New officers elected at the Okanagan Regional Library with a strategic plan getting approved.

Chair Catherine Lord, the ORL rep from Vernon City Council, opened the meeting highlighting successes from the 2015 year, most notably the opening of the long-awaited new library branch in Summerland. While the building has only been open 4 months, statistics already indicate visits to the branch are up over 10%. System-wide, participation in children’s programs were up 12% over the previous year and attendance at programs geared towards adult audiences more than doubled. Circulation of print materials declined by 2.6%, while the usage of electronic materials continued to climb 20.6% over 2014.

During Board elections, Lord was voted to serve another year as the library system’s Chair, and Lori Mindnich, a Councillor from Lumby, will act as Vice Chair. Mindnich will also chair the Finance Committee. The Policy and Planning Committee will be headed by Karla Kozakevich, from the Okanagan Similkameen Regional District, and the Personnel Committee will be chaired by Tundra Baird from Enderby’s Council. Erin Carlson, a Councillor from Summerland, will be the ORL’s liaison with the BC Library Trustee Association.