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- Written by Gordon Prentice
I believe my deputation to the Library Board last night was only the third in 11 years. I told the Board that felt like a big deal to me.
It’s not something people do every day. And I only did it because I couldn’t get a meeting with the Library Chair, Darryl Gray, to discuss with him privately my concerns about library statistics. That was eight months ago. I tried again last month to talk to him one-to-one but my emails didn’t get through.
Broken Portal
The Portal in the Library Website (which is ostensibly for the public to contact the Board) was out of commission for over two months and nobody noticed.
On 30 September 2025 the Chief Executive assured me it had been fixed and it hadn’t. My emails just disappeared into the ether. That’s the background.
I spent a lot of time putting my deputation together. The material is posted here and here.
No Ambushes
When I met my Ward Councillor, Trevor Morrison, earlier this month I stressed I had no wish to ambush the Board or its Chief Executive. So I made sure they all had the paperwork well before the meeting.
So I found it very dispiriting and a bit disheartening that after I finished speaking and invited questions from the Board they all remained silent and expressionless, like Easter Island statues, except for the Board Chair, Darryl Gray.
This is how it went:
Library Chair Darryl Gray: “Any questions from the board to the deputant on what he presented this evening? We also have a staff report that we'll be tabling in a minute for any questions of staff.
Me: “But this is the only time the Board will hear from me…. I spent quite a long time on this, and I would appreciate if anyone has any questions to ask them, and I'll do my best to field them.
No pressure, of course, but this is my chance to respond to any questions you may have."
Darryl Gray: “I have one question. I just want to clarify something. So you attest that Tracy changed the provincial definition of a library card holder.”
Me: “Yes”
Darryl Gray: “She didn't actually change the provincial definition. We're reporting a specific way to the province. And my question is this, what was the provincial response to your email about that?”
Me: “Well, the provincial response is complete gobbledegook by the civil servant, Douglas Davey. He basically said - and this is in the report that the Chief Executive has tabled - he said:
Yes, you can satisfy the active cardholder definition by using your card once in two years, but if you don't use your card, that also satisfies the provincial definition.
Now it's in the report in front of you, and that is quixotic. It is bizarre, and I'm taking it up with the province because it's complete drivel.
But we don't know from the report that the Chief Executive has tabled what the question was that led to that risible answer. We don't know the date that the Chief Executive got in touch with Douglas Davey. We don't know the context.
We've just got this bizarre statement from the civil servant that you can satisfy the provincial definition by using your (library membership) card or not using your card. And as I said, that's just risible.”
Darryl Gray: “Any other questions of the deputant? We'll have the chance to talk about the report. Thank you.”
Newmarket Today covered the story this way.
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- Written by Gordon Prentice
Tomorrow (Wednesday 17 December 2025) I shall be taking a deputation to the Library Board. It's meetings are open to the public but are not streamed.
The agenda includes a report from the Chief Executive on Library Statistics.
Here is my commentary on it.
To: All members of the Newmarket Public Library Board
Deputation on 17 December 2025: The Conduct of the Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami
Commentary on CEO’s Report on Library Statistics (agenda item 6.1)
To recap. What action am I requesting?
(1) The Library Board and the Chief Executive should follow the definition of “active cardholder” as set by the Province. And the figure reported to the Province in the Annual Survey of Public Libraries should be included in the Library’s “Report to the Community 2025”
(2) The Chief Executive should report to the Library Board quarterly on membership renewals and lapses. The Board may wish to consider asking the Chief Executive for an annual report on the split between Newmarket and out-of-town (or non-resident) members and Library membership by ward. The Board has received such reports in the past. The latter at the request of Councillor Bisanz.
(3) The Chief Executive should be asked to give a presentation to the Board on the capabilities of Polaris to aid members’ understanding of what it can do.
Deputation Issue 1. Definitions. The “key issue” as set out in my Deputation is the definition of “active cardholder”. Earlier this year, the Chief Executive changed the Province’s definition of active cardholder and substituted her own – without approval of the Board or, so far as I know, the Library Board Chair. I am asking the Board to reinstate forthwith the Provincial definition.
The Chief Executive says
“systems limitations prevent capturing all form of library service in one integrated platform”.
If that is the case, then she should count what can be counted and tell the Province what she cannot count – for example, members who use the library as a public space for study. Clearly, this does not require the use of a membership card.
She should also tell the Province that she chooses not to track members signed up through outreach and that it is impossible, therefore, to determine when the member becomes an “active cardholder” according to the Provincial definition. The CEO believes tracking new members signed up through outreach is an invasion of their privacy. This is nonsense.
The CEO says the Ministry defines an active member as
“cardholders who have used their library card in the past two years”
and acknowledges that
“while this is a clear definition, system limitations make it challenging to fully meet this standard”. (My underlining for emphasis)
The answer is to follow the Provincial definition but with the caveats above.
The CEO relies on undated correspondence from Douglas Davey, a library services adviser in the Ministry, to help make her case. Unfortunately, we are not told what question or point he was answering. In any event, what we have is incoherent. Mr Davey is quoted as saying:
“We understand that Newmarket PL has opted to use the number of unexpired cards in its integrated Library System to calculate A1.14 Number of Active Cardholders.
“As you have set your cards to expire every two years then you are counting everyone who has used their card in the last two years as well (as) any patrons who have received a card in the last two years but haven’t used it in a way that is formally counted (eg participating in a drop-in program). We have no concerns with this method or the integrity of the data.”
This is gobbledegook. We now have a Provincial definition of “active cardholder” that requires a membership card to be used in the last two years. Or not used. Take your pick.
If we are to accept Mr Davey’s interpretation of the Provincial definition, we might as well use Ms Munusami’s definition: an active cardholder is a member with an unexpired library card.
If the Board is minded to adopt the CEO’s new definition then it should first seek an authoritative statement from the Province. If the Newmarket definition is to be the new template this will have Ontario-wide ramifications.
Deputation Issue 2. Membership renewals and lapses. 
On 4 July 2025 the Chief Executive told me:
“Retention is a focus this year.”
Despite this, the Library now no longer tracks membership renewals. And yet, paradoxically, data on renewals can be extracted as and when required.
In her report to the Board (page 3) she writes:
“Memberships remain active for two years and will expire unless the patron renews their membership in-person, on-line or over the phone. This figure is updated monthly and includes new sign-ups, renewals, on-going memberships, while removing expired memberships.”
The previous Chief Executive, Todd Kyle, reported monthly membership renewal figures to the Library Board for years. These were compiled manually. But now, despite using a “modernized” reporting system, we are asked to believe that renewals data cannot be generated.
The Board is told the Statistics Dashboard provides a broad overview of trends and progress in key service areas. But renewals and lapses are completely ignored. Wouldn’t a sharp decline in renewals and an increase in lapsed memberships be a cause of concern?
The CEO tells the Board on page 4 that:
“At present, Library staff are not aware of any method to extract renewal data from the Integrated Library System (Polaris)”
She adds:
“To confirm, the IT Department contacted Polaris directly to determine whether this functionality exists. Polaris has responded with:
“Polaris does not currently have a way to track or report on patron library card renewals.”
NPL’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 confirms the Library
“uses Polaris (iii) ILS on virtualised machines and the system is stable. Library IT staff provide ILS management, technical support and staff training. NPL can consult with the vendor to review modules to enhance service by reducing inefficiencies.”
A count of cardholder renewals in any given period can be produced by providing parameters for expiration dates, registration date and patron status to any one of (a) the built-in Polaris staff client (how it describes its report generator); (b) the SimplyReports add-on or (c) basic Structured Query Language – all three of which are included in the Polaris packages for which the Library has subscriptions.
For example, SimplyReports:
“gathers data from the Polaris database, allowing you to create reports about your patrons, patron account transactions, holds, and items. SimplyReports provides you with information you would expect to find in the Reports and Notices feature in the Polaris Integrated Library System, yet is more robust and gives you more control. SimplyReports allows you to select the values, parameters, and format to create truly customizable reports.”
There are other software solutions out there such as Savannah by OrangeBoy.
Deputation Issue 3: The Chief Executive should be asked to give a presentation to the Board on the capabilities of Polaris to aid members’ understanding of what it can do.
The Chief Executive says that:
“At the time of writing this report, Library staff are actively exploring an option to accurately track and report expired cards on a monthly or quarterly basis.”
This could provide the basis for a presentation along the lines I have proposed.
The Chief Executive says that:
“As part of the next round of strategic planning the Library Board and staff can consider the capabilities of Polaris when developing or refining metrics for organisational performance. This will ensure that reporting expectations align with what the system can realistically deliver and support informed decision-making.”
Why should the Board wait that long? Why is it unrealistic to want information on membership renewals? For years the Board used to get that information as a matter of course.
We all want informed decision-making. But, clearly, the Board is flying blind.
Gordon Prentice
16 December 2025
The Chief Executive mentions NPL’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025. It is here.
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- Written by Gordon Prentice
(Above: Darryl Gray (Chair) and Tracy Munusami (CEO) present the Library's "Report to the Community 2024" to Newmarket Councillors on 7 April 2025.)
Next Wednesday, at 5.30pm on 17 December 2025, I shall be addressing the Board of Newmarket Public Library on the conduct of its Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami. The meeting is open to the public but is not streamed. The text of my deputation which was emailed to the Library on Friday 5 December 2025 is set out below.
The Board Chair, Darryl Gray, told me on 2 December 2025:
"Tracy will be bringing a report to the upcoming Board meeting that aims to address your various concerns, and, I trust, bring some resolution to this matter."
The Board agenda is here.
DEPUTATION TO LIBRARY BOARD: 17 December 2025
The Conduct of the Chief Executive: Tracy Munusami
My deputation focusses on two concerns
- The definition now used by Newmarket Public Library for “active cardholders” which differs significantly from the Provincial definition and
- The quality and accuracy of the statistics which are presented to the Board and to the wider public. These are selective and are designed to mislead.
The Definition: The Board has an oversight role to ensure the Library operates within all applicable rules including guidance from the Province. It also has a fiduciary responsibility.
Last year, Newmarket Library received $74,494 from the Province and an operating grant from the Town of $3,781,775. Provincial grants only go to libraries which complete the Annual Survey of Public Libraries. They are expected to follow the guidance on how to complete the form.
The Chief Executive has been in post for over four years and on 7 April 2025 accurately told councillors:
“The definition of an “active library user” is someone who's used the library in the last 24 months… We do a survey every year to the Ministry. It's called the Annual Public Library Survey and that's the definition that they use.”
One week later she unilaterally changed the definition without approval of the Library Board or, so far as I can gather, the Board Chair.
The Board Chair told me as recently as 19 November 2025:
“I can confirm that we continue to report on active card holders using the provincial requirements and definition.”
This is incorrect.
The Chief Executive now defines an “active cardholder” as a NPL member with an unexpired library card regardless of whether it is used or not.
She substituted her own definition for the Provincial one knowing that it would boost membership numbers – the key metric widely used for assessing the success (or otherwise) of the library. On 4 July 2025 the Chief Executive told me:
We now define an active cardholder as someone who still has access to the library collection. If your card expires, you no longer have access to the library collection and are no longer an active cardholder until you return to renew it.”
I explained the consequences to the Board Chair in my email to him of 20 November 2025[1]:
Membership in both the Provincial and Newmarket definitions lasts for two years. The two years is not an issue. But Newmarket’s new definition removes the requirement to use the card within the two-year period.
We know from what the Chief Executive has told us that outreach sign-ups, for example, are not tracked to see if or when these new members first use their card to access library services. So, the library has no way of knowing when they become “active cardholders” according to the Provincial definition.
The Statistics Dashboard as presented to the Board uses the terminology “active memberships” and “new memberships”. Not active cardholders.
But when the Board receives the end of year total for “active memberships” the figure will need to be adjusted to meet the Provincial definition of active cardholder which involves using the card – not merely being in possession of one.
If it is not adjusted, the figure reported to the Province will be incorrect.
As I write this (Thursday 4 December 2025) the Board Chair has still not addressed this issue.
The Board should return to the status quo ante, reject the Chief Executive’s new definition and follow the provincial guidance.[2]
Misleading Statistics:
The Chief Executive presided over a data “modernisation” project which was part of the integration of the Library IT department and the Town’s.
Key data is now withheld from the Board but it is still available to the Chief Executive by using NPL’s specialist software (known as “Polaris: integrated library system”).
The Board receives data on new members and those new members signed up through outreach but not on members who have renewed or lapsed.[3] This deliberate decision to hold back key data makes it difficult if not impossible for the Library Board to make a proper assessment of the Library’s performance. The decision not to track members signed-up through outreach to see if they actually use the library is inexplicable given the emphasis the Board has placed on outreach work.[4]
The library has said this would infringe the privacy of members but the law of Ontario and the library’s own privacy policy allows for the collection of such information.[5]
Library membership has only three variables: new members, renewing members and lapsed members. The Board gets figures on the first and this exclusive focus on new members distorts the true picture.
In 2024 the Library issued 9,476 membership cards to “first-time” members. This represents 42.6% of all members, up from 28.2% in 2023. These figures are way above trend with figures in the low to mid-teens going back to 2014.
When I asked the library if I could see the Excel spreadsheet and the formulas to see how the figures were generated, my request was refused. I reluctantly appealed to the Information and Privacy Commissioner who is currently making enquiries.
In her quest for higher membership numbers the Chief Executive has deliberately misled the Board and its Chair.
Conclusion: What action am I requesting?
- The Library Board and the Chief Executive should follow the definition of “active cardholder” as set by the Province. And the figure reported to the Province in the Annual Survey of Public Libraries should be included in the Library’s “Report to the Community 2025”
- The Chief Executive should report to the Library Board quarterly on membership renewals and lapses. The Board may wish to consider asking the Chief Executive for an annual report on the split between Newmarket and out-of-town (or non-resident) members and Library membership by ward. The Board has received such reports in the past. The latter at the request of Councillor Bisanz.
- The Chief Executive should be asked to give a presentation to the Board on the capabilities of Polaris to aid members’ understanding of what it can do.
I would welcome questions.
Gordon Prentice
Member, Newmarket Library.
[1] See Appendix 1.
[2] See Appendix 2. Definitions
[3] See Appendix 3. Membership and Active Cardholders 2020-September 2025
[4] See Chronology 11 November and NPL’s Privacy Statement in Supplementary Materials
[5] See NPL Privacy Statement at Appendix 4.
Click "read more" below to see the chronology and supplementary material.
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Read more: The Conduct of Newmarket Public Library's Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami
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- Written by Gordon Prentice
Easyhome, the nationwide franchise chain with a branch here in Newmarket, is making a pitch for a slice of the Christmas gift market. 
“Make their Season Merry. Find the perfect gift from any store and pay at your own pace.”
Their flyer tells me I can get a HISENSE 50” QLED 4K UHD 60HZ- FIRE TV:
“Yours for only $9.99 per week”
You can get one of these Hisense TVs at Best Buy for $319.99 or from Walmart for $369.99.
Easyhome doesn’t tell you how much the “buy now” price is because, I suppose, they are not in that line of business. They lease so you can own… one day.
The cost of owning the same TV via the easyhome route is $1,558.
But you’ve got to work that out for yourself by combing through the fine print. The lease term for the Hisense TV is 156 weeks.
Of course, not everyone can afford to spend $320 on a Christmas gift. There are thousands of people here in well-off Newmarket who struggle to pay the bills. Easyhome's business model proves the point.
Fine print can be Painful
The small print at the bottom of the leaflet says:
“We know that fine print can be painful, but we believe it’s important for you to have all the facts!”
Easyhome is being economical with the truth. The APR is 29.9% but the painful fine print says:
“The Annual Percentage Rate “APR” of 29.9% is calculated from the cost of the product. The APR is from a representative lease and may not be the same for all advertised merchandise.”
Tantalisingly, the flyer says you can
“Get up to 12 months off your lease”.
But it’s not immediately obvious that doesn’t apply to the TV where the weekly payment is $9.99 and the "12 months off" offer only applies to weekly lease payments of $15.99 a week or more.
"The Term Reduction does not impact scheduled payment amounts, is calculated based on the original term of the new lease agreement and is applied at the end of your lease."
I’m not entirely sure what all that means.
Second Hand
But I do understand easyhome when they say:
“Advertised merchandise may not be exactly as shown. The photographs in this advertisement are representative and may been (sic) enlarged to show detail.”
And, astonishingly,
"Merchandise may be new or previously enjoyed.”
Not to put too fine a point on it, that means second hand.
And once you sign on the dotted line you are on the hook:
“Easyhome cannot accept returns for the product once it has been delivered to you.”
Financial Literacy
The easyhome flyer arrived a couple of days after one from our new Conservative MP, Sandra Cobena, former banker with the TD. She was reminding us that November is “Financial Literacy Month”. She was having a go at Carney and the Liberal Budget.
But, closer to home, what does she think about easyhome?
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Note: GoEasy is the holding company. LendCare (see Star article below) and easyhome are subsidiaries.
Update on 4 December 2025: From the Toronto Star: "Inside this Ontario loan company, concern grew as payments stopped. Its plan to keep bad debt off the books came at the expense of vulnerable borrowers."
Click "Read more" for the fine print
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- Written by Gordon Prentice
Newmarket Public Library’s new definition of an “active member” will dramatically inflate the Library’s membership numbers. 
Last year, in his foreword to the Library’s Report to the Community 2024, Board Chair Darryl Gray proudly announced:
“This past year has been extraordinary for the Newmarket Library, marked by significant growth in membership and an expanded presence throughout our community.”
Hold on to your hat because membership increases in 2025 could be truly spectacular.
The Library has changed its definition of an “active cardholder” from someone who uses their library card at least once in a two-year period (the Provincial definition) to someone who has an unexpired library card - whether they use it or not.
It is not clear when - or if - the Board approved this change which, on the face of it, doesn’t square with the Provincial definition. (Photo right: Library Board Chair, Darryl Gray, and Library Chief Executive Tracy Munusami at the 17 September 2025 Board meeting.)
The latest active cardholder figures will be considered by the Library Board on Wednesday (19 November 2025).
These show 26,393 active members at the end of September with three months still to run in 2025. If this trend continues for the rest of the year, this puts active membership on course for a 11 year high - or since on-line records have been posted. It could be the best ever.
Outreach
Since the appointment of the current Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami, in August 2021 membership growth has become the defining statistic used to measure the Library’s success.
Recruiting new Library members through outreach is a crucial component of the new strategy. 
People are signed up in bulk, for example, in schools.
But, because a card is issued, it does not follow that it will be used.
Astonishingly, the Library chooses not to track members recruited through outreach to see if they actually use their card to access library services and are not just sleeping members.
The Chief Executive says collecting this information would infringe the privacy of library members but that’s a bogus argument. No personal details would be sought or required – just the aggregate statistics.
The latest figures to be presented to the Library Board on 19 November 2025 show that in the July-September quarter of this year, over 23% of new members came through outreach.
Annual Survey of Public Libraries
To be eligible for Provincial library grants, all Ontario libraries are required to submit data to the Province annually for inclusion in its Annual Survey of Public Libraries (ASPL). Last year, Newmarket Library received $74,494 from the Province. (The Town’s operating grant to NPL was $3,781,775.)
The Province requires libraries to count “active cardholders” who are defined as:
“library cardholders who have used their library card in the past two years.”
As I say, Newmarket Public Library now defines an “active cardholder” as someone who holds an unexpired membership card. The Chief Executive says this “aligns” with the Provincial definition.
Plainly, it doesn’t.
Ms Munusami insists:
“A library card provides access to a wide range of resources: digital and physical materials, programs, spaces, and services. We do not monitor or track individual usage, and there are no systems in place to measure all the possible ways one can access the many types of library services (i.e., main branch, vending machines, alternative locations, programming, or online services).”
These arguments are specious. The Library currently tracks the use of on-line services and the lending of books and digital materials which are accessed by a library card to get the usage totals which are shown in the Statistics Dashboard.
Members of the public who are not library members can use its public spaces, consult books and other reading materials, book rooms and use the computers. The Library does not - and never has – tracked any individual’s use of the Library. The video here shows what NPL's integrated library system Polaris can do.
It can effortlessly pull up the names of patrons to see when, for example, they last used their library card.
But the Library doesn't spy on members to see what they are borrowing.
The segment above is part of an Odin Workday tutorial on creating and using record sets.
Contradiction
When I flagged up the clear contradiction between Newmarket’s new definition and the Provincial one, I was told by Deborah Cope, a civil servant at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming:
"The definitions are intended as guidelines to assist libraries in filling out the surveys as best they can, while understanding each library may have different systems in place to capture active users. (My underlining for emphasis).
We do not have concerns with the data that the Newmarket public library has shared to date. We will continue to work with all public libraries, including Newmarket Public Library, to support them as they fill out the survey each year."
If the Province wants data from libraries across Ontario which reflects its own definition of active users it needs to offer advice and guidance to Newmarket Public Library before Ms Munusami files her survey for 2025.
Otherwise, across the Province, it's garbage in and garbage out.
Membership renewals
The Library has also stopped publishing data on membership renewals – a key statistic when assessing membership retention.
At the Board meeting on 17 September 2025 Library Vice Chair, Councillor Kelly Broome, asked the Library Chief Executive about the reported 9,476 new or first-time members who joined the Library in 2024:
“And those are new memberships for the year 2024?”
Tracy Munusami nods yes.
Kelly Broome:
“Renewed memberships?”
Tracy Munusami:
“New memberships.”
Board members and the public no longer get statistics on renewed and lapsed membership. But the figures are available within the library.
What Needs to be Done
The selective use of statistics can be misleading.
The Statistics Dashboard, which was only recently introduced as a regular agenda item, goes to the Board on a quarterly basis. The range of data should be expanded to include:
- Membership renewal figures. (And the membership renewal figures for 2024 should also be published.)
- Lapsed membership.
- New Memberships signed up through outreach showing how many new members have actually used their membership card after, say, one year to access Library services.
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