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County councillors demand investigation into document leak

Simcoe County council dissolved a 74-year-old library co-operative, but not before the confidential report on it made its way to the public website
2021-10-14 books PEXELS

Politicians say there should be "consequences" after a confidential report was mistakenly — albeit briefly — published on the County of Simcoe's website and then allegedly shared among CEOs of county libraries.

The revelation of the issue sparked rising temperatures around the County of Simcoe council table during a vote on Tuesday (April 26). 

The vote — which passed — was to dissolve the 74-year-old Simcoe County Library Co-operative, which serves 14 public libraries (29 branches) across Simcoe County that share services, resources and funds to pool purchasing power for rotating special collections, maintaining electronic databases, bulk purchasing, and obtaining e-books and audiobooks to be shared.

A county official clarified that no branches are planned to close as a result of the decision.

Discussions and reports on the dissolution had been entirely in closed meetings prior to the vote, but an alleged “technical glitch” led to the confidential report being published briefly to the county’s public website. From there, it was picked up by one or more of the CEOs of libraries across the county, according to county councillors.

As a result, county council is calling for an investigation into the “breach.” 

Wasaga Beach Mayor Nina Bifolchi, who also serves as chair of the Service Delivery Task Force that received the original report, said she’s aware of library CEOs that are reportedly upset about the county decision. 

“A library CEO sent me an email, meant for their colleague, suggesting that I had bitch-slapped one of their CEOs – with words, not physically – obviously that shows the level of professionalism or lack thereof that we are dealing with,” she said. “I think we need to understand where this started, how it was shared and who it was shared with. I believe there should be consequences.”

County clerk John Daly revealed that on April 13, a technical error caused a closed-session report on library services to be made available to the public on the County of Simcoe portal website. It was reported to the county by a municipal clerk, who had been informed through their library CEO. The issue was resolved within three hours of it being reported. 

While it was only online for a few hours, it was accessed by top library officials from the region.

“Other library CEOs had also accessed that document. We have been made aware that some of the CEOs want to take this report into their closed-meeting sessions. They should seek legal advice on that,” said Daly. “It has been reported to us that all chief librarians have seen the closed-session report and it is being shared.”

Midland Deputy Mayor Mike Ross suggested the actions of the library CEOs who allegedly have copies of the document are “criminal.” He doesn't think a county investigation is sufficient.

“I don’t think it goes far enough. I think the actual Criminal Code has been broken. I don’t understand why we’re not calling the police,” said Ross. “If a CEO of our library doesn’t know better, then who does?”

Collingwood Acting Mayor Keith Hull encouraged a calm and measured approach.

“I would ask we all take a moment to step back and cool the temperature,” said Hull. “Respectfully, this should be in-camera as it relates to identifiable individuals. Based on findings of an investigation, we could then determine next steps.”

In regards to their decision on whether to dissolve the co-operative, council opinion was split after they emerged from an hour-long closed session on the matter.

The county's director of public affairs, Allan Greenwood said the goal is modernization.

“The process we went through is really to modernize the service that we currently have,” said Greenwood.

In 1960, new legislation provided for the formation of county public libraries in place of the co-operatives.

Simcoe County had the last remaining library co-operative in the province, Greenwood said.

“Municipalities across Ontario have long departed this model in favour of a more local and modern solution,” said Greenwood on Tuesday.

The change was born from a recommendation made by the county’s Service Delivery Task Force, which first considered a report from KPMG Consulting regarding library services late last year. In November 2021, the consultant’s findings were released.

However, the consultant report suggested a county-wide library system, which area library CEOs were opposed to.

Letters were received by KPMG expressing concern and frustrations from library CEOs and boards at the suggestion of creating a county-wide library system from Collingwood, Essa Township, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Innisfil, Springwater Township and Penetanguishene.

At that time, county council voted in favour of sticking with a “modified status quo” in regards to library services, with the task force planning to bring more recommendations forward in the new year that could improve library efficiency.

“We absolutely listened to a range of feedback from a variety of stakeholders,” said Greenwood, noting that library CEOs were all consulted on the review and many provided feedback in multiple forums.

He said the final recommendation considered on Tuesday took all that feedback into account.

The recommendation, however, was made in closed session and the report was not intended to be circulated before the vote on April 26.

“We factored in virtually all of their requests,” he said. “We know communities are better served by a strong local library.”

Some councillors questioned whether dissolving the co-operative was the best path forward.

“If this does pass, I will say this is a sad day for smaller libraries in Simcoe County. It’s a sad day for our immigration partnership, and it’s a sad day for those who are marginalized and don’t have computer connectivity,” said Deputy Warden/Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin.

Essa Mayor Sandie MacDonald noted that the decision on her vote was based solely on facts.

“I think we have so many (people) outside of this table who think it means a costly download,” said MacDonald. “We were assured there is no downloading.”

County council voted in favour of spending $280,000 from reserves to implement a new Information Library Service (ILS), which staff say will help “modernize” services. Staff says the change will realize nearly $300,000 a year in savings.

MacDonald noted multicultural book collections and other shared resources between libraries will still be available under the new model. Greenwood said the collections will be distributed to local libraries that they can choose to share among themselves as they see fit.

Dollin requested an amendment to have the recommendation referred to all Simcoe County municipal library boards before a final decision was made by council.

That amendment was defeated by a vote of 21-9, with Dollin, Severn Deputy Mayor Jane Dunlop, Ramara Deputy Mayor Joe Gough, Ramara Coun. Kal Johnson, Bradford West Gwillimbury Mayor Rob Keffer, Innisfil Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson, Bradford West Gwillimbury Deputy Mayor James Leduc, Adjala-Tosorontio Deputy Mayor Bob Meadows and Collingwood Acting Deputy Mayor Mariane McLeod voting in favour.

The main motion to institute the new Information Library Service and dissolve the Simcoe County Library Co-operative was approved by a vote of 21-9, with Dollin, Dunlop, Gough, Johnson, Keffer, Davidson, Leduc, Meadows and McLeod opposed.

Library CEOs from Collingwood, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Midland and Innisfil were contacted for comment for this story, but did not respond by publication time.


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Jessica Owen

About the Author: Jessica Owen

Jessica Owen is an experienced journalist working for Village Media since 2018, primarily covering Collingwood and education.
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