The series consists of correspondence, population estimates, briefing notes, press releases, presentation notes, budget estimates and student files created between 1950 and 2012 by the Library Services branch and its predecessors the Public Library Commission and the Library Development Commission. The series is divided into two subseries. The first subseries consists of Community Librarian training program (CLTP) records and the second subseries consists of records relating to grants and public library programming.
The first subseries (accession 96-6091) consists of student files for the Community Librarian training program. The CLTP was a distance education program that was open to public library staff, volunteers and board members. The program was discontinued in 2014. Student files typically include certificates of completion, grades, correspondence and related documentation. The subseries is arranged chronologically by year of enrollment and then alphabetically by student surname. In many cases, files were re-opened at a later date.
The second subseries (accessions 90-2812, 91-2611, 91-3650, 92-9822, 93-6954, and 96-1146) consists of files documenting the relationship between public libraries and the Library Services branch. Many files document discontinued programs, including Current Contents, Your Choice, Books-by-Mail, and Internet Access for Public Libraries. Records also relate to grant funding, the provincial audiobook program, the Writers in Libraries program, small library automation, union catalog development, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation mobile computing program, and the delivery of books to rural areas and remote school libraries. Records include statistics and formulas for grant calculation, as well as correspondence, press releases, program policies, and funding applications. The subseries also includes copies of the Ministry newsletter “BC Public Libraries in the News,” which featured articles on events, initiatives, and programming in public libraries across the province before publication ceased in 2001. The subseries consists of a number of files related to the National Film Board’s film “Journey from Zero,” which focused on the work of librarian Howard Overend as he traveled along the Alaska Highway to the Yukon border delivering books to remote school libraries. The film premiered in Dawson Creek in May 1962.
British Columbia. Library Services Branch