Throughout 2022, the Library implemented several community development initiatives to better serve vulnerable communities. Working directly with local community groups and social service agencies, these efforts will help OPL become more inclusive, serve more citizens, and remove barriers to Library services in general.

• Local food banks, community houses and co-operative groups, and community associations consistently informed OPL that food costs and lack of food literacy have a negative impact on their clients. As a response, multiple branches worked to provide food literacy seminars featuring registered dietitians. At these seminars, kits were distributed (which included reusable items such as lunch bags, water bottles, and ice packs) to facilitate creating inexpensive and healthy lunches for their families.
• Ruth E. Dickinson branch staff developed specialized programs for children under the age of six living with Autism Spectrum Disorder. A toolbox has been created containing interactive sensory items such as beanbags, beads, and educational toys.
• Approximately 200 laser-cut model airplane take-home kits were distributed to children in the Centrepointe and Carlington areas during March Break. The kits provided an engaging take-home activity for families to share during time off from school and helped promote OPL’s Imagine Space.
• A Memory Activity Toolbox was developed to provide recreation and mental stimulation to adults with early, middle, and late-stage dementia. Stittsville branch staff were available to guide adult clients through the many activities.
• Free menstrual products are now available in washrooms at the Main branch in a safe, private, and stigma-free atmosphere.
• Staff from Alternative Services and Content Services have partnered with the John Howard Society to provide reading material to their clients.
• OPL was awarded the Ontario Library Association’s Technology Advancing Libraries Award for the Chromebook Lending Program. Since the start of the pandemic, OPL has partnered with 49 institutions; our hotspots were borrowed 32 times and our Chromebooks, 315 times. New partnerships in 2022 include Carleton Heights Recreation Centre, Strathcona Heights Community House, and African, Caribbean & Black Wellness Resource Centre.
• OPL received a community partnership award from the Assunnah Muslims Association, presented at their 2022 Annual Community Iftar event for OPL’s continued partnership, which has been strengthened during the years of the pandemic.
• In partnership with City of Ottawa staff, the Library visited nine Temporary Emergency Accommodations located across Ottawa. OPL registered 154 new clients, provided 300 books and 50 magazines to promote literacy for families, and donated 45 headsets to enhance access to online resources, learning, and reading. 109 children and teenagers also participated in interactive programs on site.

In November, the OPL Board approved a Facilities Framework that will serve as a roadmap to ensure more equitable access to Library branch services across Ottawa. The Framework will be used to identify gaps in terms of access to Library branches and guide how to address these gaps.

• The Facilities Framework includes five Guiding Principles that outline the strategic objectives behind the development of new facilities.
• To help OPL make decisions about branch retrofits, new builds, and the decommissioning or relocation of existing facilities, the Framework establishes four objective criteria:
  • Gateway: considers a facility gap to exist if an urban neighbourhood is further than three kms on average from a Library branch or 15 kms in the case of a rural neighbourhood.
  • Prioritization: identifies which neighbourhoods are in more critical need of Library services based on equity, distance, and expected growth.
  • Building: ensures that branches meet service requirements and current design best practices including the latest standards for sustainability and accessibility.
  • Site: identifies the appropriate location for a facility based on access (including transit), shared spaces, physical boundaries, site readiness, whether the community is isolated, and whether a location would align with the City of Ottawa’s 15-minute neighbourhood goal.