At this year's annual meeting of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, one of the 77 motions  put forth for consideration was for a Provincial Library Card.

MLA President Carolyn Minor was solicited by the media for a statement on the part of the association regarding the motion. The MLA's statement included the following:

"The Manitoba Library Association is pleased to see that library services are important to the AMM and would like to remind them of the vision they helped to develop in 2005 for high quality, sustainable library services for all Manitobans.

The MLA recognizes the need for and benefits of province-wide library cards and is aware of successful models such as Alberta's TAL cards, but cautions that implementing such a card will require some serious thought. Manitoba libraries already engage in resource sharing activities such as interlibrary loans. Province wide cards would further extend library services to under-served residents such as those who live on reserves. Many questions remain to be answered and the MLA strongly advises that libraries be included in the decision making process. For example:

Who would issue cards to residents whose municipalities do not fund library services?

Which libraries would be involved?  The AMM motion calls for a provincial library card to be valid at any library that receives provincial funding.  That would include not only public libraries, but also all school libraries, academic libraries [UM, UW, BU, RCC, Assiniboine College, UCN, etc.], special libraries that receive provincial funding such as Literacy Partners of Manitoba, government libraries such as the Legislative Library and the Provincial Archives, and research libraries.   Each of these types of libraries brings with it its own set of logistical and funding problems. 

Who would have first call on materials held in a particular library?  For example, would a college student or instructor have first call on materials in their library or would the general public have equal access?"

This issue has been explored in some detail already. In 2002 the Manitoba Library Consortium commissioned a feasibility study on a Provincial Library Card from the Institute of Urban Studies. The report found that a Provincial Library Card program had a lot of potential to address regional inequities but -- as the MLA statement indicates -- it would be a complex matter requiring a great deal of sensitivity to local community needs and wishes.