|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The above has been adapted from Lorna Toolis' official
annual report to the Toronto
Public Library’s Financial Situation The following is
the text of a presentation made by Library Board members and senior staff
at a series of public consultation meetings in October-November 1992. Our funding comes from three sources: 90% from the
City of We have two budgets: operating and capital. The
operating budget covers staff; books and materials; supplies and services.
Our capital budget is for new buildings, renovations and automation. Our 1991 operating budget was close to $35,000,000.
Our 1992 budget is 2% less than last year. In reality, after absorbing the
cost of inflation, we have 7% less than last year. The library board is not alone in suffering curs. The
City of How have we done
this? Like all service-oriented organizations, our largest
cost by far is staff, and rightly so. Our staff are
our prime resource. Providing service in 33 locations is labour-intensive
and this takes 70% of our budget. Due to pay increases already negotiated
(for the second year of a two-year contract) and to increases in the cost
of benefits, our staff costs increased
by 5% in 1992. This meant that the other two categories—books and
services—had to take a much larger cut to stay within budget. Regretfully, we have had to cut the budget for books
and materials by 30%. (The Merril Collection books and materials budget was
cut by 10%.) We hope to restore some of this over
the next few years. Right now, it means that we will be buying 60,000 fewer
books this year. We still expect to offer the same variety of titles; we
will just have fewer copies of them spread among all our branches. We have
cut supplies and services by 15%. This category includes office supplies,
building maintenance, publicity and staff training. While these cuts may
not be visible to the public, they have put a lot of pressure on the
library internally. How are we
coping with the cuts? First, we have had a hiring freeze, as do all City
agencies, since Secondly, we have had our automated system up and
running in all branches since December last year and the on-line catalogue
since June this year. This has enabled us to give you better service without incurring more
cost. Third, with automation we can utilize our collections
much better. People have access to all our collections from any branch, can
place holds on copies held at other locations to be shipped to them, and
can place holds on books even while they are still on order. Lastly, the proposals on tiers of service and roles
that are the basis of our new service delivery model will help us focus our
efforts to deliver service more efficiently and effectively. What can we
expect in 1993? The economic situation is not going to improve for
some time. Recovery from recession in the public sector traditionally lags
behind the private sector. The Budget Review Committee of City Council has
recently released its "Streamlining Report". It calls for
reducing staff costs by 10% by the end of 1994. The Library, along with every other City department
and agency, is required to reduce its staff. We have been planning how we
will do this for the last six months. Once again, the City requested us to
propose cuts that would not involve staff layoffs or affect public service. We have made it clear to the Budget Review Committee
that a cut of 10% of our staff is impossible for us without service cuts. Torontonians place a high value on their
library service and library usage is increasing. Our City Councillors
understand this and are not requiring
us to downsize so drastically. We are, however, expecting to reduce staff
size by 4.4%. The cuts will be in areas where they will not have a serious
effect on service, and where technology is helping us to be more efficient.
(There are not cuts to the Merril Collection staff.) In the next year or so, you will be seeing more use of
technology that will enable us to save staff time. Coming first will be automatic phoning to notify people
of holds and overdue books. We are also looking at automatic renewals by
telephone and self-serve checkout. We will be reviewing patterns of library usage with a
view to fine-tuning our hours of opening. This will help us make the best
use of staff while ensuring that services are available when people most
need them. It is our expectation that the staff reductions can be
accomplished through resignations and retirements, without layoffs, over
the course of the next two years. In terms of our capital budget, our major project for
1993 will be our new Boys and Girls House, to be located on (On February 15, 1993, the balance of the funding was
approved by the Executive Committee of City Council.) Canadian
Fiction 1991 and 1992
The following is a listing of the science fiction,
fantasy and speculative fiction published by Canadians in 1992 and 1991.
This list has been derived primarily from the nominations list for the 1991
and 1992 Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy (AURORA) Awards. We welcome
any additions or corrections. We welcome all authors, publishers, and other
knowledgeable individuals to keep us informed of works in the sf field by
all Canadians so that we may publish as complete and comprehensive a list
as possible each year. 1992 Novels and collections - English language ˇ
Atwood, Good Bones, Coach House ˇ
Burns, Cliff, That First,
Wound-Bearing Layer, Greensleeve ˇ
Choyce, ˇ
Coney, Michael, ˇ
Coney, Michael, A Tomcat
Called Salsvina, Porthole Press ˇ
Costello, Sean, Captain Quad,
Penguin ˇ
Davies, Robertson, The
Cornish Trilogy,Penguin ˇ
Davies, Robertson, Murther and Walking Spirits, McClelland &
Stewart ˇ
DeBrandt, Don H., The
Quicksilver Screen, Ballantine/Del Rey ˇ
de Lint, Charles, writing as Samuel M. Key, From a Whisper to a Scream, ˇ
de Lint, Charles, Spirit Walk, Tor ˇ
ˇ
Duncan, Dave, Emperor and Clown,
Ballantine/Del Rey ˇ
Duncan, Dave, The ˇ
Gedge, Pauline, The
Covenant, Penguin ˇ
George, Stephen, Near Dead, Zebra ˇ
George, Stephen, Nightscape,
Zebra ˇ
Green, Terence M., Children
of the Rainbow, McClelland & Stewart ˇ
Huff, Tanya, Blood Trail, DAW ˇ
Hutchison, Don, Northern
Frights (editor), Mosaic Press ˇ
Kay, Guy Gavriel, A Song
forArbonne, Viking ˇ
Kilian, Crawford, Greenmagic,
Ballantine/Del Rey ˇ
Robinson, Spider, Lady
Slings the Booze, Ace ˇ
Russell, Sean, Gatherer of
Clouds, DAW ˇ
Sagara, Michelle, Children
of the Blood, Del Rey ˇ
Sawyer, Robert J., Far-Seer,
Ace ˇ
Steffler, John, The
Afterlife of George Cartwright ˇ
Stewart, Sean, Passion Play,
Beach Holme/Tesseract ˇ
ˇ
ˇ
Vonarburg, Élisabeth, In the
Mother's Land, Beach Holme ˇ
Vonarburg, Élisabeth, The
Maerlande Chronicles, Beach Home Short work - English
language ˇ
Armstrong-Jones, "Beastly!", Sword & Sorceress IX ˇ
Armstrong-Jones, "Love of the Banshee", Towers of Darkover ˇ
Armstrong-Jones, "Magic", Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Spring/92 ˇ
Baillie, Robert, "Silent Night", On Spec, v4#3 ˇ
Baker, Nancy, "Cold Sleep", Northern Frights ˇ
Begamudré, Ven, "Out of Sync", Tesseracts4 ˇ
Burns, Cliff, "Also Starring", Tesseracts4 ˇ
Burrs, Mick, "Baruch, The Man-Faced Dog", Tesseracts4 ˇ
Choyce, Lesley, "The Best of Both Worlds", Tesseracts4 ˇ
Choyce, Lesley, "Patches", ˇ
Clarke, J. Brian, "Adoption", Analog, May 92 ˇ
Cunningham, G.M., "Letters Home", ˇ
de Lint, Charles, "Bridges", The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October-November
1992 ˇ
de Lint, Charles, "The Conjure Man", After the King ˇ
de Lint, Charles, "The Graceless Child", The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1992 ˇ
de Lint, "The Stone Drum", Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, December 1992 ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara, "Belonging", The Crafters, Volume 2 ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara, "Black Ice", Aladdin, Master of the Lamp ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara, "Choices", Alternate Presidents ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara, "Freedom", Alternate Kennedys and Alouette 5 ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara, "The Hidden Dragon", Dragonfantastic ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara, "Lost Lamb", Whatdunits ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara, "The Last Sphinx", A Christmas Bestiary ˇ
Delaplace, Barbara & M. Resnick, "Trading Up", Battlestation, Volume 1 ˇ
Doctorow, Cory, "Hell, A Cautionary Tale", Pulphouse No. 12/13 ˇ
Dorsey, Candas Jane, "Death of a Dream", Tesseracts4 ˇ
Dorsey, Candas Jane, "Living in Cities", ˇ
Duncan, Dave, "The Others", Tesseracts4 ˇ
Elflandsson, Galad, "Waiting", Northern Frights ˇ
Farley, Donna, "Light One Candle", On Spec, Fall 92 ˇ
Farley, Donna, "The Passing of the Eclipse", Universe 2 ˇ
Farrant, M.C., "The Children Do Not Yet Know", On Spec, Fall 92 ˇ
Field, M.W., "Gryphons", Tesseracts4 ˇ
|
