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) Board

1. Roles, Responsibilities and Duties of Board Members – The audit found that the
arms-length relationship between the OPL and City is not clearly defined. This has
resulted in some practices are that are not in line with good governance, specifically
the Chief Librarian reporting both to the Library Board and the Deputy City
Manager of the Community and Protective Services (CPS) Department. The audit
also found that the Board Policy Manual needs to be reviewed to ensure that it is
complete and provides clear direction to the Chief Librarian.
2. Board Membership, Composition and Selection – Many areas of the recruitment
and selection process need to be improved in order to ensure that appropriate
candidates are appointed to the Board. Also, the Board needs to develop a
“staggered term” strategy in attempt to minimize the disruption and improve the
continuity to the Board with each new term of Council.
3. Board Evaluation Process – The audit found that Board self-eva