If I were the Chair of Newmarket Public Library, Darryl Gray, I would be mortified. (Photo right with CEO)
The Library’s “Report the Community 2024” claims a “significant increase in membership”. But where is the evidence and who do we believe?
The Library Chief Executive, Tracy Munusami, told the Province there were 24,136 active library cardholders (ie members) in 2023 and 22,234 in 2024.
Membership Decrease
I posted a blog on 10 April 2025 calculating there was no increase as claimed but rather a drop in membership of 7.9%.
The following day, 11 April 2025, Ms Munusami tells me she filed with the Province a revised membership figure of 17,893 for 2023 – down 26% from the previous year. This allows her to claim a huge percentage increase in new members between 2023 and 2024.
The Board was not told about this significant revision.
Ms Munusami tells me:
“We have a staff member who is responsible for the report annually. That person went on leave on April 11, 2025. At that time, I took over completing the report, found the error, and reported it to the ministry.”
But the report was complete by 4 April 2025 when I found it on the NPL website. And although, astonishingly, it was not attached to her report to councillors on 7 April 2025 it was by then printed, posted and complete. She told councillors the report was being released on 7 April 2025 when it was already up and posted before the weekend.
Nodded through
And what happened at the Library Board meeting on 19 March 2025 when the draft “Report to the Community 2024” was on the agenda? Did the Chief Executive walk the Board through the numbers, explaining how these stellar membership increases were arrived at? Did the Library Board ask any probing questions? Or was it just nodded through without comment?
Ms Munusami tells us there were 9,476 new members between 2023 and 2024 but we do not know how many people were simply renewing their memberships over that period. Before Ms Munusami took over the reins, in August 2021, a distinction had always been made between genuinely new members and those who were renewing.
Previously, the Library Board was given a detailed month-by-month breakdown of Library usage and membership, new and renewals. This practice continued for a short while the new CEO got her feet under the table and then abruptly stopped.
Degradation
Since the Chief Executive was appointed nearly four years ago we have seen a steady degradation in the data coming out of the Library.
Who decided to end the practice of giving the Board detailed Library data in a time-series which allowed meaningful comparisons between years? Why was this done?
Now we are in the Alice and Wonderland situation where Ms Munusami cannot explain why membership spiked dramatically in 2022, going up to 27,780 from 23,589 in 2021. She tells me:
“I don’t have a reason or explanation for any spike between 2021 and 2022. I was still taking the time to evaluate how statistics were being captured.”
Spark of curiosity
Wasn’t she curious?
As Darryl Gray noted in the foreward to the Library’s 2023 report to the community:
“They (libraries) are places of knowledge, exploration and ideas. Where inquiry comes alive and where the spark of curiosity is lit.”
In early 2023, when the 27,780 figure for 2022 was filed with the Province Ms Munusami had been in post for, at the very least, 16 months.
Although I’ve asked the Chief Executive for a note on the parameters she set for the database clean-up and how it was carried out, I am still none the wiser. I was simply told:
“The clean-up process occurs at the end of the calendar year and we delete most expired accounts…”
Scrutiny
Just like the financials, we need usage and membership figures from the Chief Executive that can withstand scrutiny.
The Chief Executive gets $172,000 a year to run the Library efficiently, in charge of a multi-million dollar budget. (Last year the Library got a grant from the Town of $3,781,775 and another $64,401 from the province.)
I’ve seen lots of back-slapping and congratulations about how well the Library is doing but, to me, it is all sophistry.
If I were in Darryl Gray’s shoes I’d call a special meeting of the Board to get answers to the outstanding questions.
It can’t just be business as usual.
Or can it?
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Click "read more" for email exchange with CEO.
My email to the Library CEO on 22 April 2025
Good morning Ms Munusami
I hope you had a good Easter break. And thank you for your prompt response to my email of 15 April 2025.
I had originally intended to contact the Board Chair about my concerns but when I asked Councillor Morrison for Mr Gray’s contact details I was advised that you would be best placed to comment on the 2024 Report to the Community as it relates to numerical data.
I should be grateful if you could answer the following questions.
- The number of Active Library Cardholders (ALC) for 2021 as reported to the Province was 23,589. In 2022 the number rose to 27,780. What caused this spike?
- The ALC for 2023 as reported to the Province (as revised by you) was 17,893. What caused this reduction of 35%? Was this simply a result of the database cleanup?
- Can you let me have the parameters you set for the database clean up? How was the clean-up carried out?
- Is the database now routinely cleaned up on an ongoing basis?
- When was the Province advised that the previously supplied ALC for 2023 (24,136) was incorrect?
- When was the Board informed about the incorrect figure for 2023?
I am grateful and I look forward to hearing from you as soon as you are able.
Gordon Prentice
And the Chief Executive’s reply on 24 April 2025:
Hello Mr. Prentice,
I’m CCing Councillor Morrison as he has been part of the discussion. I tried to answer your questions as best as I could.
- I don’t have a reason or explanation for any spike between 2021 and 2022. I was still taking the time to evaluate how statistics were being captured.
- The reduction was because we started reporting active library cardholders rather than all the cardholders in our system. As I mentioned at the Committee of the Whole, tracking our active cardholders gives us a better indication of who is currently using our library services.
- The clean-up process occurs at the end of each calendar year, and we delete most expired accounts, except for those we have to track for auditing purposes.
- Database clean-up happens at the end of each calendar year.
- We have a staff member who is responsible for the report annually. That person went on leave on April 11, 2025. At that time, I took over completing the report, found the error, and reported it to the ministry.
- There is no record of this conversation happening at a Board meeting.
I hope this information helps.
Best regards,
Tracy
