[Advisors] ltr to InCan policy advisor re: CAP/libraries

[Lynda Rickard]

What about the non-library CAP sites?  We have one site in a community where
there isn't a library.  Also, the TAG Innovation Centre that does a lot of
community work, training and e-waste disposal isn't a library and would
fold.

Lynda Rickard, Executive Director
Technology Alliance Group for Kawartha Lakes
50 Mary St. W., (front)
LINDSAY, ON    K9V 2N6
(705) 878-9261
(800) 407-6419
Focused on Helping People


-----Original Message-----
From: advisors-admin@tc.ca [mailto:advisors-admin@tc.ca] On Behalf Of Marita
Moll
Sent: January-03-12 9:48 AM
To: advisors@tc.ca
Subject: [Advisors] ltr to InCan policy advisor re: CAP/libraries


Hello folks and Happy New Year.  We have yet to reconnect with the policy
advisor we met with in December and, given the rumours about CAP being
absorbed by libraries, I thought it would be a good hook to hang this letter
on.  So, below is a draft, with some explanation re: the library context and
a request for a further meeting about new funding models.  I need your help
with good specific examples about "libraries" that don't fit the common
mould, with other points that could/should be made.


Dear Mr. Winchester

Please accept our best wishes for the New Year and our thanks for the
extended meeting on December 8, 2011.  We appreciated your honest comments
and probing questions about the current status of the CAP program.  We hope
we were able to communicate some of the exciting innovations currently
underway in this program which, we all agree, needs complete rebranding.

We know there is a feeling, in the policy community, that the CAP program is
ready to be absorbed into the library community.  We would like to assure
you that this is absolutely not the case. To begin with, in the context of
CAP delivery, the term "library" has never been clearly defined. Libraries
vary greatly across the country.  In very small communities they might
consist of nothing more than a few shelves of books and the ability to order
books from a distant main repository.  Some are only open a few hours per
week and staffed by a single person.  They might be a small corner of a
rural municipal building that serves multiple functions.  Here are a few
reports describing the situation in various areas:

.        In Nunavut, the libraries have no budget 
for computers or technical support.  The only support they receive for
digital programs is through CAP.
.        In Saskatchewan, most of the rural 
libraries are open only 12 hours per week and many are not CAP sites.
.         First Nations communities have very 
large populations that depend on the CAP sites for basic tasks such as
completing job applications and creating resumes.  First Nation communities
rarely have public libraries.
.        None of the 38 CAP sites in PEI are in libraries.
.        In the Vancouver area, out of 102 sites, 
only 20 of them are in libraries.
.        Xxxx please send me a few more examples
.        xxxx

We hope you will be interested in taking some time in January to meet with
some of us again to discuss different funding models that could preserve the
program outside of the Industry Canada envelope.

Finally, further to the "living labs" project demonstrated at the December
meeting, we would like to share with you the attached pictures of the Royal
Couple visiting one of the "living lab" 
sites in Montreal.  Although this particular site is part of a medical
program, community installations now being planned follow a similar model.

Sincerely
people at the meeting?


Marita












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