LAC Announces New Services Hours

Source: http://www.collectionscanada.ca/whats-new/013-316-e.html

What's New?

Effective Monday, November 26, 2007, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) will reinstate the following hours of service at 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa: early morning hours, all of the evening hours, and some additional weekend hours. In addition, LAC will reinstate some of the hours during which services are provided by LAC staff. In order to do so in the most effective manner, LAC wishes to obtain the advice of the new LAC Services Advisory Board (SAB), drawn from its client communities, before undertaking these further changes to hours of service. The scope of and options for further changes will be discussed at the first SAB meeting on November 30, 2007, in Ottawa.

As of Monday, November 26, 2007, the Consultation Rooms and the Canadian Genealogy Centre on the third floor, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, will be open for the following hours:

• Monday - Friday: 8 a.m. - 11 p.m.
  (With LAC Service Staff available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
• Saturday - Sunday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• Statutory Holidays: Closed

Users will have access to the finding aids and collections located in these areas during all of the above hours.

Background

In its mandate to make Canada's documentary heritage accessible to all Canadians, LAC is continuously increasing its range of services in order to respond to its clients' needs across the country. Although on-site services are essential to many clients, the majority uses LAC's off-site services, such as the electronic research tools, the Canadian Genealogy Centre, and the digital collections and virtual exhibitions on LAC's website.

The aligning of services, activities and use of resources to meet changing client demands, and the declining use of the on-site services during the evening hours, led LAC to revise its hours of service on September 1, 2007. Following these changes, LAC received comments from concerned researcher groups and client communities. Library and Archives Canada gave serious attention to these concerns and, as a result, has amended the hours of service as indicated above.

Library and Archives Canada has introduced a new public consultation process to seek user feedback concerning what types of services LAC should offer and what should be the balance of these service offerings by means of various service channels. LAC will continuously review its menu of services to ensure that all Canadians have the fullest access possible to Canada's documentary heritage.

The above-mentioned consultation process has two components. The first component is the LAC Services Advisory Board (SAB), which is composed of representatives from different user communities across the country. The SAB's mandate will be to consider issues directly related to the services portion of LAC's mandate.

The second consultative component involves general public consultations that will be held on a regular and ongoing basis. Canadians from coast to coast to coast will be invited to comment on Library and Archives Canada's client services. They will have a choice of communicating their views in-person, by telephone or via electronic means.

"Library and Archives Canada will make every effort to invite public consultation and involve user communities in its commitment to continuously examine and evaluate issues directly related to the services aspect of its mandate," stated Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada.

Please direct any comments or questions to Antonio Lechasseur, Director, Client Services Division at Antonio.Lechasseur@lac-bac.gc.ca or 613-996-5115 or 1-866-578-7777 (toll-free in Canada and the United States); TTY: 613-992-6969 or 1-866-299-1699 (toll-free in Canada).