Accreditation
 The Hastings Highlands Public Library has achieved the honour of becoming an Accredited Ontario Public Library!
This designation was granted by the Ontario Public Library Guidelines Monitoring and Accreditation Council,
after an external assessment, in recognition of excellence in library service. A library is judged and rated on
over 125 guidelines that evaluate library services, resources, planning and policy. The Hastings Highlands Public Library is proud of this achievement and will work to maintain these high provincial standards
of service, administration and infrastructure.
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Overall Goals
The overall goals of the Hastings Highlands Public Library are:
* To promote greater participation in library programs and use of collections
* To encourage a love of reading and life-long learning
* To support increased literacy in our community
* To enhance the quality of life for seniors
* To engage children and youth in all the library has to offer
* To provide access to technology
* To support creativity and culture
Mission
The Hastings Highlands Library is committed to meeting the informational needs of its both its year around and seasonal communities. We provide an array of resources in a variety of formats representing diverse points of view. We employ a dedicated and responsive staff that takes pride in providing expert service and programs and services based on community needs and interests.
Vision
The Hastings Highlands Public Library will be the cultural heart of the community. By providing a community meeting place, it will give full access to information and ideas, promote literacy and love of reading, the joy of life-long learning and support partnerships that encourage the pursuit of cultural, recreational and educational interests.
Staff
Kim McMunn, CEO
Kristin Seaborn - Assistant Librarian
Casey Freeman - Assistant
Library Rules of Conduct
The following rules of the Hastings Highlands Public Library are posted to ensure the comfort and protection of all persons who use the facilities of this library system. The library staff will courteously and firmly enforce the following rules.
On library premises:
- Smoking is not permitted
- Food and beverages are prohibited except in designated areas.
- Loitering, petitioning and soliciting are prohibited.
- The use of insulting or threatening language, physical abuse, assault or generally disruptive behavior will be cause for removal or prosecution of the offender(s) under the criminal code.
- No animals except seeing-eye guide dogs are allowed.
- Roller blading or skateboarding is not permitted.
- Persons committing acts of vandalism, willful damage and/or theft of library equipment or materials will be subject to prosecution under the criminal code.
- Shoes and shirts must be worn.
- Children requiring supervision must not be left unattended on Library premises. Library staff cannot care for, or take responsibility for, children left unattended in the Library, and are obligated by the Ontario Child and Family Services Act to call the Police or Children’s Aid Society if a child is in need of protection.
Intellectual Freedom
The public library is a democratic institution, and no individual or minority group should be allowed to limit the community’s freedom to read. Democracy cannot flourish unless material representing all viewpoints is freely available. Hastings Highlands Public Library subscribes to the following “Intellectual Freedom Statement”, ratified by the Canadian Library Association in June 1984, which affirms its commitment to the following basic policies:
- Every person in Canada has the fundamental right, as embodied in the nation’s Bill of Rights, to have access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity, and to express his thoughts publicly. This right to intellectual freedom is essential to the health and development of Canadian society.
- Libraries have a basic responsibility for the development and maintenance of intellectual freedom.
- It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity including those, which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials.
- It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee the right of free expression by making available the entire library’s public facilities and services to all individuals and groups who need them.
- Libraries should resist all efforts to limit the exercise of these responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and groups.
- Both employees and employers in libraries have a duty, in addition to their institutional responsibilities, to uphold these principles.
