FAST FACTS
Branch Information
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Brighouse (Main) Branch 50,000 sq. ft. Open 86.5 hours per week |
Hours: | 9:00 am - 9:30 pm Mon.-Fri. 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sat., Sun. |
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Cambie Branch 4,700 sq. ft. Open 69 hours per week | Hours: | 10:00 am - 9:00 pm Mon.-Fri. 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sat., Sun |
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Ironwood Branch 12,000 sq. ft. Open 74 hours per week | Hours: | 9:00 am - 9:00 pm Mon.-Fri. 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sat.-Sun. |
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Steveston Branch 4,000 sq. ft. Open 69 hours per week | Hours: | 10:00 am - 9:00 pm Mon.-Fri. 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sat., Sun |
Stats at a Glance (2008)
| Population served (estimated) | 186,628 |
| Registered borrowers as % of population | 72.48% |
| Circulation | 4,358,371 |
| Percentage of total circulation self-serve | 93% |
| Size of collection (items) | 464,038 |
| Total expenditures | $8,018,004 |
| Expenditures per capita | $42.96 |
| Gate counts | 1,908,950 |
| Number of programs | 2,657 |
| Program attendance | 106,053 |
| Number of reference questions answered (in person & online) | 139,713 |
| Number of public computers | 169 |
Compared to other large Canadian libraries RPL ranks...
- First for number of items borrowed per capita (23.35)
- Second for number of library visits per capita (10.23)
- Fifteenth for expenditures per capita ($42.96)
(Canadian Urban Libraries Council, July 2008)
Demographics of Richmond
According to the 2006 Census, Richmond now has the highest proportion, 57 per cent, of foreign-born residents of any city in Canada. More than half of the immigrants who arrived in the past five years are Chinese, coming from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, followed by people from the Philippines and India. The most common spoken languages besides English are Cantonese and Mandarin.
Staffing (as of September 1, 2009)
134 employees or 90.16 FTE
102 Permanent full-time or part-time
- 43 Librarians
- 10 Library technicians
- 67 Circulation clerks, customer service clerks, bookshelvers, others
- 14 Administration, Information Technology, Computer services, Facilities
- 15 Librarians
- 14 Circulation staff
- 3 Other
FACILITY
Brighouse Branch
Ironwood Branch
Cambie Branch
Steveston Branch
TD CANADA TRUST LANGUAGE LEARNING CENTRE
- It's a unique, high-tech, user-friendly facility to help people learn new languages or improve their existing language skills
- There are seven computers equipped with headphones and microphones
- Uses Mango Languages online language learning software
- It's available to use in the library during regular hours
- You can also use it from home via the library's website 24 x 7
- Greenwood ESL software is a CD-ROM based English learning software that's installed on the seven computers in the language lab, and is only available in-house
MULTILINGUAL SERVICES
Diversity Spoken Here
A staggering 57.4% of Richmond's population is foreign born. More than half of the immigrants who arrived in the past five years are Chinese. Recognizing that new immigrants need services to help them acclimate to their new community, and given the large Asian population in Richmond, RPL takes a multi-faceted approach to Chinese language library services for new Canadians.
Faced with the challenge of serving a large and diverse immigrant population, the library established the Multilingual Services Department in April 2000 to design services for immigrants, in particular, the Chinese community. This department is made up of two Chinese-speaking librarians and one Chinese support staff person who work with staff in other departments to develop a variety of programs and services.
Multilingual Collections, Programs and Services- Online Chinese language catalogue allows users to look for and place reserves on Chinese materials.
- Addressing cultural diversity, RPL offers library materials in ten languages: English, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Spanish, Arabic and Urdu.
- Besides English, our Chinese language collection is by far the largest and most popular. There are nearly 70,000 Chinese language items for adults and children, including fiction, non-fiction, music CDs, movie DVDs, newspapers and magazines.
- Introduced a Chinese reference collection of over 500 books and a special collection of over 600 art albums. Due to the size of the collection and its constant growth, people from all over the Lower Mainland come to Richmond to borrow Chinese material.
- In 2008, the circulation of Chinese materials accounted for nearly 21% per cent of the Library's total circulation.
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Richmond Public Library's online Canadian Citizenship Practice Test
at http://www.yourlibrary.ca/citizenship/
- consists of over 100 multiple choice questions
- customer chooses the number of questions they want to be asked
- when they finish, their score and the correct answers are displayed.
- In 2008, the Library offered 2,657 programs with an attendance of 106,053. Of that total, 244 were multilingual programs, with an attendance of 16,404.
- Weekly New Immigrant Orientation seminars on local community resources and services provide practical and essential information to help new immigrants gain a better understanding of the community and what it can offer. Seminars are usually conducted in English with Mandarin or Cantonese interpretation.
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BC Practice Driving Test at http://www.yourlibrary.ca/driving/
- helps people prepare for the written part of the BC Learners license application
- allows people to test their skills and readiness by becoming familiar with the questions
- customers can choose any number of questions to answer, and once they finish, their score and the correct answers are displayed.
TECHNOLOGY
- ILS: VTLS Virtua http://www.vtls.com
- Computer Booking System: Libonline http://www.activecommunities.com/technology-solutions/libraries.htm
- Mediabank DVD dispensers: http://www.libramation.com/
- Wireless networking available at all branches
- Self-checkouts http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_ca/library/home/
- Web site: Cold Fusion running on Windows/IIS
- Print management: http://www.itcsystems.com/
- Total number of public computers: 169
- Public computers with Internet access: 143
- Total number of public and staff computers: 257
- Web site requests (pages viewed in 2008): 19,807,984
- RPL ranks amongst the highest for digital innovations
- Our website is our virtual branch, allowing customers access to online classes like Learning Express Library, enabling them to engage in interactive programs, read e-books, check their account, do research and more. Our website has lots of practical applications for our customers, like the online Canadian Citizenship Practice Test, the online B.C. Practice Driving Test, and the Community Services Directory
- Chinese catalogue with an interface that allows customers to view our website in both simplified and traditional Chinese. The front end to our new Chinese catalogue enables customers to make choices using a mouse, rather than having to know Chinese input methods. Customers can also fill out a library card application in traditional Chinese.
- Online public services include an in-house developed multilingual email notification, public wired and wireless networks with validated customer self-registration, online computer bookings, self checkout and DVD dispensers. Long before ILS vendors were selling such features, RPL developed its own My Picks feature, which alerts customers to new books we receive that meet their pre-selected reading preferences, based on author, subject headings and categories.
- RPL was also one of the earliest adopters of self-checkout (1996) and certainly has one of the most successful rates of self-serve, at 93%. RPL first offered Internet access to the public in 1996 and we were the first to do so in British Columbia. Staff at RPL worked with SRI in 1997 to develop one of the first public computer booking systems in North America. And we were the first library in North America to offer e-books to our customers in 2000.
RALPHY CARD
Learn more about the Ralphy Card Campaign.
DVD DISPENSERS
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(See Computers in Libraries, "Dispensing with the DVD Circulation Dilemma", February 2008, p. 11) |
AWARDS
2009
- BC Library Association Helen Gordon Stewart Award presented to Greg Buss for his outstanding career in librarianship involving visible or readily identifiable achievements that bring honour to the entire profession.
2008
- BC Library Association Merit Award for the Library's Ralphy Card Campaign
- CLA/Information Today Award for Innovative Technology for our DVD Dispenser
- John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award for the Library's Ralphy Card Campaign.
- Cultural Diversecity Award for Business for our multicultural services, programs and commitment to diversity in the workplace.
2006
- BC Library Association Merit Award for the Library's "Healthy Living Series", aimed at promoting good health and providing accurate medical/health information to Chinese Canadians. The program involved offering a series of practical health and wellness programs in Mandarin and Cantonese, to new immigrants.
2005
- BC Library Association Merit Award for the Library's "Reading for Success" ESL Book Club Program, aimed at promoting literacy, reading and computer skills. The program involved offering fee-for-service Chinese computer classes to raise revenue for the purchase of an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) reading club collection.
- Public Library Association / Highsmith Innovation Award The $2,000 US award recognizes the library's "Reading for Success" ESL Book Club Program, developed in co-operation with SUCCESS Richmond Youth Group.
2004
- Keith Sacre Library Champion Award presented to Mr. Ben Dayson, one of RPL's greatest donors, for his support of libraries, literacy, public access to information, and the overall aims and objectives of libraries.
2003
- WebJunction's Library of the Month for December The library's Web site is recognized for its innovative use of web technology, provision of online services, and forward looking vision and design.
- 2003 Industry Canada's LibraryNet "Best Practices" Award for Innovative Internet Use in Canadian Public Libraries The award recognizes the library's online BC Practice Driving Test.
- 2003 Gale Group Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services The $3,000 US award recognizes the library's outstanding collection of online interactive resources.
- 2003 Canadian Library Association/Information Today Award for Innovative Technology The $500 US award recognizes the library's innovative collection of online interactive resources.
2002
- Canada Post Literacy Award for Community Leadership The $2,000 award is in recognition of the nearly 1,900 programs sponsored by the Library to serve the diverse needs of the Richmond community. Over 55,000 learners took part in ESL conversation circles, after-school tutoring for youngsters, a reading buddies program, programs in computer literacy, a writing contest for young adults, and an immigrant orientation program. This award recognizes Richmond Public Library for contributing to literacy in our community.
- ExplorASIAN Canadian Heritage Award for Community Building Through Arts & Culture Recognition of the Library for its significant contribution to strengthening the community infrastructure for culture.
- Library Journal Movers & Shakers In recognition of Cate McNeely, Deputy Chief Librarian for her leadership in the library field in the category of Visionaries. This nomination recognizes "those individuals who are enhancing the way we provide service, who are making us think about what we do and how we do it, who are creating new models for others to use".
2001
- Keith Sacre Library Champion Award to Mr. Kwok-Chu Lee (Master Lam Chun), Richmond Public Library's most dedicated library supporter for his support of libraries, literacy, public access to information and the overall aims and objectives of libraries.
- British Columbia Library Association Achievement in Library Services Award Awarded to Cate McNeely, Deputy Chief Librarian for her outstanding and substantial contribution to librarianship in BC.
- LibraryNet "Best Practices" Award for Innovative Internet Use in Canadian Public Libraries for the Online Learning Centre Web-based training courses.
2000
- Canadian Library Association/Information Today Award for Innovation which recognizes Richmond Public Library's Library Online as the most important technological innovation in a Canadian public library.
- American Library Association "Best of Show" for Public Relations Honourable Mention for 1998 Annual Report.
- Richmond Chamber of Commerce/City of Richmond Executive of the Year Award - Public Sector Awarded to Greg Buss, Chief Librarian, Richmond Public Library. This award is in recognition for outstanding achievement in the Public Sector and is sponsored by Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the City of Richmond.
- British Columbia Library Trustees Association Nancy Bennett Award for Merit to former Library Board member and City Council Representative Corisande Percival-Smith for her contribution to the success of Richmond Public Library.
1999
- British Columbia Library Association Merit Award for Building Design and Planning for the design and plan of the Ironwood Branch.
- Public Library Association/Highsmith Innovation Award for creative programs and services using technology.
- Canadian Library Association Faxon Marketing Award for outstanding marketing techniques.
- Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators, Royal Bank of Canada: Willis Award for Innovation for creation of the Ironwood Branch "Library of the Future".
- LibraryNet "Best Practices" for Innovative Internet Use in Canadian Public Libraries: Interactivity for Library Online which allows customers to apply for a library card, book a PC, register for programs and pay fines.
1998
- British Columbia Library Association Merit Award for Outstanding Service for Internet training, education and services.
- Public Library Association National Achievement Citation for the Chinese Book Donation Campaign.
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